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Aussie Dolphins Swim Team

It might not have been the right time to dominate another World Swimming Championships feat like it was in Fukuoka, Japan, last year. However, we wrapped the big weekend up on a high with two gold medals on the final day from Isaac Cooper in the Men’s 50m Backstroke & the Women’s 4 x 100m Medley Relay team consisting of Iona Anderson, Abbey Harkin, Brianna Throssell & Shayna Jack.

We also collected three silver yesterday when USA’s Clare Curzan broke the Aussie hearts yet again this time to Jaclyn Barclay in the Women’s 200m backstroke, while Cam McEvoy’s bid for gold fell short to Ukrainian Vladyslav Bukhov by only 00.01 secs in the Men’s 50m Freestyle sprint final. And don’t forget we didn’t do bad in the Mixed 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay.

The Aussie Dolphins Swim Team finished 3rd in this medal tally behind China & Team USA as this is all about giving our other swimmers including Sam Williamson (got the gold in the Men’s 50m breaststroke Final) as well as a few next generation teenagers a chance to fill in some of the star names, who chose to prioritise the Olympics this year over another World Championships in very short time. Now these swimmers who were there in Doha will get the chance to test themselves v our best come the National Olympic Trials in June followed by the Olympics in Paris in July-August. The next goal awaits in topping this medal tally again but this time at the Olympic Games.

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Day 6 of the 2024 World Swimming Championships was all about Shayna Jack for the Dolphins Swim Team even though she was the only Aussie to take out the bronze for the night after she finished 3rd in the Women’s 100m Freestyle Final. Now she might be nowhere near Marrit Steinbergen from the Netherlands (52.26) and even Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey (52.86) by just a second behind these two but she didn’t do bad though where Jack managed to keep the last medal podium spot right through the end of the wall at 52.83 secs. There is a few gold medal opportunities up for grabs this weekend starting tomorrow with promising signs from Cam McEvoy who was fastest in both his heat and the overall the Men’s 50m Freestyle semi-final as he will look to take out the gold again tomorrow morning. He will be joined by Isaac Cooper in this meet as they both want to make a 1-2 for our Aussie Dolphins. Look out for Alex Perkins having been second fastest in semi-final 2 of the Women’s 50m Butterfly ahead of team-mate Brianna Throssell in 4th where they will both look to get the job done inn the final tomorrow. Don’t forget there will be another USA v Australia challenge this time in Jaclyn Barclay v Clare Curzan in the Women’s 200m backstroke & Barclay hopes it’s her moment by ending Curzan’s unreal dominance up front for the gold. And both Maddy Gough & Kiah Melverton will round out the Super Saturday golden line-up in the Women’s 800m Freestyle Final.

As said, forget about smashing the medal tally again since most of our top swimmers are going for the Olympics which is more important than just going in at another World Champs in such short time. But again, it gives some other swimmers a chance to make a name for themselves including a few teenage/juniors who are part of our next generation cohort & sure they will make that count this weekend on a high note before looking ahead at the National Olympic trials around June.

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Day 5 of the 2024 World Swimming Championships saw the Dolphins pick up two medals again off the back of another good swim from Iona Anderson in the Women’s 50m backstroke for silver as well as a team bronze in Women’s 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay. First of all, good start by Brianna Throssell with the early start up to 2nd while Shayna Jack has pushed them into the lead at one stage. Now things weren’t the same when Abbey Harkin struggled to stay ahead down to 4th before Kiah Melverton hang in there well during the last shift to only regain just a spot back to 3rd. And how good was 16-year-old Anderson who got away with another silver medal. She pushed so hard following a great start into 2nd. Yes, this could’ve been her moment where she fell so short to Clare Curzan again by 0.02 secs at the end there. But again Anderson is one of the future & sure she’ll get her first gold medal sooner rather than later. There will be gold medal opportunities for the Dolphins coming up on Day 6 tomorrow with Shayna Jack in the Women’s 100m Freestyle and the Men’s 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay.

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The Dolphins have got the gold at last halfway through this week’s World Swimming Championships as what a moment by Sam Williamson – the 26 year old from Mount Waverley in Victoria – who wowed everybody in the Men’s 50m breaststroke sprint Final. He might have fired off the bat from behind but had a brilliant last 25m form to lock out Italian Nicole Martinenghi at the end of the wall by just 0.07 of a sec at 26.32 – how good!! This is his first World Championship gold medal as let’s hope he will kick on for more throughout this year including the Summer Olympics in Paris this July-August.

