{"id":2763,"date":"2026-04-07T01:49:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T20:19:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/mollie-ocallaghan-kyle-chalmers-hail-depth-sam-short-shows-class-on-night-one-of-australian-open-swimming\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T01:49:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T20:19:11","slug":"mollie-ocallaghan-kyle-chalmers-hail-depth-sam-short-shows-class-on-night-one-of-australian-open-swimming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/mollie-ocallaghan-kyle-chalmers-hail-depth-sam-short-shows-class-on-night-one-of-australian-open-swimming\/","title":{"rendered":"Mollie O’Callaghan, Kyle Chalmers hail depth, Sam Short shows class on night one of Australian Open swimming"},"content":{"rendered":"


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For Australia’s best and brightest swimmers, the Australian Open competition on the Gold Coast this week is a time to experiment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Australian swimmers don’t come much brighter or better than Mollie O’Callaghan, who flew down the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre to claim a comfortable victory in the women’s 100m free on Monday night.<\/p>\n

The 22-year-old, five-time Olympic champion was the only woman to swim sub-53 seconds, cruising to a 52.66 ahead of Meg Harris (53.36) and 19-year-old rising star Olivia Wunsch (53.58).<\/p>\n

But for O’Callaghan, the time was not important, more a stepping stone for a busy 2026, where the Dolphins will compete in Irvine, California at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships from August 12-15 just a fortnight after the Glasgow Commonwealth Games from July 24-29.<\/p>\n

“Coming off China [the China Open last month<\/a>], it’s a bit of a learning curve,” O’Callghan told Channel Nine.<\/p>\n

“A quick change round, but that’s practice for Commies [Commonwealth Games] into Pan Pacs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“So at the moment I’m just trying to learn how to perfect it in-season.”<\/p>\n

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\"Molly<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>
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Mollie O’Callaghan claimed victory relatively comfortably. (Getty Images: Chris Hyde<\/span>)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Shayna Jack was fourth (53.92) and Alex Perkins fifth (53.97) to underline the strength in depth of Australian women’s sprint freestyle swimming.<\/p>\n

Australia won the 4x100m freestyle relay at the Paris Olympics by over a second<\/a> and are the current world record holders.<\/p>\n

“I think we all push each other at the end of the day,” O’Callaghan said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“When I improve, someone else watches that and it pushes them, so I think we learn off each other constantly and are pushing the boundaries.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Once one person improves, it’s a knock-on effect.”<\/p>\n

In the men’s 100m free, Kyle Chalmers powered down the final 50 metres to win in 48.39 in a race where the entire 10-man field swam under 50 seconds.<\/p>\n

“I’m happy with that,” Chalmers said, who beat 20-year-old Flynn Southam (48.80) and Kai Taylor (48.94) into the other podium places.<\/p>\n

“We’ve got some great depth coming through. I’ve had some individual success … it would be amazing to have some relay success with these guys.”<\/p>\n

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Kyle Chalmers crushed the men’s 100m freestyle final at the 2026 Australian Open Swimming. (Getty Images: Chris Hyde<\/span>)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Lani Pallister was in sublime form in the 800m freestyle, crushing an international field to win in (8:11.28) which included New Zealand’s first ever swimming world champion in the 400m and former world bronze medallist from 2024, Erika Fairweather.<\/p>\n

Despite having almost no genuine competition \u2014 she won the race by over 12 seconds from Brazils Maria Costa (8:23.98) and Fairweather (8:26.55) \u2014 the 23-year-old still clearly put plenty into the race, throwing up poolside before her Channel Nine interview.<\/p>\n

“That’s horrendous,” the affable Queenslander told Nine.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I feel like I’ve made a habit of throwing up post-race, which I’m sure Dean [Boxall] will be happy with because it showed I tried really hard.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I’m pretty happy with that,” she added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I was 8:19 in China two weeks ago at the China Open in Shenzhen, and then dropping eight seconds coming here is really a good stepping stone going into Pan Pacs, Commies and Trials and that sort of thing this year.”<\/p>\n

Pallister has moved to Brisbane to train under Boxall at St Peters Western this year and credits her new environment with her superb form.<\/p>\n

