This is Australia’s Paris 24 swimming team. Is it ready to conquer the world?

by Admin
June 15, 2024

Lined up side by side, it’s hard to imagine an Australian Olympic swimming team of stronger pedigree.

The overwhelming talent and stellar Games record of this squad puts it alongside the greatest that have ever left these shores. Among them are a prized selection of athletes that will, without exaggeration, live forever in the annals of Australian sporting history.

Come July 27, that will count for next to nothing.

Each Olympics stands alone as its own document of record as to the success of an athlete, a team and a nation, and every swimmer in this team — from Ariarne Titmus and Emma McKeon to Max Guiliani and Jaclyn Barclay — will arrive in Paris with a clean slate and lofty ambitions.

The target, according to squad coach Rohan Taylor, is to equal or better Australia’s medal haul from the Tokyo pool. That would require at least 21 medals — or, in other words, either the first- or second-most prolific Games in the team’s history.

As always, the unspoken goal is to overthrow the Americans for the first time since the 1956 Games in Melbourne. Even an historic performance in Tokyo still left Australia nine medals short of the US tally.

If Team Australia is to stand a chance of clearing such a high bar, the bulk of the medals are going to have to again come from the women.

Tokyo phenoms Titmus and Kaylee McKeown have only grown stronger in the three years between Olympics and have been setting the standard globally, throwing down the challenge to their rivals at home and abroad.

Kaylee McKeown is aiming for a sweep of the 100m and 200m backstroke golds.(Getty Images: Chris Hyde)

McKeown remains the pace-setter in the 100m and 200m backstroke, where she and American Regan Smith will likely challenge the world record in pursuit of the gold. McKeown is also primed to test herself in the 200m individual medley, an event she excels in but sat out in Tokyo.

Titmus will be a feared contender in the 200m, 400m and 800m freestyle events, all of which are set to be among the most competitive and engrossing events at the entire Paris Games.

Lining up to thwart her are American legend Katie Ledecky, Canada’s rising star Summer McIntosh — a genuine marvel at just 17 years old — and another of Australia’s great medal hopes, Mollie O’Callaghan.

O’Callaghan has quickly become one of Australia’s best and most versatile swimmers, and has an aura around her that suggests she could yet bust the door down and claim these whole Olympics for herself.

In coming for Titmus and McKeown’s crowns in the freestyle and backstroke events, O’Callaghan also helps firm up the freestyle relay teams to the point of unfairness to the competition. In the 200m especially, anything less than a gold for Australia would come as surprise.

Ariarne Titmus is preparing for the biggest races of her career in Paris.(Getty Images: Quinn Rooney)

O’Callaghan and, to a lesser extent, Lani Pallister will be called upon to fill the medal void left by champion Emma McKeon, who qualified only for the 100m butterfly in Paris, and Cate Campbell, who missed qualification altogether.

McKeon’s record is unimpeachable, but at the Trials she was unable to hold off the rising tide of youth to book spots in what were previously considered pet events. She will provide invaluable experience in Paris, but her absence outside of the fly will be keenly felt.

ABC Sport will be live blogging every day of the Paris Olympics from July 27 (Australian time).

The men’s contingent is harder to call, but is not without significant promise.

Kyle Chalmers’ admission he is battling a long-term degenerative back issue is cause for concern, but his ability to overcome that injury and swim a qualifying time in the 100m freestyle at the Trials is indicative of his resilience and drive to be a leader on this team. He remains a threat in the sprint event and a linchpin of the men’s freestyle relay teams.

Kyle Chalmers overcame a back problem to claim 100m freestyle qualification.(Getty Images: Quinn Rooney)

Zac Stubblety-Cook will defend his 200m breaststroke gold in Paris, albeit after a slightly down performance this week in Brisbane, and Elijah Winnington is a chance for his first individual Olympic medals in the 200m and 400m freestyles.

Brendon Smith will front up again in the 400m IM three years after his bronze medal in Tokyo, but will run into local hero and world record holder Léon Marchand in Paris.

Max Giuliani looms as Australia’s next freestyle star and will be dangerous in the 200m in Paris, Cam McEvoy has been spruiking his new training program as his ticket to an Olympic medal, and Sam Short isn’t without a shot to be the next in Australia’s long line of champions in the 1,500m freestyle, while also looming large in the 400m and 800m.

But on the whole, the weight of expectation sits less heavily on male shoulders within this team.

There is a path to 21 medals in Paris, but almost everything is going to have to go right.

The key might be O’Callaghan and her ability to pick up the medals left behind by McKeon, our most decorated ever Olympian. It’s an enormous ask, and honestly an unfair one to put upon a 20-year-old.

The men provided six medals in Tokyo, a total that may need to be improved upon if the overall mark is to be hit.

It’s easy to forget that Australia punches significantly above its wait every four years when it takes on the rest of the world. Overcoming the likes of Ledecky, Caleb Dressel, Smith, McIntosh and Marchand means beating present and future legends of the sport.

They’ve done it before. Perhaps Paris can provide the backdrop to Australia’s finest hour.

Australia’s Olympic swimming team:

Iona Anderson, Ben Armbruster, Jaclyn Barclay, Bronte Campbell, Jack Cartwright, Kyle Chalmers, Abbey Connor, Isaac Cooper, Elizabeth Dekkers, Jenna Forrester, Maximillian Giuliani, Meg Harris, Zac Incerti, Shayna Jack, Se-Bom Lee, Lani Pallister, Emma McKeon, Kaylee McKeown, Cameron McEvoy, Thomas Neill, Mollie O’Callaghan, Alexandria Perkins, Jamie Perkins, William Petric, Ella Ramsay, Samuel Short, Brendon Smith, Flynn Southam, Jenna Strauch, Zac Stubblety-Cook, Kai Taylor, Matthew Temple, Brianna Throssell, Ariarne Titmus, Samuel Williamson, Elijah Winnington, Bradley Woodward, Olivia Wunsch, William Yang, Joshua Yong