World Short Course Championships
Melbourne 2022
Team Speedo Scoop Awards Pool With Maggie MacNeil (CAN) and Ryan Murphy (USA) Named World Short Course Swimmers Of The Meet
Canada’s Speedo Ambassador Maggie MacNeil capped off a record breaking 16th Fina World Swimming Championship in Melbourne when she set a new world mark to win the 100m butterfly on the final night of competition – her second of the meet.
The 22-year-old MacNeil stopped the clock at 54.05 to win her third individual gold medal adding to the 50m backstroke where she set her first world record of 25.25 earlier in the week.
The Tokyo Olympic champion was the only individual swimmer to set two new world records and one of only two swimmers to set individual world marks, taking home a total of six medals – three gold and three bronze in the Canadian women’s relays.
Her efforts earned her the Female Swimmer of the Meet, saying she was honoured to win the award.
“Seeing so many records get broken and amazing swims this week, I am so honoured, honestly, to be the swimmer of the meet,” MacNeil said.
“It means the world to me to finish 2022 off on such a high note. Unbelievable; I never thought I would get one, let alone two, world records."
While American backstroking maestro Ryan Murphy also capped off a cracking meet winning the 200m backstroke to give him the backstroke treble – before he led the US team to a thrilling dead-heat with the Australians in world record time – in the 4x100m medley relay – a fitting way to finish what was a spectacular meet.
Murphy finished with six medals – five gold and one silver – the most gold of any male swimmer at the meet, giving him all three majors – Gold in the 200m backstroke at the Rio Olympics in 2016 and World Long Course and Short Course gold in 2022.
Fittingly, Murphy was awarded Male Swimmer of the Meet, saying: ““My goal coming in was to add as many medals to Team USA as possible. We did that tonight – and we added a World Record, too.
“Swimming is a sport where you get so few opportunities to race, and I really want to take advantage of every opportunity.”
Team mate Kieran Smith finished with three gold including the 400m freestyle, one silver and one bronze and it was Smith who anchored the 4x100m freestyle relay dead heat with the Dolphins.
In a frantic final night Australia’s Kaylee McKeown etched her name into the annals of world swimming – winning her fourth major 200m backstroke crown in the last 18 months – after her Olympic gold in Tokyo last year and her World Long Course in Budapest and the Commonwealth Games gold in Birmingham.
It was then off to the 4x100m medley relay where McKeown and Emma McKeon played major roles in Australia’s silver medal winning 4x100m medley relay which saw McKeon clock the fastest ever 100m butterfly split of 53.93.
McKeon finished the meet with seven medals – four gold and three silver while her fellow Australian Speedo Ambassadors Mollie O’Callaghan finished with seven medals (three gold, three silver and one bronze), McKeown with five (three gold; one silver and one bronze ) while break-out swimmer of the meet Lani Pallister finished with a total of four gold medals.
Between them McKeon and Pallister won five of the six women’s freestyle events – McKeon the 50 and 100m double that she won at the Olympics and Pallister the 400, 800 and 1500m freestyle.
Seven of the eight individual gold medals won by Australia were by Team Speedo trio McKeon, McKeown and Pallister.
The overall medal standings saw Team USA come out on top with 36 medals (17 Gold, 13 Silver and 6 Bronze) ahead of Australia 26 medals (13 gold, 8 silver and 5 bronze) and Italy 16 medals (5 Gold, 6 Silver and 5 bronze).
Emma McKeon Sets a New Championship Record To Win A Fun 50m Free And A WR in The 4x50m Medley Relay
Night 5 of 6 and Emma McKeon is on track to win her fifth gold medal and her seventh medal of the meet when the 16th World Short Course Swimming Championships winds up in Melbourne on Sunday.
The 27-year-old’s stellar career keeps building and building and tonight saw her add two more gold to her mountain of medals – with a stunning victory in her “fun event” the 50m freestyle and a ‘fly leg in Australia’s world record-breaking 4x50m medley relay.
Emma now has four gold and two silver and two world records in the 4x100 freestyle and 4x50m medley, swum tonight.