“When I moved to Brisbane, I didn’t really know what to expect, living in the city and being in a new squad,” she said.<\/p>\n

“But everyone at St Pete’s is just so incredible, and moving to Dean, being with Mick as well, has just been the most incredible year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I think it’s really cool moving forward going into this Olympic cycle. And they’re helping me achieve all the dreams I ever wanted and more.”<\/p>\n

Someone else hoping to go close to a personal best in the longer distances is Sam Short, who powered his way to gold in the 400m freestyle to warm up for the longer distances later in the meet.<\/p>\n

The 22-year-old admitted that he thought he was doing something “crazy” when he saw how big his lead was during the race.<\/p>\n

It wasn’t crazy. But it was a marker to the rest of the Commonwealth as Short laid down a dominant 3:42.53 to claim a comfortable victory.<\/p>\n

“I honestly thought, with the gap I had, I thought I was just doing something crazy,” Short told Channel Nine.<\/p>\n

“But yeah, no, it’s 3:42, got to be happy with that. I got off a plane a week ago from the States, so probably only just beat the jet lag.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I think I’m in a good spot to be honest, I’m pretty keen for the 800 and 1,500.”<\/p>\n

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Samuel Short was dominant in the men’s 400m freestyle.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Short led from start to finish, establishing a lead of almost a second after 100 metres and only building from there.<\/p>\n

Dolphins teammate Elijah Winnington came home in the silver medal spot, almost four seconds behind Short.<\/p>\n

He just edged out New Zealand’s two-time Commonwealth Games champion Lewis Clareburt by half-a-second.<\/p>\n

Short, who won silver in the event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games behind Winnington and has two medals \u2014 a gold and a silver \u2014 at world championship level in this event so was certainly expecting to do well.<\/p>\n

The Brisbane swimmer has been training at altitude in the USA and, by focusing on longer-distance swimming and even dipping his toes into ocean swimming<\/a>, is expecting to do just as well later in the week too.<\/p>\n

“I feel so fit,” Short said, seemingly surprised by his form.<\/p>\n

“I mean, this morning [in the heats] was the easiest 3:48 I’ve ever done.<\/p>\n

“I just couldn’t really sit still today, I was so excited to get in here and give it a crack.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I feel so fit now, just trying to do some pace work and get fast.”<\/p>\n

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Kaylee McKeown was unhappy with her time. (Getty Images: Chris Hyde<\/span>)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

While Short was thrilled with his form, Kaylee McKeown expressed some disappointment as she breezed home to win the 200m backstroke in 2:05.66.<\/p>\n

“Honestly, I would have liked a little bit faster,” McKeown said.<\/p>\n

“I feel like I’ve put in a good block of training so I’m a little bit disappointed with the outcome, but I think the process is there.”<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, in the 200m breaststroke, Bailey Lello held on to beat out a fast-finishing Tokyo Olympic champion and silver medallist in Paris, Zac Stubblety-Cook.<\/p>\n

Lello, another swimmer from the St Peters Western stable coached by Boxall, credited the super coach with trialling “a few things” heading into the event that sparked his gold medal swim.<\/p>\n

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Bailey Lello shocked Zac Stubblety-Cook in the 200m breaststroke. (Getty Images: Chris Hyde<\/span>)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

In the women’s 50m butterfly, world championships silver medallist Alex Perkins held off a trio of international visitors to finish in 25.62, just three-tenths of a second outside the Australian record she jointly holds with Holly Barrett.<\/p>\n

“The 50’s hard to get right, just one little thing and your time is a bit slower,” she told Channel Nine.<\/p>\n

Russia-born, Gold Coast-based Mark Nikolaev claimed victory in the 50m backstroke with a time of 25.20, edging out Ben Hance and Isaac Cooper.<\/p>\n

In the women’s 100m breaststroke, 17-year-old Sienna Toohey beat out Ella Ramsay and Tara Kinder into second and third respectively.<\/p>\n

Kinder and Ramsay were then beaten by Jenna Forrester \u2014 who finished third in the 200m backstroke earlier in the evening \u2014 in the 400m individual medley.<\/p>\n

Harrison Turner beat out club-mate Alex Quach by a second-and-a-half in the men’s 200m butterfly.<\/p>\n