By Retta Race on SwimSwam
2026 AUSTRALIAN OPEN
Monday, April 6th – Wednesday, April 8th Gold Coast Aquatic Centre, Southport, Queensland, Australia Prelims at 9am local (7pm ET previous night)/Finals at 6pm local (4am ET) LCM (50m) SwimSwam Preview #1 SwimSwam Preview #2 Meet Central Start List Livestream (Aussie only or use VPN) Live ResultsDay one of the 2026 Australian Open unfolded from the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre, featuring some of the nation’s best Olympians and World Championships medalists. As a reminder, although not a selection meet, this competition does represent an important opportunity to tune up ahead of June’s Trials. That later affair will determine the Aussie rosters for this year’s Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacific Championships.
22-year-old Sam Short wasted no time making his presence known, with the Rackley star ripping a time of 3:42.53 to get to the wall first in the men’s 400m free.
Short led wire-to-wire, putting up a convincing victory over St. Peters Western’s Elijah Winnington who settled for silver nearly four seconds back in 3:46.36. That eked out runner-up status just half a second ahead of New Zealand Olympian Lewis Clareburt who rounded out the podium in 3:46.86.
Short’s effort tonight represents a new season-best, erasing his former time of 3:43.49 from last month’s Pro Swim Series in Westmont. He now ranks #2 in the world, with tonight’s outing checking in as the 8th-swiftest time of his career.
2025-2026 LCM Men 400 FREE
Zhang CHNZhanshuo 03/213:41.552Lukas MärtensGER3:43.0403/213SamuelSHORTAUS3:43.4903/074Leon Marchand FRA3:44.7012/045Luka MijatovicUSA3:45.3012/04View Top 26»Olympic multi-gold medalist Kaylee McKeown got it done for gold in the women’s 200m backstroke, dominating the field in a speedy time of 2:05.66.
Although she’s been slightly quicker this season, courtesy of the 2:05.08 notched at last month’s NSW State Open Championships, McKeown still touched over three seconds ahead of her peers here.
A pair of St. Peters Western athletes cleaned up the minor medals, with Hannah Fredericks producing 2:08.80 for silver and World Championships medalist Jenna Forrester collecting bronze in 2:10.74.
2025-2026 LCM Women 200 BACK
Regan USASmith03/042:04.902KayleeMCKEOWNAUS2:05.0803/073Isabelle Stadden USA2:05.9103/044Peng XuweiCHN2:07.7411/165Leah Shackley USA2:07.2112/06View Top 26»22-year-old Forrester also raced the women’s 400m IM on day one, the event in which she tied Japan’s Mio Narita for silver at last year’s World Championships in Singapore.
Forrester clinched the top spot in a solid performance of 4:35.40, her best of the season to rank 6th in the world at the moment.
Tara Kinder joined Forrester under the 4:40 barrier, posting 4:37.72 as the silver medalist. That’s just the second time Kinder has been in the sub-4:40 zone, adding this outing to her lifetime best of 4:37.14 from the 2025 edition of this competition.
Griffith University got on the board as a result of Ella Ramsay‘s bronze medal-worthy time of 4:40.78.
2025-2026 LCM Women 400 IM
SummerCANMCINTOSH01/164:28.132Yu ZidiCHN4:33.3303/213Mary-Sophie Harvey CAN4:34.3703/204Chang MohanCHN4:34.5911/175Ke WenxiCHN4:34.9103/21View Top 26»Olympic champion Mollie O’Callaghan delivered a head-turning performance en route to winning the women’s 100m free, with the Dean Boxall-trained weapon hitting a mark of 52.66.
MOC opened in 25.57 and closed in 27.09 to secure the victory, denying fellow Olympic medalist Meg Harris the gold.
24-year-old Harris of Rackley touched in 53.36 with 19-year-old Olivia Wunsch rounding out the podium in 53.58.
Other finishers included Shayna Jack, logging 53.91 for 4th place, just off the 53.91 she notched in the prelims and Alexandria Perkins, clocking 53.97 as the 5th-place swimmer.
Harris remains ranked #1 in the world as a result of the 52.56 she turned in at December’s Queensland Championships, while MOC’s time here surpasses her previous season-best of 52.80 from last month’s China Open. She now usurps Hong Kong multi-Olympic medalist Siobhan Haughey to check in as the world’s #2 swimmer right now.