McKeon took on butterfly duties in the medley relay in the opening event with Team Speedo team mate Mollie O’Callaghan on backstroke, joining Chelsea Hodges (breaststroke) and Madi Wilson (freestyle).
The girls smashed the world record in a time of 1:42.35 – Mollie O starting proceedings with a stunning Australian 50m backstroke record of 25.49 – one of the fastest times ever swum, with Hodges clocking 29.11, Emma 24.43 and Wilson 23.32.
McKeon, who refuses to call herself a 50m freestyle specialist, had no idea what the Championship record was but certainly knew the world record of 22.93, set by The Netherlands Olympic champion Ranomi Kromowidjojo in 2017 – surprised at just how close she got.
She was right on song in her most impressive victory of the meet, finishing ahead of Katarzyna Wasick (POL) 23.55 with Team Speedo’s Anna Hopkin (GBR) taking the bronze in 23.68.
The girl who rarely shows a great deal of emotion but who touched the wall and thrust her arm in the air to aknowledge the crowd in a spontaneous celebration.
“I still don’t call myself a 50m freestyle specialist, I prefer the 100 free but I knew I had to kill that start – it’s probably one of my strengths that start- I knew if I got that I could control it and I knew Katarzyna would be hard to hold off and I really had to be on my game,” said McKeon (on Channel 9) noting she trains for the 200m, rates the 100m as her pet event and the 50 as her fun event.
“I didn’t know what the Championship record was – I knew the world record was 22.93 which is unbelievable and I didn’t think I’d come that close to it really.”
McKeon is the first Australian since Libby Trickett in 2006 to win the 50m freestyle and joins an elite club of four sprinters who have achieved the 50-100m double (three of them did it twice): China’s Le Jingyi (1993 and 1995), Sweden’s Therese Alshammar (2000 and 2002), Trickett (2006) and Kromowidjojo (2010 and 2018).
Another Team Speedo swimmer, Hali Flickinger from the USA won her first individual gold in an international competition since her 2018 Pan Pacs gold in the 200m butterfly when she took out the 400m IM in 4:26.51 with Leah Smith fourth.
Flickinger saying: ““I took it out fast. It was fun and I just wanted to swim my own race. I know my strengths and my weaknesses, so I just tried to do my best.”
In other events, Olympic champion and Speedo Ambassador Maggie McNeil (CAN), fresh from her world record breaking win in the 50m backstroke nin 25.25, has qualified third fastest for the 100m butterfly on the final night, while breaststroking legend Adam Peaty (GBR) has qualified seventh fastest into the 50m breaststroke final – happy to have a lane and with just 0.25 between first and seventh it would be brave man to right him off.
Lani Pallister’s Record Fourth World SC Gold And An Unforgettable Medal Presentation From Her Godmother
It was a night that could not have been scripted any better and it took just 15 minutes 21.43 seconds to unfold at the Melbourne Sports And Aquatic Centre last night.
That’s how long it took for Australia’s latest queen of the pool Speedo Ambassador Lani Pallister to add a fourth gold medal to her name in the inaugural 1500m freestyle on the fourth night of the 16th World Short Course Championships.
And Lani’s time also set a new Oceania, Commonwealth and Australian record– making her one of the fastest swimmers over 1500m swimmers in the world behind the world’s greatest female swimmer, Katie Ledecky.
But what unfolded next were some of the most heart-warming moments ever witnessed at a world championship swim meet.
The medal presenter was Dawn Fraser – Olympic swimming legend who started her extraordinary career at the 1956 Games in Melbourne – and just so happens to be Lani Pallister's godmother.
Fraser presented Lani with her memorable fourth gold and she hugged Fraser before inviting her onto the podium for the pair to sing Advance Australia Fair – Fraser wondering whether she was ever going to escape Lani’s clutches.
It was then off to the grandstand for Lani to find mother, Olympian Janelle Elford and her father, former Australian surf lifesaving champion and triathlete Rick Pallister for a special family moment.
It capped off a record breaking week for Lani who started out with a hard-fought opening gold medal swim in the 400m freestyle before adding the 800m, with New Zealand’s Team Speedo swimmer Erika Fairweather taking silver both times.
The nights swim completing a treble of freestyle wins that had never ben achieved before by a female swimmer at a world championships.
