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ABC News
7 days ago
- Sport
- ABC News
Lani Pallister breaks Commonwealth 1500m freestyle record at Australian Swimming Trials
Lani Pallister has concluded her extraordinary meet on the final night of the Australian Swimming Trials, winning the 1500m freestyle setting a Commonwealth record time of 15:39.14. Pallister will compete in four freestyle events at the world championships in Singapore next month, ranging from 200m to 1500m. The 23-year-old has seen a huge jump in form since moving to new coach Dean Boxall after spending the first part of her career under the wing of her mother, former Olympic swimmer Janelle Pallister (nee Elford). Her time in the 1500m was a second under the previous Commonwealth record set in 2015 by New Zealander Lauren Boyle and a staggering 10 seconds below her personal best from three years ago. But she said she had more to give ahead of the world championships in five weeks. "Every time I finished a race, 200 to the 1500, there's always something that I looked to be like that can be so much better," Pallister said. "I'm just so excited to build on it, I don't think that's my limit by any means." Pallister heads a squad of 40 to contest the world championships. The team contains 10 debutants and a further five who are going to their first long-course world championships. The youngest competitor in the team is 16-year-old breaststroke sensation, Sienna Toohey. The oldest is sprinter Cameron McEvoy (31), who is going to his seventh world championships. McEvoy told Toohey she had a long career in front of her. "You could be around for 20-plus years in the sport," he said. "Just make the most of it, because I'm at the later end of that — it's an absolute roller-coaster of an experience." McEvoy was disqualified from the 50m butterfly on the final night of competition for moving on the blocks in a race won by another veteran Kyle Chalmers. Chalmers said he wanted to mentor the new Dolphins. "When I first came on to the team it was very challenging as a 16-year-old," he said. "I want to make sure that their first experience is probably a lot better than mine was. Asked what advice he'd give to the debutants, Chalmers said he would urge them to "slow down and enjoy it". "You work so hard to be on that team and it's very easy to get caught up putting all that pressure and expectation on yourself. "I don't feel that I enjoyed it as much as I should have on my first few teams. "I got straight into that I want to win and do everything I possibly can do to win and beat myself up if I wasn't doing well in training and beat myself up if I wasn't doing well at training and burn myself out. "Whereas I think it's really important for these young kids to enjoy the fruits of their labour, like they've all worked so hard to be on the Australian swimming team." Chalmers said that although he had qualified for the 50m butterfly at the world championships, he would not swim the event. "It's on the same day as the four-by-one freestyle and that's still my main priority is to play my part in that relay for the boys," Chalmers said. The Singapore squad includes Paris and Tokyo Olympic champions, Kaylee McKeown and Mollie O'Callaghan, who expressed disappointment with their times at this meet. McKeown has qualified for the 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke events, while O'Callaghan has qualified for the two shorter backstroke events and the 100m and 200m freestyle. National head coach Rohan Taylor said the pair motivated themselves by setting such high expectations. "They're pretty hard on themselves, I think they need to be a bit kinder to themselves," he said. "We know that's the struggles they're going through, so we're supporting them. "For them to be maybe behind on their preparations — even though they're still good enough to make the team — they're just a little bit short of the work, so they're really just trying to push themselves along. "The plan is always LA [2028 Olympics], so this is part of the plan. It's just them expecting that that's what happens. "We also know that what makes them world's best is that they just are never satisfied, they just keep driving themselves." In other events on the final night of the trials, Paris silver medallist, Meg Harris won the women's 50m freestyle event in a time of 24.17 seconds. "I surprised myself this week which I was definitely happy about," she said. It's definitely been a different prep, and I think so many people have said that they've not got what they needed or didn't do some things. "I did it completely different to what I've ever done before and I'm happy with that swim, it's faster than what I went at trials last year. So just excited for worlds," he said. Harris said it was difficult to find her motivation after the Paris Olympics. "Coming off such a high, I didn't experience that much of a low after Tokyo — like just figuring out, 'wow I've done that, what's next?'" Harris said. Ella Ramsay and Jenna Forester battled all the way in the women's 400m individual medley with Ramsay winning by just .07 seconds. Ramsay's time of 4:36.12 was more than 12 seconds slower than the time set by 18-year-old Canadian sensation Summer McIntosh when she broke the world record at the Canadian trials earlier in the week. Dual Olympian Brendon Smith qualified for the men's 400m individual medley with William Petric in second also qualifying.
