2022 AUSTRALIAN SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Wednesday, May 18 – Sunday, May 22, 2022
- SA Aquatic and Leisure Centre, Oaklands Park, South Australia
- LCM (50m)
- Meet Central
- Entry List
- Live Results
The 2022 Australian Swimming Championships will be a little unlike those in the past, as several key athletes have opted out of competing at the 5-day meet taking place at the South Australian Aquatic & Leisure Centre.
We’ve reported that Olympic medalists Emma McKeon, Cate Campbell, and Jack McLoughlin were among those key swimmers absent from the entries, while Kyle Chalmers is tackling just the 50m and 100m butterfly races as opposed to his mainstay freestyle.
With these Championships representing a qualification opportunity for Australia’s 2022 World Championships squad, let’s take a look at some of the nation’s emerging stars that are on our radar.
Flynn Southam, 16, Bond
16-year-old Flynn Southam opted out of last year’s Australian Olympic Trials in order to tend to his mental health. The time away from the pool appears to have done Southam good, as the Bond athlete has been on a tear so far in 2022.
At the Australian Age Championships last month, Southam rocked a time of 1:46.77 in the 200m free to come within one second of legendary Ian Thorpe‘s national age record of 1:46.00 from more than 20 years ago.
The teen also broke Olympic champion Kyle Chalmers‘ national age record in the 100m free, with Southam posting a lifetime best of 48.60.
Refresh yourself on the details of each swim below to get an idea of what the teen is capable of at these Championships.
Milla Jansen, 15, Bond
At the aforementioned Australian Age Championships, 15-year-old Milla Jansen made her mark in the women’s 100m freestyle. Along with winner Hannah Casey and runner-up Olivia Wunsch, Jansen notched a time under the 55-second barrier to land on the podium at the elite junior event.
Jansen hit a mark of 54.94, her first time ever under 55, with her previous PB resting at the 55.09 she produced in March. That outing enters her as the 12th seeded swimmer for these Championships, with the Bond athlete also entered in the 50m free and 200m free, along with the 100m back.
Her top seed comes in the 50 free where Jansen enters the meet as the 11th-ranked swimmer with a time of 25.51.
William Petric, 17, Nunawading
Nunawading’s William Petric has been making a name for himself across several events, including the 200m IM and 200m breaststroke.
At January’s South Australian State Open Championships, 17-year-old Petric posted the fastest 200m IM performance of his career en route to topping the podium.
He crushed a time of 2:01.78 to hack nearly a second and a half off of his previous personal best of 2:03.41 from last year’s Australian Age Championships.
Petric enters these Championships ranked #3 in the 200m breast only behind Olympians Zac Stubblety-Cook and Matt Wilson. In the 200m IM Petric is 5th, seeded behind Olympians Mitch Larkin, Brendon Smith, Tommy Neill and Se-Bom Lee.
Isabella Boyd, 16, Nunawading
Another Nunawading young gun on our radar is 16-year-old Isabella Boyd. Boyd won silver in the 50m free, as well as bronze in the 50m fly (28.08), 100m fly (1:00.87), 100m free (56.07) and 200m free (2:02.73) at this year’s Victorian Open Championships, introducing herself to the senior stage.
She followed that up with victories in her age group at the Australian Age Championships in the 50m free and 50m fly, along with silvers in the 100m free, 200m free, 100m fly and 200m IM.
Here at these Australian Championships Boyd is focusing on the 200m free and 100m fly, seeded 18th and 10th, respectively.
Marcus Da Silva, 15, City of Sydney
15-year-old Marcus Da Silva made some major noise at last month’s Australian Age Championships wreaking havoc in his age group’s freestyle events.
The City of Sydney swimmer clocked times of 50.33 in the 100m freestyle and 1:50.72 in the 200m freestyle, putting his name on the list of emerging stars popping up down under.
Entering last month’s meet, Da Silva’s 100m free personal best rested at the 51.18 he notched earlier this year at the NSW State Age Championships, meaning he hacked nearly a second off of his PB en route to taking the Age Championships title.
In the 200m free, Da Silva’s previous career-quickest checked in at 1:53.39 set in March, so, again, the teen cut a chunk of time en route to becoming Australia’s 4th fastest 15-year-old ever in the 2free event.
With these significant time drops, Da Silva may just find himself in at least one final at these Championships.
So the media have reported that Cody Simpson and Emma McKeon are dating but then they reported last year that Kyle and Emma were dating and it seems like it was probably bs.
And a couple of interesting snippets from another article:
It was reported earlier in the year that Seebohm and McLoughlin are on a hiatus?
Apart from Flynn & Petrie, the only two age groupers that have any hope of making the senior team are the two female 200 flyers who went 2.09 at Age. They are the ones to be watching.
My thoughts exactly Gary both girls are born and bred in south west Sydney and continue to push each other to amazing things. Go Bella!
Niahm. Bedggood. 100m Breast women’s
She was very impressive last year in Age
Skipped the age this year for this.
What are the experts saying about Cody Simpson’s chances of making Australia’s 2022 World Championships squad?
I recently watched Head Above Water, and now I’m somewhat fascinated by his story.
Best shot is the 50/100 fly I think but he’s probably not beating Chalmers or Temple in either of them
It’s the comm games so he only has to make 3rd place right?
He could make commonwealth games though if they take top 3?
Not impossible but unless he drops the best part of a second in the 100fly OR its an unusually slow race; it’s unlikely. Temple has one spot locked down and Morgan, Champion and Gough have significantly faster PBs
His chances are better at 50 but still a stretch. Best chance would be finishing 3rd in the 50 ….. and hoping selectors and generous/there is sufficient scope with team numbers to accomodate such generosity.
Chalmers isn’t going to Worlds nor is 50 fly a selection event. There are some other contenders but he’s in with a chance.
Thanks for the ⬇️ scoop everyone! Now I feel in the know.
Petric didn’t do much at age champs and was quite a way off his times even from earlier this year so I think he might’ve been saving his peak for trials.
I’m not sure where he fits into the team. We don’t really need a 200 breast or a 200IM unless he suddenly drops 5+ seconds
He doesn’t need to drop 5 seconds to make a senior team especially when 3 can go to Comm Games.
True. But I’m not going to get excited over someone surprisingly making the team but having zero chance of making the semis on the world stage.
Great experience though to be fair. A lot of the juniors have missed their chance for junior pan pacs and junior worlds due to covid. So if they make a senior team and just gain experience it would be great. Some of our great swimmers did not “succeed” in their first senior team. That goes for some of the USA team swimmers too.
There is some validity to this line of argument and neither of these events will have significant depth at CG beyond 4-5 names of intl significance.
However, it also has to be recognised that in the M200BRS, when you look beyond ZSC and (a still seemingly missing his mojo) Wilson; AUS stocks drop out of the realms of international notice.
Therefore, whilst he may finish 3rd in M200BRS at Trials (M200IM looks more of an ask); I do think his time would need to be at least in the range of what may be expected to make the final. 2.10ish – 2.11 at worst in order to earn a plane ticket.
Flynn seems a pretty safe bet for the 100 relay and possibly the 200. Would be fun to see him drop more time and steal an individual slot though.
Obviously this article is aimed at the very young ones, but I have a good feeling about the still quite young Mollie O and Isaac Cooper.
Also Sam Short. Would be a surprise if he doesn’t make a senior team this year.
Sam Short and Cooper are giving us some hope, that the men are not far off the mark.