By Sam Blacker on SwimSwam
2026 AUSTRALIAN SWIMMING TRIALS
Monday, June 8 – Saturday, June 13, 2026 Sydney, Australia Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre LCM (50 meters) Meet Central Commonwealth Selection Criteria Pan Pac Selection Criteria Psych Sheets Live Results Live Stream Storylines To Watch Live Recaps: Prelims: Day 1 Finals: Day 1With the first day of the 2026 Australian Trials now done and dusted, the first spots on the Commonwealth and Pan Pac teams have now been claimed and some rapid swims thrown down.
Among the myriad of storylines, we’ve pulled together five of the most interesting so far.
Fly-And-Die Is Dish Of The Day For 400 Free Stars
Both Sam Short and Lani Pallister went out like a rocket in their respective 400 free finals, hitting the halfway point significantly under PB pace. Short did so more egregiously, his 1:47.33 200 split just 1.62 seconds off his 200 free PB of 1:45.71, but Pallister’s 1:56.81 was also nearly a second faster than the 1:57.70 she went out in her 3:58.87 PB last summer.
Neither swimmer could quite hold onto their frantic pace, coming home around six seconds slower than their opening 200, but they had eye-opening swims regardless. Short lowered his PB of 3:40.68 from his epic race with Ahmed Hafnaoui at the 2023 World Championships by a single hundredth of a second, having gone out 1.96 seconds faster, while Pallister matched her swim from this meet last year to the hundredth in 3:59.72.
Both swimmers could expect to hold on slightly better when fully tapered this summer. Both swimmers are capable of winning silverware this summer. But they may have to swim slightly more strategically to maximise their returns, with both swimmers tying up a little down the stretch. However, having watched Sam Short hit the final turn 0.01 seconds under world record pace, you don’t really want them to play it safe.
Pallister is continuing her momentum from last summer. Short finally looks back to the form which saw him crowned as one of the most exciting young swimmers in the world back in 2023. After their swims today, you’d be forgiven for starting to count down the days until the Pan Pac and Commonwealth 400 free finals.
Williamson Looks Back To His Best
Sam Williamson‘s rather uncomfortable-looking patella injury last spring scuppered his chances of defending his 50 breast world title, and robbed fans of an opportunity to watch a swimmer who had become one of the best breaststrokers in the world.
He had some solid swims earlier this year after returning to the water, clocking 27.14 in the 50 breast and 1:00.97 in the 100 breast at the Australia Open Championships in April, but returning to 26.32/58.80 form was not a given.
Until today of course. He blasted a time of 59.11 in the heats, and dipped under that time to win the final in 59.07, moving up to 7th in the world this season. Those were his third- and fourth-fastest swims ever, behind only his trials times from 2024, and his 50 breast should be good after taking out the final in 27.07.
Williamson seems intensely likable. Can anyone who a hot cross bun recipe that takes three days be anything but a ray of sunshine? Seeing him not just back in the pool, but also back in form, is a lovely sight.
Forrester’s Day 1 Double Raises Expectations For Her 400 IM
Jenna Forrester broke out in 2023, winning 400 IM bronze at the Fukuoka World Championships in 4:32.30 at the age of 20, but had a rough Olympic Games a year later. She missed out on the 400 IM final in 9th, not breaking 4:40, and only made the Olympic team in that one event.
Singapore last year was a bounceback, as she claimed world silver in the 400 IM in 4:33.26, but she didn’t make the team in the 200 IM once again. This year, she has already put her name into the ring for two events at both Pan Pacs and Commonwealths, winning the 200 IM in 2:09.07 and placing 2nd in the 400 IM in 4:04.30
She was just 0.09 seconds off her 2023 PB of 2:08.98 in the 200 IM, and dropped well over two seconds from her 4:06.91 400 free PB, which she had neared with a 4:06.97 in the heats. Her IM splits were right on her PB splits, while her 400 free had exemplary 2:01.33/2:02.97 splitting.
Her IM looks on form. She certainly has the endurance right now for a 400, exemplified by her 1:00.82 final 100 to overhaul Amelia Weber for silver. Could Kaylee McKeown‘s 400 IM Australian record be in danger? Lowering that mark of 4:28.22 could be a little out of reach, but stranger things have happened.
Forrester is probably the favorite for the 400 IM at the Commonwealth Games, and has the opportunity to stake her claim for silver at Pan Pacs behind Summer McIntosh. If she carries on swimming as well as she did on day 1, she will head into the summer as one of Australia’s star players.
Australia’s Backstroke Depth Catching The USA?
Before today, 11 Australian women had been under 28 seconds in the 50 back. Now, that number is up to 15 after Alyssa Burgess (27.88), Emily Jones (27.90), Hannah Fredericks (27.97), and Mackenzie Burns (27.99) dipped under the barrier.
While the top two of Kaylee McKeown and Mollie O’Callaghan was as expected, both swimming 27.1s, the depth behind them in the 50 back final was a definite positive for a nation for which the cupboard had looked a little bare behind its stars recently
Iona Anderson lowered her PB in the final to clock 27.33, slicing 0.12 seconds off the 27.45 she swam for silver at the 2024 World Championships. She leapfrogs Emily Seebohm for 3rd all-time among Australian women, and was only two-tenths of a second behind McKeown today.
She will get the chance to swim the event at Commonwealths and likely at Pan Pacs as well, and it would not take much for her to end up on a podium at either.
The U.S. is still head and shoulders above the everyone with the backstroke depth that it has, but Australia are probably closer to them now than the rest of the world is to Australia. Relatively few nations have even one 27-point 50 backstroker. After tonight’s final, Australia has ten active swimmers in that range.
Will Mollie O’Callaghan Finally Focus On Backstroke Internationally?
No, probably not.
Okay, fine, you can have a little more detail.
Mollie O’Callaghan was just off her 50 back PB today, clocking 27.19 for silver behind world record holder Kaylee McKeown. Her best of 27.16 ranks her 12th all-time, and she was the 2022 short course bronze medalist and 2022 Commonwealth Games silver medalist in the event. With her 100 back PB of 57.88, she could be a serious medal threat across two events.
However, she has not swum either event at a major international meet since 2022. In fact, she has never swum the 100 back at a summer international meet. With Isabelle Stadden‘s recent breakout in the 100 back and Katharine Berkoff a major title threat in the 50 back, as well as the pair of Regan Smith and McKeown, there is not an easy path to a medal for her.
With the emergence of Anna Moesch and Marrit Steenbergen as 51-point 100 freestylers though, her margin is razor-thin or even nonexistent in the 100 free.
The last time she swam under 52.50 in the 100 free was 2024. The last time she swam under 52.20 was in 2023. She is still elite in the event, but does she have the speed to win it now? The 200 free will always be her priority but, depending on what happens this summer, backstroke could be as good an avenue to silverware as the 100 free for her.
Her comment after the race today – “Everybody needs to have a fun little [side] event, mine is the backstroke and Kaylee’s is the 200IM” – doesn’t lend itself to the notion that she is considering that. But hey, think of the possibilities.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Five Takeaways From Day 1 At The 2026 Australian Trials
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