Jamie Perkins Takes Second Aussie 400 Free Spot In Paris As Lani Pallister Opts Out

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Australian world champion Lani Pallister has dropped the women’s 400 freestyle from her schedule at the Paris Olympic Games, opening up a spot for teammate Jamie Perkins to add an individual race to her lineup.

Pallister, 22, was the runner-up to Ariarne Titmus in the 400 free at the Australian Olympic Trials in June, clocking 4:02.27 to fall just outside the personal best she set in April at the Australian Open Championships (4:01.75).

Perkins was 3rd in a time of 4:04.38, a new personal best and under the Swimming Australia qualification time of 4:04.98 (and well under the Olympic Qualifying Time of 4:07.90).

The 19-year-old Perkins went on to qualify for the Australian Olympic team in the 800 free relay, tying for 5th in the 200 free in a personal best of 1:56.22.

Pallister added individual berths in the 800 free and 1500 free while also qualifying for Paris in the 800 free relay.

Now, Pallister opts out of the 400 free, leaving the 800 and 1500 as her lone individual entries at the Games and allowing Perkins to add the 400 free to her schedule since she’s been under the OQT and is already on the Aussie roster.

Pallister was 6th in the 400 free at the 2023 World Championships, and while she was favored to final at the Games, she’d be hard-pressed to earn a spot on the podium with four of the five swimmers in history who have broken 4:00 in the field in Paris (Titmus, Summer McIntosh, Katie Ledecky and Erika Fairweather).

Pallister is more of a medal threat in the longer events, particularly the 800 free where she’s the #4 seed after producing a time of 8:15.11 at the Budapest World Cup last October, a performance that ranks her #8 all-time.

She’s also the 5th seed in Paris in the 1500 free, an event where she swam a PB of 15:48.96 for bronze at the 2022 World Championships. More recently, she swam 15:49.17 at the 2023 World Championships where she was 5th (and just over three seconds shy of a medal).

For Perkins, she has a realistic shot at making the 400 free final in her Olympic debut after it took 4:04.98 to make the top eight in the prelims of the 2023 World Championships.

Last year, Perkins won gold in the 400 free at the World Junior Championships, clocking 4:05.72 in what was a personal best at the time.