Speed Cam poised for more world glory after Baku blitz
Ian Chadband |
Cam McEvoy is in line to spearhead Australia’s powerful assault at the world short course championships after another dazzling record-breaking display.
The world’s fastest swimmer hasn’t been named in the Dolphins’ squad for the Beijing event after he missed the national championships in Sydney this week where Lani Pallister and Sam Short stole the show with seven titles between them.
But the 32-year-old Olympic champion still looks poised to lead the team at the iconic Water Cube venue as a wildcard after earning qualification via a separate route with his World Cup series triumph in the 50m freestyle in Azerbaijan on Thursday night.
World long course record holder McEvoy demonstrated he was potentially faster than ever as he clocked an Australian and Oceanian short course record of 20.22sec in Baku, the fourth fastest time in history that blitzed his pal Kyle Chalmers’ five-year-old mark of 20.68.
He even outpaced Russian star Egor Kornev, who got his own back and made a statement of his own on Friday by equalling Chalmers’ world 100m free short course record of 44.84sec, while McEvoy was runner-up in 45.36.
Under World Aquatics’ scheme to offer places in Beijing to any swimmer finishing in the top-three in the World Cup races in Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, McEvoy is now expected to join the 24-strong team named on Friday night after the completion of the nationals at Sydney’s Olympic Park Aquatic Centre.
After four days in a world record and 14 national marks were broken, the Dolphins will complete a spectacular year in which they delivered record-breaking Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacs performances with more high ambitions in China from December 1-8.
Leading the team will be Pallister, the four-time short course national champion at 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m, and fellow freestyler Short who also achieved a clean sweep in the 400m, 800m and 1500m.
There’ll be plenty of potential medal-winning support, with the likes of Alex Perkins, Jenna Forrester, Ben Armbruster, Iona Anderson and Isaac Cooper all bolstering the squad
But just as intriguing will be the displays of the next Dolphins’ generation, as six newcomers join the team for Beijing – Amelie Smith, Mark Nikolaev, Marcus Da Silva, Emily Jones, Cameron Bladen and butterfly gun Alex Quach, who’s earned his first call-up at 25 after improving since his move from Sydney to Queensland.
“Those three without a doubt have been standouts here,” said head coach Rohan Taylor of Pallister, Short and Forrester.
“But also it’s been great to see the likes of Amelie Smith and Marcus Da Silva come through the ranks and shift the dial.”
AUSTRALIA TEAM FOR WORLD SHORT COURSE SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
(* denotes Dolphins’ debut)
Women: Iona Anderson, Brittany Castelluzzo , Jenna Forrester, Emily Jones*, Tara Kinder, Lani Pallister, Alex Perkins, Amelie Smith*, Olivia Wunsch.
Men: Ben Armbruster, Cameron Bladen*, Josh Collett, Isaac Cooper, Marcus Da Silva*, Max Giuliani, Mark Nikolaev*, William Petric, Alex Quach*, David Schlicht, Sam Short, Flynn Southam, Stuart Swinburn, Matt Temple, Josh Yong.
AAP