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Shayna Jack

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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The first day of another unexpected World Swimming Championships from Doha, Qatar, saw the Dolphins collect all two silver medals – despite falling one short away from gold – as they sit 5th on this medal tally. Oh so close from Elijah Winnington who came back so hard to hunt the leader down in the last 100m towards the end on what has been a huge 400m Freestyle Final, but just didn’t tap the wall first under pressure to upsurge Woomin Kim (South Korea) in 2nd. Good to see him rebound though as hope he will go one better again like he did two years ago with his first gold medal, having only collected one bronze during the 4 x Men’s 200m Freestyle Relay at the last World Champs in Fukuoka, Japan, seven months ago.

Now some of our top swimmers have chosen to forego this tourney, especially with a big year ahead that early with the Olympics later this July-August. However, the female relay team did their absolute best in the 4 x 100m Freestyle Final consisting of Shayna Jack, Abbey Harkin, Alex Perkins & Brianna Throssell. Again, brilliant start by Throssell up to 2nd place while things could’ve been better when it comes to the last half dashes during the middle leg in particular with Harkin & Perkins in there, but Shayna Jack got them back up front in the best way possible where she fell so short by just 00.32 sec towards the end there to the Netherlands. Sure the second string squad will learn well from the best who are not in Doha by filling their void and push themselves towards the next level throughout this week and the months to come.

And shoutout to our Tasman neighbour Erika Fairweather who won her first ever gold medal for both herself and New Zealand after she dominated comfortably in the 400m Freestyle Final. Let’s hope despite some of them missing or sitting out, the Dolphins can do better on Day 2 tomorrow morning (Australian time) by topping the medal charts once again.

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Oh so close from 18-year-old Mollie O’Callaghan with the silver in the 200m Women’s Freestyle Final. Yes, she wanted to build up gradually & then go all-in as part of her tactics inside the pool, having been comfortably in between 2nd and 3rd already. However, she just couldn’t catch up China’s Junxuan Yang on time before the end of the wall. It’s still a good swim though as she just her collected another medal here on top of her opening day gold in the Women’s 4 x 100 Freestyle Relay Final. Her team-mate Madison Wilson finished 5th where we would’ve liked to see her finish Top 2 again alongside Mollie from the heats and semis yesterday but great effort to bring it all the way home nonetheless.

Then we move onto the 4 x 100 Mixed Medley Relay Final where the Dolphins may be well off the pace during the first half with Kaylee McKeown (backstroke) and Zac Stubblety-Cook (breaststroke) leading our baton. However, it’s great to see Matt Temple recover well back in the Top 3 via the butterfly before Shayna Jack freestyles her way home that secured them the silver medal. It could’ve been another gold once again if McKeown and Stubblety-Cook were side-by-side with Team USA for the whole time. That way, the finish would’ve gave a better chance of thumping their arch-rivals for the gold, but glad to see them on the podium after a brilliant 2nd-half performance that provided a better pull towards the homestretch.

That’s all for Day 4 of the 2022 World Swimming Championships as the Dolphins added two silver today to their medal tally; two gold, four silver and one bronze that still sees them in 3rd spot right now behind Italy by just one gold medal.

Let’s see if Kaylee McKeown can get back to her best tomorrow night on Day 5 in the Women’s 50m backstroke Final, after she finished 3rd all day long that qualifies overall in 6th fastest. And so does 18-year-old Liz Dekkers from Brisbane in the Women’s 200m Butterfly Final following a bright start in the heats; She may finished 4th in the 1st semis but has done enough to book her place in 6th.

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It’s been a great start for our Australian Dolphins Swim Team in 2nd right now behind Team USA following the opening day of this year’s FINA World Championships with the swimming at Duna Arena in Budapest, Hungary.

The women’s 4 x 100 freestyle relay team’s performance was simply outstanding throughout today in both heats (3:33:74) and finals (3:30:95) where they dominated the entire pool, even though they well just short of world record time (3:29: 69). They all did it without the Campbell sisters in Bronte and Kate – currently both taking time away from the pool, as well as Emma McKeon – who chose to focus solely on next month’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.

But again they have an amazing line-up of swimmers to assemble that can do the job without them, especially to Shayna Jack back in action after she recently finished serving her two-year doping ban. Brianna Throsell and Leah Neale also both filled in during the heats earlier on before the Dolphins threw in two amazing youngsters who smashed it in the final – Meg Harris & Mollie O’Callaghan. And Madison Wilson knows all about relay experience too well as any team-mate got the best out of her presence every time Wilson is competing poolside, having just picked up her 4th world championship gold medal that all comes from team finals swims.

Then we look at the men’s team where Eijah Winnington took out his first world championship gold medal in the 400 m freestyle final. What a breakthrough it has been by the 22-year-old who hails from the Gold Coast, with many more moments like this to come.

Speaking of 400m, how good was Kyle Chalmers in the freestyle relay – especially when his team-mates were out of the Top 3 for the majority until he jumped in & made a huge difference that helped them secure the silver in 2nd at 3:10:80 – just over a second behind the comfortable victors from USA (3:09:34).

We’re tied with them at two gold now in the medal tally going into Day 2 later tonight if you exclude the silver and bronze.

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