Other than that, we were also oh so close where Elijah Winnington was two seconds behind Daniel Wiffen from Ireland in the Men’s 800m Freestyle Final & also in the 4 x 100m Mixed Medley Relay Final to Team USA. Elijah was outstanding from the start with the early lead where he was on the World Record radar at one stage but just couldn’t stay ahead when he lost the lead towards the last 400m. He did get back a spot back that late towards the very end though – just not enough time to challenge Wiffen there a bit longer. Meanwhile in the Mixed Medley race, slow start but Williamson (Breaststroke) organised a great springboard for his female team-mates to bring it home from 3rd where Brianna Throssell (butterfly) & Shayna Jack (freestyle) did their best during the last half shift – even though it wasn’t possible to catch down Team USA for 2nd.

And shoutout to Throssell again with the 200m Freestyle in bronze. Now the race for gold may be out of reach by Siobhan Haughey from Hong Kong while Jack’s good start has quickly faded not far from the end down in 7th, but she too has a brilliant swim all along on what has been her first individual World Championship medal other than lots of team relays.

Another four days left to go despite the chances of topping the medal charts may be out of reach since most of our top swimmers are choosing the Olympics over this World Championships, but there will be at least 1-2 gold medal opportunities coming up tomorrow such as Iona Anderson in the 50m backstroke sprint and the Women’s 4 x 200m Freestyle Team Relay.

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Still no gold on Day 3 of the 2024 World Swimming Championships but the Dolphins Swim Team collected just the one silver from Iona Anderson in the Women’s 100m backstroke final that includes fellow Aussie Jaclyn Barclay, who finished 4th in that race. Good effort up front in the last dash but just not enough to stop Clare Curzan in time for the gold by nearly one second (+00.83). It’s her first World Championship medal at only age 17/18 as WA has a brilliant talented swimmer right there & sure she will get better in the years ahead with lots of gold medals being earned all over it. The same goes to Barclay, who fell short outside of the podium spots, but again Barclay is 16 from QLD & also one of the brightest next crop of stars to light up in the next few years including the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and the home games in Brisbane for 2032 as well.

Other than that it’s not Elijah Willington’s day as we hoped for in the Men’s 200m Freestyle Final where he finished 7th. So does Maddy Gough after she also came home in the same position as Elijah in the Women’s 1500m Freestyle Final, having competed in the open water World Championship races with Moesha Johnson earlier this month in 18th.

Going into Day 4, we might not have the time to catch up and dominate this medal tally again like last year in Fukuoka, Japan, since most of them have skipped this WC on what is going to be a huge Olympics year in July-August. But there’s a few gold opportunities we can look forward to with Sam Williamson in the Men’s 50m breaststroke (fastest in his own semi heat & will start from lane 4) as well as Shayna Jack & Brianna Throssell in the Women’s 200m Freestyle with huge competition up for grabs, Winnington again in the 800m Freestyle & the 4 x 200m Mixed Medley Team Relay. So 2-3 would be great but to be real with USA & China comfortably in front, the Dolphins should finally take out the gold tomorrow.

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Day 2 of the 2024 World Swimming Championships was okay but underwhelming when trying to snatch a gold medal for our Dolphins where Cam McAvoy only walked away with just the bronze in the Men’s 50m butterfly Final ahead of team-mate Isaac Cooper who finished 4th. Other than that, there were close finishes just outside the podium spots like Sam Williamson in the Men’s 100m breaststroke Final as well as Brianna Throssell in the Women’s 100m Butterfly Final. Also, Alex Perkins was with Throssell in that race but she finished 6th.

So still no gold yet going into Day 3 but there’s always a few opportunities coming up with Elijah Winnington in the Men’s 200m Freestyle, Maddy Gough in the Women’s 1500m Freestyle, Jaclyn Barclay & Iona Anderson in the Women’s 100m backstroke. As said while some of our best swimmers will prioritise the Olympics this year over another unusual World Championships, but our Dolphins team are doing their best & sure they will get better as it gets later this week in Doha, Qatar.

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