2024 Australian Olympic Qualifiers
With the 2024 Australian Olympic Trials fast approaching, all eyes will be on the action unfolding at the Brisbane Aquatics Centre from 10 June.
To compete in the Olympics, swimmers must beat qualifying standards set by Swimming Australia and place in the top two in each event at the trials (except for the 100m freestyle and 200m freestyle, where the top six qualify). The qualifying times set by Swimming Australia are faster than the Olympic qualifying times published by World Aquatics.
Rather than previewing the tournament event by event, we decided to focus on the storylines from the Australian qualifiers, which we will cover in the next article.
Australia has a burgeoning young talent force in the qualifiers, some of whom are Olympic favourites and others who haven't yet qualified but could pull off an upset.
In this article, we look at athletes under the age of 20 who could potentially make the Olympic team for the first time.
As a Tokyo Olympic athlete, Isaac Cooper The 20-year-old was the favorite to go to Paris as the top seed in the 100m backstroke and second seed in the 50m freestyle, but did not qualify to be featured here.
Elizabeth Deckers20
Dekkers has established herself as one of the world's best swimmers in the 200m butterfly over the past few years, winning the Commonwealth Games in 2022 and then winning silver at the 2023 World Championships.
Most recently, he set a personal best and a new all-comers record at the Australian Open Championships in April with a time of 2:05.20, slightly bettering his previous personal best of 2:05.26 set in 2023.
Dekkers, who turned 20 last month, is the heavy favorite in the 200m butterfly at the trials due to her international success since the Tokyo Games. In preparation, she should also compete in the 100m butterfly final, but is seeded fifth (Japan's Rikako Ikee) recorded a best time (58.26), more than one second slower than the qualifying standard time (57.17).
Abby Connor, 19
She'll be up against a veteran Brianna ThrossellConnor, who recorded a personal best of 2 minutes 6.59 seconds at the New South Wales Open Championships in March, is the favorite to finish second in the women's 200 fly behind Deckers.
He followed this performance up the following month at the Australian Open Championships with a time of 2:07.20, both under the AQT of 2:07.72 in both strokes.
Making the Olympic team would be a big move for the University of Southern California Spartans-trained swimmer, who has indicated her intention to retire at age 17 in April 2023.
Connor will also be aiming to reach the A-grade finals in the 200m freestyle and 100m butterfly in Brisbane.
Jenna Forrester, 20
and Kayleigh McKeon Despite being one of the fastest swimmers of all time, Forrester, who chose not to compete in the 400m individual medley at the Olympics, will be Australia's favourite to win a medal in Paris.
Forrester, who turns 21 toward the end of the trials, is making a big push into 2023, winning the bronze medal at the world championships in Fukuoka in a personal best time of 4 minutes 32.30 seconds.
She has also been selected to represent Australia in the 200m backstroke and 200m individual medley at the 2023 World Championships, reaching the finals in both races in Fukuoka and finishing fourth in the medley event.
The St. Peter's Western High School swimmer is the favorite to finish second to McKeon at the trials in the 200 individual medley (personal best time of 2:08.98) and is also aiming for relay spots in the 200 backstroke and 200 freestyle.
Iona Anderson, 18
Anderson might be better placed on the “under the radar” young athletes trailer — not because she's not on the radar, but because the path to making the Olympic team is tough — but given her performances over the past few months, she deserves a spot here.
Anderson won silver medals in the 50m and 100m backstroke at the 2024 World Championships in Doha, before winning world titles at the end of the tournament with a gold medal in the Australian women's medley relay.
She then ran a personal best of 58.53 in the 100m in May, securing her a place on Australia's Olympic team. Molly O'Callaghan On the psychology sheet.
As the world record holder and defending champion, McKeon is sure to be the No. 1 contender for the event, and O'Callaghan will be tough to beat if she competes, with her top PR of 58.09. The 100m backstroke semi-final will be held in the same session as the 200m freestyle final in Paris, so there is a chance that O'Callaghan could choose to withdraw or not compete in the event after the Olympic Trials. As O'Callaghan is the current world champion in the 200m freestyle, this will be her first priority.
Anderson has continued to improve steadily and certainly has a chance of a top-two finish even with O'Callaghan in the mix, but O'Callaghan's new record time of 58.09 seconds, set in April, is impressive.
Anderson, representing the WA Breakers, is much stronger in the 100m backstroke than the 200m but still has a shot at making the final with a personal best of 2min 11.40sec.
Jacqueline Barclay, 17
Barkley and Anderson form a dangerous one-two punch in Australia's teenage women's backstroke but McKeown's presence will make it difficult for either to ease into the Olympic team.
While Anderson's strength is the 100m backstroke, Barkley's are the longer distances and the 17-year-old won silver in the 200m at the 2024 World Championships in 2:07.03, making her the fifth-fastest swimmer in the world this year behind McKeown. Regan Smith, Claire Curzan and Kylie Masse.
Despite entering the competition in a time well below her personal best (2:08.76), Barkley is seeded second behind McKeown for the Australian Championships. The St Peters Western swimmer also won the 100 backstroke in 59.28 seconds, earning her the fourth seed.
Max Giuliani, 20 years old
Giuliani made his breakthrough last December when he clocked 1 minute 44.79 seconds in the 200m freestyle, the second-fastest time ever by an Australian athlete.
The swim came after he recorded a time of 1:45.42 on the World Cup circuit in October, and has a 2024 best time of 1:46.70.
If the Miami Swim Club-trained Giuliani can get within a second of his personal best in the 200 freestyle, he'll be guaranteed an individual Olympic spot, and even if he's not in great form he could still secure a relay spot. He's the top seed by more than seven-tenths of a second. Elijah Winnington 2nd place in 1:45.53. AQT was 1:45.97.
Giuliani should also be in contention for a spot in the 100m freestyle, finishing with a personal best time of 48.21 seconds.
Kai Taylor20
Taylor made his breakthrough by winning the men's 200m freestyle at the 2023 Australian Championships and then set a new personal best of 1:45.79 in Fukuoka to win the bronze medal in the Australian men's 800m freestyle relay.
The 20-year-old has already broken 1:46 this year, running 1:45.89 in April and is in the running to qualify for the 200 freestyle, but he's up against Giuliani, Winnington and Flynn Southam and Thomas Neal Everyone will join in the hunt.
Taylor has a personal best of 48.01 seconds at the 2024 World Championships and is also the favorite to compete individually in the 100m freestyle.
Flynn Southam, 19
Southam has enjoyed a decorated international career since the Tokyo Olympics, winning three relay medals at the 2023 World Championships, five medals at the 2022 Short Course World Championships and three medals, all gold, at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
The 19-year-old has long been tipped as Australia's next great sprint freestyle swimmer, but the test will be at the Olympic Trials. He is the favourite to qualify for the Olympics, but it remains to be seen whether he will secure an individual spot or be limited to a relay spot.
Southam finished in 47.77 seconds in the 100m freestyle, making him the favorite to take second place. Kyle ChalmersHe recorded a best time of 1 minute 46.11 seconds in the 200m freestyle in April and is on track for Brisbane.
William Petrick, 19 years old
Petrik doesn't have the international pedigree of some of the other skaters, but he is a favorite to qualify in one or both of the men's medley events.
The 19-year-old Nunawading representative set personal best times of 1 minute 58.05 seconds in the 200m individual medley and 4 minutes 12.21 seconds in the 400m individual medley at the Sydney Open in early May.
He is the second-seeded Australian in both races heading into the trials, but he was just off the fastest Australian time in the 400 individual medley (4:12.50) and will need to improve his time to make the cut for the 200 individual medley (1:57.23).