Lani then brought home Australia’s 4x200m freestyle relay team for gold in a new world record time – a week that will take a lot of beating as Lani and coaches Michael Bohl and Mum Janelle plot her pathway to Paris in 2024.
In a busy night for Team Speedo, USA’s Ryan Murphy eventually won gold in the 50m backstroke after a false start fiasco forced officials to re-swim the final when only half the field started the race.
Murphy added the 50m dash to his win in the 100m and he now starts his countdown to the 200m as he chases the treble.
The Americans had another record-breaking night with Speedo Ambassador Kieran Smith led off the US team’s gold medal, world record breaking 4x200m freestyle relay team.
The Australian team with Team Speedo’s Tommy Neil and Mack Horton finished with silver and were also under the old world mark set by Brazil in 2018.
It was the fifth win for the US 4x200 boys who had won the title in 2004, 2012, 2014 and 2021 – a team that also included Kieran Smith and his 2022 teammate Carson Foster.
Meanwhile Emma McKeon continued her medal winning collection as part of the Australian silver medal winning team that finished second to France who also set a new world record in the Mixed 4x50m Freestyle Relay.
Emotional Emma McKeon Dedicates 100m Freestyle Gold To Her Greatest Fans
It was an emotional night poolside for Australian golden girl Emma McKeon as Team Speedo again swept the pool on a thrilling night three at the Fina World Short Course Championships in a packed Melbourne Sports And Aquatic Centre.
The 27-year-old Wollongong-born Gold Coaster pulled out all stops to win her first ever individual gold medal at a World SC meet, holding off Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey, the defending champion, in a ripping 100m freestyle final.
McKeon had the perfect touch to edge out the fast finishing Haughey, taking the win in 50.77 – and stealing Haughey’s Championship record in the process.
There were emotional scenes after the gold medal presentation when McKeon climbed the grandstands to find her grandparents, Tony and Jenny Woodhouse, who she described as “my greatest fans.”
“They are from Melbourne and don’t get many opportunities to see me swim live so I wanted to dedicate tonight’s race to them,” said McKeon.
“My grandparents have followed my swimming career and also my brother David all over the world, watching us on television and sending text messages, so it was so nice to see them cheering me on when I received my gold medal.”
McKeon and fellow Speedo Ambassador Mollie O’Callaghan were back on the podium later in the night as silver medallists in Australia’s gallant 4x50m freestyle relay, who as hard as they tried couldn’t quite catch the power-packed US team.
There was also joyous Team Speedo scenes for Lizzy Dekkers winning Bronze in the 200 Butterfly Tommy Neil did all he could to chase down US star Kieran Smith in the 400 Freestyle with Kieran holding on for Gold.
The fast and furious action will continue on day four with Mollie O’Callaghan safely through to the50m backstroke final –with 100m winner Kaylee McKeown missing the top eight by just 0.07.
Lani Pallister Strikes Double Gold In Spectacular Night for Team Speedo
It was gold...gold and more gold for Team Speedo on night two of the World Short Course Championships on a freezing Melbourne night with American Ryan Murphy and Australia’s Lani Pallister both claiming spectacular doubles.
And Australian Dolphins “best mates” Kaylee McKeown and Mollie O’Callaghan also claimed Australia’s first 1-2 finish.
Before, Canadian Olympic champion Maggie MacNeil dead-heated for gold in a thrilling 50m butterfly final with the USA’s Torri Huske.
Four-time Olympic champion, Murphy could not have wished for a better start, leading the US to a golden start in a new world record time in the Mixed 4x50m medley relay.
The backstroking king then nudged the world record in winning his second gold of the night and his second World SC title in the 100m backstroke – his previous title coming in 2018.
The 27-year-old led all the way to score an emphatic victory, his first time under 49 seconds with stopping the clock at 48.50 – just 0.17 outside fellow American Coleman Stewart’s world record.
Then along came Pallister, who has launched herself onto the international scene in style this week, adding the 800m freestyle gold tonight to her 400m gold from night one.
The 20-year-old from the Gold Coast delivered an all-the way win in the 800 metres freestyle in a personal best and Australian record time of 8:04.07.