Daily Mail
13-06-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Why Olympic icon Dawn Fraser broke down in uncontrollable tears at Australian swimming trials
Olympic icon Dawn Fraser was highly emotional at the Australian Swimming Trials in Adelaide on Thursday night - and given the scintillating performance of her goddaughter Lani Pallister in the 800m freestyle final, she had every reason to be. In a touching moment, Fraser - who famously won gold in the 100m freestyle at three successive Summer Games between 1956 and 1964 - was seen poolside embracing Pallister after she created her own slice of sporting history. On the fourth day of competition, Pallister, 23, smashed Ariarne Titmus 's Australian women's 800m freestyle record which she set at last year's Paris Olympics. Pallister's slick time of 8:10.64 was also five seconds under her previous personal best - and the third-fastest swim of the year globally over the distance. American superstar Katie Ledecky (8:04.12) and Canadian teenager Summer McIntosh (8:05.07) are the two swimmers Pallister is chasing. 'I'm pretty happy with that time,' she said post race. It comes after Pallister earlier this year moved to the famed St Peters squad in Queensland under Titmus's coach, Dean Boxall. She was previously trained by her mother Janelle Elford. Meanwhile, Fraser, 87, recently revealed she lost 22kg following a fall on her driveway in December last year - and that she could have died following subsequent surgery. 'The pain was excruciating,' she told News Corp when reflecting on the incident at her Noosa home on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. 'I'd never felt pain like that before. I've never sort of fallen or broken anything in my life and it was a shock to me.' And the cause of the fall? Fraser was trying to open a case of soft drink when she slipped on a small ledge and fell onto hard concrete. Fraser's hospital X-rays were grim - they revealed a broken hip, four cracked ribs and potential internal bleeding. Given her age, the anaesthetist warned 'Dawny' she may not survive the operation. 'When the anaesthetist came in and said I could die, that was frightening,' she said.
ABC News
12-06-2025
- Sport
- ABC News
Lani Pallister breaks the 800m freestyle record and gets a hug from Dawn Fraser
Lani Pallister has smashed Ariarne Titmus's Australian women's 800m freestyle record set at last year's Olympic Games. Pallister's time of 8:10.84 was more than a second faster than the old mark and five seconds under her previous personal best. It also ranks as the third-fastest swim of the year. "I'm pretty happy with that time," Pallister said, after sharing an emotional hug with godmother and Australian swimming champ Dawn Fraser poolside. "I would have liked just under eight-ten, but I think it's a big three years coming up, so to do that on eight weeks, 10 weeks of work with everyone at St Peters is huge." This year Pallister, who was previously coached by her mother Janelle Elford, moved to the St Peters squad in Queensland under Titmus's coach, Dean Boxall. "I didn't know what time I was going [during the race]," she said. "Usually, I have a little look to see if I could see the scoreboard or not, but all I could see was Dean doing these ones [mimicking fast kicking], kicking his legs on the last 50 and I was like OK 'it's either going to be real close to my best time or close to the time we spoke about'. So yeah, I'm really happy." Pallister said she was keen to get back to work to prepare for the World Championships in Singapore next month, but said the result doesn't change her goals. "It doesn't really change much, I think I'm using this year just to race, have fun," Pallister said. Multiple Olympic gold medallist Kaylee McKeown won her third title at the national swimming trials in Adelaide, taking out the 200m backstroke. "I'm not going to be harsh on myself, I am happy with that," McKeown said. "If I look back on my preparation for this year, I had four months, spent four months in a group where I wasn't finding myself really happy and made the decision a week before the national to move to Sunny [Sunshine] Coast. "I still haven't got a house to live in, I'm in Airbnb's and it has been really a hard transition. "It's just the things that people don't really see when you come in and race." Despite winning three out of three races at the nationals, McKeown has been either critical of her times, or lukewarm at best as she was on Thursday. Her time in the 200m was the fastest in the world this year, but she said it would count for nothing once the World Championships begin in Singapore next month. "No, it doesn't matter what you do here, it depends what you do on the day in an international meet," she said. "I could be doing world records here, get to an international meet and come last. "So, it really doesn't matter what I do here, what form I'm in, I've just got to get my mind right and see what I can do in a few weeks' time. Asked what was motivating her to go on, she said: "I want to go to a third Olympics." "I want to be on American soil and show them what the Aussies have," she said. Second place-getter Hannah Fredericks, who has made her first Australian team, said it was difficult to see the likes of McKeown and Mollie O'Callaghan criticise their own times. "I idolised Kaylee for example, and Mol and it's always hard to see them be so hard on themselves," she said. She said McKeown congratulated her after the swim. "She just said like, 'I'm so, so happy for you'," Fredericks said. Rio gold medallist Kyle Chalmers won the men's 100m freestyle in a time that was faster than he swam to win the silver medal at the Paris Olympics. He said his state of mind outside the pool was translating to fast times in it. "Now, I'm really happy and content," he said. "Like I've got a fantastic new coach, physiologists who are working with me every single day who believe in me 100 per cent, a fiancée who's incredible and I'm preparing to be a dad, living on a farm. "Like there's so many amazing things going on outside of the pool that I think it allows me to come here and have fun. "I'm not here with pressure and expectation, like anything I kind of achieve from this point on is just the icing on the cake in my career. "I'm physically, mentally, and emotionally in a great place and I think when all of those buckets are topped up, I can swim well in the pool." Reflecting on McKeown and O'Callaghan, who have both said during the meet that they're struggling to enjoy swimming, Chalmers said athletes had to find the right attitude to get the most out of their sport. "I mean, everyone's probably very different, like you've got to enjoy what you're doing," Chalmers said. "This is my 10th year on the Australian swimming team now and my 14th trials, like it goes so quickly. "It doesn't feel like it was that long ago when I was arriving here for, you know, London 2012 trials. "It goes so quickly, and I think it's just you've got to slow down and enjoy it." In other results, Brittany Castelluzzo made her first Australian team by winning the women's 200m butterfly final. Paralympic stars, Alexa Leary and Rohan Crothers both won their 100m freestyle events.
