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Zac Stubblety-Cook

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One silver by the 4 x 100 Women’s Medley Relay Team and Meg Harris’s joint bronze in the 50m Freestyle Final wraps up Australia’s run in 2nd at the 2022 World Swimming Championships

by Sports Benches

The Dolphins may have collected just the silver and bronze on the final day of this year’s World Swimming Championships, but they still finished 2nd on this medal tally alone with six gold, nine silver and two bronze at a total of 17 medals.

Nice seeing Meg Harris share the joint bronze medal with Team USA’s Erika Brown at 24:38 in the Women’s 50m Freestyle Final. She was 3rd fastest overall from start to finish – including a great start in her heat & also she finished 2nd in the 2nd semi.

Then we saw the 4 x 100 Women’s Medley Relay Team wrap up 2nd after a fantastic start earlier yesterday in the heats. Yes, they couldn’t nail down Team USA on time for the gold when building an early lead would’ve gave them an extra edge towards their arch rivals. However, the girls swam really well within the Top 3 nonetheless from Kaylee McKeown, Jenna Strauch, Brianna Throssell & Mollie O’Callaghan.

Overall, it’s great to see our Dolphins finish off 2nd. We have a few of the world’s fastest swimmers that is developed & produced right here with freestyler Mollie O’Callaghan, backstroker Kaylee McKeown, and breaststroker Zac Stubblety-Cook. Although Elijah Winnington’s opening day gold in the Men’s 400m Freestyle Final may not have translated everywhere else, but surely he can bounce back next time.

And we have plenty of bright and talented youngsters coming through the ranks who is tipped for massive potential. They are ready to make history in collecting gold medals like O’Callaghan, McKeown & Stubblety-Cook – before they look to hopefully end Team USA’s long-running dominance up top & take over the world themselves regardless if its the WC and/or Olympic medal tally.

Thanks to Budapest, Hungary, for being such a great host once again for the second time that goes back to five years ago in 2017. For now, bring on the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, next month, as well as renewing our arch-rivalry with Team USA back home in Sydney this August.

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Mollie O’Callaghan & Zac Stubblety Cook’s outstanding swims in their respective Finals puts Australia back into 2nd on Day 6 of the 2022 World Swimming Championships

by Sports Benches

We’re back into 2nd now on the medal tally for the Dolphins Swim Team, having snatched another two gold medals today thanks to Mollie O’Callaghan and Zac Stubblety-Cook after Day 6 of the 2022 World Swimming Championships.

Stubblety-Cook may not had the early momentum needed to stay ahead when he was battling outside the Top 3. The gamble to go all in the last 50m paid off however, when he came from behind with less than 100m to go before he trumped the whole field on the way home that secured his first World Championship Gold Medal in the Men’s 200m breaststroke.

Same goes to O’Callaghan over in the Women’s 100m Freestyle who was also initially off the pace. But likewise to what Stubblety-Cook did in the last-half, she began to rebound just in time up front towards a photo finish, and she has done it to upsurge Sweden’s Sarah Sjoestroem and Team USA’s Tori Huske for the gold she really wanted which is absolutely stunning.

Then there’s more than just the two outstanding swimmers on display where they took home another two silver medals.

Excellent job from Zac Incerti with the turnaround once he took over the baton from Elijah Winnington. His excellent spell in the last 100m puts them in 2nd after Stage 2 of the Men’s 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay Final; That helped him paved an easy pathway for Sam Short & Mack Horton to bring it all the way home where they finished 2nd.

And how good was Jenna Strauch in the Women’s 200m breaststroke? Although she couldn’t hold off Team USA’s Lily King towards the very end of the wall, but it’s still an excellent swim – especially in the 2nd half where she caught up side-by-side to the frontrunners just in time for the climax of this race.

The hard work isn’t over going into the final two days with Kaylee McKeown in the Women’s 200m backstroke Final, Kiah Melverton in the Women’s 800m Freestyle Final & Matt Temple in the Men’s 100m butterfly Final – plus the Mixed 4 x 100 Freestyle Relay if possible tomorrow. Initially, Lani Pallister was set to compete in the Women’s 800m Freestyle tomorrow with Melverton for the gold but then COVID caught her which means she has to withdraw from the running & sit for at least a week in isolation.

For now, what a day for O’Callaghan & Stubblety-Cook who made our Aussies very proud on the pool.

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Another silver for the Dolphins Swim Team on Day 5 of the 2022 World Swimming Championships with three potential gold medal races to bounce back tomorrow

by Sports Benches

Another day, another silver medal for the Dolphins Swim Team after Day 5 of the 2022 World Swimming Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

Let’s start with 18-year-old Mollie O’Callaghan who endured a fantastic day once again in the pool. Not only she was too good all along in the lead up to tomorrow night’s Women’s 100m breaststroke final, but she also brought home another silver for the Dolphins with Madi Wilson, Leah Neale & Kiah Melverton in the Women’s 4 x 200m freestyle relay.

Although Neale has the most credit when she briefly led the field at one point going into Stage 3/4 – but Katie Ledecky came in at the same as Melverton where she was proved too good for Team USA that sets up Bella Sims to finish off comfortably in 1st. As Bobby Hurley said on commentary, O’Callaghan will need to build on the early momentum in order to stay ahead. It’s the one weakness she couldn’t nail down China’s Junxuan Yang just before the finish line yesterday in the Women’s 200m Freestyle Final.

Then we look at Jenna Strauch over in the Women’s 200m breaststroke as she never looked out of place – especially when she came 1st in the semis before she ended up being the overall fastest out of the Top 8 for tomorrow night’s final. So does Zac Stubblety-Cook who smashed it in the Men’s 200m breaststroke where he came first as well in both preliminaries that sets up another potential gold to take home.

And shoutout to two other swimmers who couldn’t quite finish at least in the Top 3 but did their best nonetheless; Kaylee McKeown P6 in the Women’s 50m backstroke, as well as 18-year-old Liz Dekkers P5 in the Women’s 200m butterfly on her first International final – with a personal best time of 2:07:81.

Keep an eye on O’Callaghan, Stubblety-Cook and Strauch in the finals tomorrow that would hopefully put the Dolphins back to 2nd with three days left – even though it’s nearly impossible to catch up to their arch-rivals – Team USA.

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2022 World Swimming Championships Day 4: Dolphins Swim Team oh so close again with two silver medals on display

by Sports Benches

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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