2025-2026 LCM Women 100 FREE
MegAUSHARRIS12/1552.562Siobhan HaugheyHKG52.7702/083MollieO'CALLAGHANAUS52.8003/194MarritSTEENBERGEN NED52.9303/215SimoneMANUELUSA53.3312/06View Top 26»25-year-old Perkins also tried the women’s 50m fly on for size today, where she found success in another spicy time of 25.62, a mark among the top 10 best of her career.
She held a healthy advantage over New Zealand’s national record holder Hazel Ouwehand who touched in 26.13, just ahead of 19-year-old Mackenzie Burns who bagged the bronze in 26.34, a new personal best by .20.
Perkins’ career-best remains at the 25.31 Oceanian Record she put on the books as the silver medalist in Singapore.
The 25.44 she produced at the NSW State Open Championships last month rendered Perkins ranked 3rd in the world this season.
2025-2026 LCM Women 50 FLY
Gretchen USAWalsh 03/2225.122KateDouglassUSA25.3403/223AlexandriaPERKINSAUS25.4403/074IkeeRIKAKOJPN25.5503/215AngelinaKOHLER GER25.5703/21View Top 27»17-year-old Sienna Toohey continues to impress, with her outing of 1:06.69 to win the women’s 100m breaststroke falling just .14 shy of her 1:06.55 lifetime best established at last year’s Trials.
Tonight the teen split 31.60/35.09 on the road to victory, with Ramsay settling for silver less than half a second back in 1:07.12.
Kinder was in the water in this event as well, hitting 1:07.76 as tonight’s bronze medalist.
Toohey is looking good not only for potential Commonwealth Games qualification in this individual event but also as an important contributor on the Australian women’s medley relay.
Finally, on the women’s side, St. Peters Western Olympian Lani Pallister posted an impressive mark of 8:11.28 to take the 800m freestyle in decisive fashion.
The 23-year-old kept visiting Brazilian ace Maria Costa at bay, relegating her to silver in 8:23.98 as Kiwi Olympian and world champion Erika Fairweather settled for bronze in 8:26.55.
Pallister’s performance crushed her season-best entering this competition, a mark which stood at the 8:18.31 notched last December. She now ranks 3rd in the world.
2025-2026 LCM Women 800 FREE
KatieUSALEDECKY 03/048:04.122SummerMCINTOSHCAN8:05.0703/043Li BingjieCHN8:16.2703/194LaniPALLISTERAUS8:18.3112/155Yang PeiqiCHN8:19.5303/19View Top 25»Additional Notes
Olympic multi-medalist Kyle Chalmers delivered a time of 48.39 in the relatively subdued final of the men’s 100m freestyle. Chalmers nabbed splits of 23.30/25.09 to get to the wall just under half a second ahead of Bond’s 20-year-old Flynn Southam who clocked 48.80. St. Peters Western’s Kai Taylor was also under the 49-second threshold in 48.94. Of note, Olympian Matt Temple grabbed the B-Final win in 49.66. The men’s 50m back saw 28-year-old veteran Mark Nikolaev post a gold medal-worthy swim of 25.20. Isaac Cooper was a hair behind in 25.30 for silver with Bradley Woodward and Ethan MacDonald of New Zealand touching simultaneously in 25.82 as co-bronze medalists. Australia’s surprise bronze medalist in the 200m fly last year in Singapore was too quick to catch this evening in the event, as Harrison Turner reached the wall in 1:56.47. He established a new national record of 1:54.17 when he landed on the podium last year, so look for the 22-year-old to speed up significantly at June’s Trials. Teammate Alex Quach hit 1:58.08 as the silver medalist this evening and Caio Gallo logged 1:58.93 for 3rd place. The men’s 200m breast saw St. Peters Western’s Bailey Lello not only deny Olympic champion and former World Record holder Zac Stubblety-Cook the gold but the 22-year-old earned a shiny new personal best. Lello stopped the clock at 2:09.79 for his first-ever foray under the 2:10 barrier. Prior to this swim, Lello’s PB checked in at the 2:10.65 put up at the 2024 Olympic Trials. ZSC was next to touch in 2:10.03 and versatile William Petric of Nunawading notched 2:11.27 for bronze.Read the full story on SwimSwam: O’Callaghan Delivers 52.66 100 Free, Pallister Posts 8:11.28 800 Free At Aussie Open
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