It followed Pallister’s gold medal in the 400m freestyle on the opening night – making her only the fifth woman to win the 400-800m double at a World Short Course Championship.
Silver went to New Zealand’s Erika Fairweather, who was also second to Pallister in the 400m on night one.
But Pallister wasn’t done, taking her gold medal tally to three when she anchored the Australian 4x200m freestyle relay team to gold in a world record time – a team that included O’Callaghan who earlier in the night finished a fighting second to Olympic champion McKeown in a tightly contested 100m backstroke final.
McKeown lunging at the wall to snatch victory in 55.49 to O’Callaghan’s 55.62.
MacNeil and Huske touched together in 24.64 in a heart-stopping 50m fly final – the crowd cheering when the scoreboard flashed up a deadheat
While in the men’s 100m breaststroke semi-finals, British breaststroking legend Adam Peaty looked impressive in winning his semi-final in 56.42, only to see the first three placegetters in the second semi swim faster – just.
World Short Course gold is the only one missing from Peaty’s world wide medal collection at Olympics, World Long Course, Europeans LC and SC and the Commonwealth Games.
In a stellar career the 27-year old has amassed a collection of 45 medals – 32 gold, 11 silver and two bronze.
Opening Night
Golden Opening Night for Lani Pallister And The Relay Girls At World Short Course Opening Night
It was a golden start for Australia’s all-conquering women on the opening night of the Fina World Short Course Championships in Melbourne tonight with Team Speedo’s Lani Pallister leading the way and the 4x100m freestyle relay team striking gold in world record time.
Pallister kicked-started the night when she became only the third Australian to win the 400m freestyle at a Short Course World’s, following Kylie Palmer (2008) and Team Speedo’s Ariarne Titmus (2018).
But Pallister had to pull out all stops to get past fellow Speedo Ambassador, New Zealand’s Erica Fairweather, with the brave Kiwi leading the Aussie girl through the first half of the 16 lap journey.
The 20-year-old from the Gold Coast bided her time through the first 300 metres before pouncing on Fairweather to win her first open title in a personal best time of 3:55.04 (1:56.81).
Fairweather, the fastest qualifier from this morning’s preliminaries, chased Pallister home to take the silver in 3:56.00 (1:56.69), her second personal best of the day with USA’s Leah Smith taking the bronze in 3:59.78 (1:58.49).
Australia’s all-conquering women’s 4x100m freestyle relay team added the World Short Course crown in a new world record to their Olympic and World Championship successes – adding the one missing title in front of a raucous home crowd at the Melbourne Sports And Aquatic Centre.
They have added Short Course gold to their impeccable long course record with Speedo’s Olympic golden girl Emma McKeon anchoring in a history making sub 100m split of 49.96 – the first female to swim 49 seconds in the blue ribband freestyle event.
The Dolphins team led off by Team Speedo’s Mollie O’Callaghan (52.19) also included Madi Wilson (51.28) and Meg Harris (52.00) clocked a new world mark of 3:25.43 – over a full second under the old mark set by the Netherlands in Doha in 2014.
The Australians overtook the USA on the final leg with the Americans taking the silver in 3:26.29 with Canada third in 3:28.06
McKeon becomes the first women to break 50 seconds, overtaking fellow Australian sprint queen Cate Campbell’s 50.38.
Also adding to Australia’s medal tally on night one was dual Olympic champion, Team Speedo’s Kaylee McKeown who won bronze in the 200IM in a new Oceania, Commonwealth and Australian record time of 2:03.57.
Team USA Olympic medallists Kate Douglass and Alex Walsh stole the limelight with the first 1-2 finish of the meet – taking gold and silver respectively.
Douglas set her second Championship record of the day, in a new All American mark with her winning time of 2:02.12, just 0.26 outside Katinka Hosszu’s 2014 world record of 2:01.86.
Walsh hanging on for silver in 2:03.37 with McKeown setting a new Oceania, Commonwealth and Australian record in 2:03.57, with defending champion Sydney Pickrem (Canada) fifth in 2:05.22, while in the men’s 200IM saw Clyde Lewis finish seventh in a highly competitive final, clocking 1:53.19.
