Jack siblings raring for Comm Games in dream come true
Joanna Guelas |
Australian swimmer Shayna Jack’s dream has finally come true.
After so many years of trying, Jack will head to this year’s Commonwealth Games as one half of the nation’s next sibling swimming act.
Jack secured a spot in Glasgow by touching in 52.96 seconds to finish third in Friday’s 100m freestyle at Australia’s swimming trials in Sydney.
Five-time Olympic gold medallist Mollie O’Callaghan clocked 52.33 seconds for victory, 0.30 seconds ahead of second-placed Meg Harris.
Jack’s younger brother Jamie sealed his maiden Commonwealth Games spot earlier in the week, after finishing second to world record-holder Cameron McEvoy in the men’s 50m freestyle.
McEvoy had touched in 21.32 seconds, with the 22-year-old Jack trailing by 0.22 seconds.
The younger Jack was poolside to congratulate his sister on Friday night, with the Paris Olympic gold medallist bursting into tears.
The Jack siblings are the first sister-brother duo to represent Australia since Emma and David McKeon swam at the 2018 Gold Coast Games.
“It’s obviously really special when we do achieve those dreams and those goals,” an emotional Shayna Jack said.
“For me, tonight it was just honestly like so special to be able to get myself on the team with my brother.
“It’s been a long journey, and as I’ve mentioned, I haven’t dealt with a lot of my past traumas, and that’s why I probably struggled a lot to come back after Paris.
“I was honestly so proud of myself being here today.”
Jack, 27, was part of Australia’s gold medal-winning 4x100m and 4x200m freestyle teams in Paris after serving a two-year ban.
The Brisbane product had failed an out-of-competition drug test in 2019 and missed out on the Tokyo Olympics.
After an investigation, the Court of Arbitration for Sport found an accident had led Jack to ingest a banned substance.
Jack said the dream of making a senior Australian team with Jamie had kept her in the pool.
“I hope I get to present his Australian cap to him,” Jack said.
‘I was trying to work out what number he would be.
“I’m 785, and I think there’s nearly been 100 people since me, so it really does put into perspective how long I’ve been in the sport.”
The younger Jack competed in the 100m freestyle, but finished sixth.
Shayna Jack will vie for a spot in the 50m freestyle on Saturday, the final day of competition.
“It’s very hard when I wanted that dream for him as well, and so I did turn it (Jamie’s 50m freestyle race) on and watch,” Jack said.
“I did cry my eyes out, but I really wanted him to have that moment.
“I FaceTimed him, we had a moment, and then I went to bed because I had a job to do today, so really grateful that I was able to do that job.”
AAP