McKeown had a busy day, also qualifying for the 100m backstroke final, which sees O’Callaghan a surprise fastest qualifier in a star-studded final.
Preview
Olympic Golden Girls Spearhead Team Speedo For World Short Course Championships in Melbourne
Two of the stars of Australia’s Tokyo Olympic campaign, Emma McKeon and Kaylee McKeown will be front and centre when the16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) – kick off on Tuesday (December 13) at the Melbourne Sports And Aquatic Centre.
It will be the first time the World Short Course Championships have been hosted in Australia since the inaugural meet in Palma de Majorca , Spain in 1993.
Australia has a celebrated history at the Short Course World’s – winning a total of 242 medals across 15 meets – 79 of those medals gold.
And this Australian team will be looking to add to those totals when they welcome the world down under.
McKeon and McKeown each won two individual Olympic gold medals – McKeon in the 50m and 100m freestyle and McKeown in the 100 and 200m backstroke in a spectacular meet by the Dolphins.
But this will be their first World Short Course Championships– as they prepare for next year’s Fina World Long Course Championships, in Fukuoka, Japan in July.
McKeon will line up in both her freestyle sprint events while an “injury free” McKeown will add both the 50 backstroke and the 200IM to her 100 and 200m backstroke events.
McKeown will be chasing a rare feat when she attempts to add the 100 and 200m backstroke titles to her Olympic and Commonwealth Games doubles and her 2022 World Long Course title over 200m backstroke – holding all four major 200m titles at once. They will headline a host of Speedo ambassadors on show in the Australian team, that has been Staging in Bendigo in the lead up to the meet – one of the host cities for the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
Other Australia and New Zealand Team Speedo representatives lining up will be 2016 Olympic champion Mack Horton (400, 800m freestyle), a rejuvenated Clyde Lewis (100 and 200IM), Australian short course record holder over 800 and 1500m freestyle Lani Pallister (400, 800m, 1500m freestyle), New Zealand’s long course record holder in the 400m freestyle Erika Fairweather, Olympic relay bronze medallist Tommy Neill (200, 400m freestyle), world record holder over 100m backstroke Minna Atherton (200m backstroke), World and Commonwealth 100m freestyle world champion Mollie O’Callaghan (50, 100m backstroke) and Commonwealth 200m butterfly champion Lizzy Dekkers (200mm butterfly).
The total prize money for the 16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Melbourne 2022 is a cool $US2.16 million dollars for the best-ranked swimmers in individual events and for the best-ranked relay teams in relay events.
The prize money will be equally distributed to men and women for both individual athletes and relay teams from 1st place to 8th place.
Individual & Relay Events
1st place - US $ 10,000
2nd place - US $ 8,000
3rd place - US $ 7,000
4th place - US $ 6,000
5th place - US $ 5,000
6th place - US $ 4,000
7th place - US $ 3,000
8th place - US $ 2,000
There will also be $US25,000 paid to the swimmers establishing each new World Record during the programme of the Championships.
McKeown holds the world record in the 200m backstroke with a time of 1:58.94 while her team mate Minna Atherton holds the world record in the 100m backstroke at 54.89, set in Budapest in 2019.
McKeown and Atherton will line up in the 200m backstroke, while McKeown and World and Commonwealth 100m freestyle champion O’Callaghan will feature in both the 50 and 100m backstrokes.
It will be a different world championship meet for Mollie O, who staked her claim as one of the world’s pre-eminent sprint freestylers in 2022 although she has emerged as somewhat of a backstroke sleeper – winning silver in the 50m backstroke in Birmingham and with her powerful turns could well be a surprise packet.
And a busy opening day for McKeown with the 100m backstroke-200IM double with a major focus on the 200m backstroke as she chases her own slice of swimming history – adding the World SC to her World LC, Olympic and Commonwealth Games golds.
SPEEDO FASTSKIN FAST FACT: The legendary Susie O’Neill held every 200m butterfly title from 1994 through 1999 – which included Olympic gold in 1996, Pan Pac gold in 1995, 1997 and 1999; World Championship gold in 1998; World Short Course gold in 1995 and Commonwealth Games gold in 1994 and 1998.
Image Credits: Wade Brennan
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