Chinese star pulls out of swim, Aussie star dodges disaster

The result means she reached the semis as the 12th fastest.It was the first surprise result on day one of the Swimming FINA World Championships.Mollie O’Callaghan is also into the last 16 as the third fastest.“It isn’t the best we have seen from her but we have to remember this is not her only event,” Ian Thorpe said.“She may be thinking about how she is planning this programme but also where she is in her training.“She loves to race and she looks like there is more there.”Giaan Rooney agreed with her commentary colleague.“Looked a little sticky in the heat swim,” she said on Channel 9.“The first one is all about blowing out the cobwebs. As we spoke about, she has 200 IM come to later on this morning. She would have tried to withhold the legs as much as possible in the backstroke looking for a little swim later. She might have got a shock though. I don’t know if she was expecting to be the 12th qualifier.”Short-course championships liveCHINESE CHAMP SICKChinese champion Li Bingjie did not take to the pool on Tuesday due to illness, with the world record-holder’s arrival in Melbourne soured by a high fever.She snared Ariarne Titmus’s short-course 400m freestyle record in October, stopping the clock at 3:51.30. Bingjie did not race the 400m heats but is reportedly hopeful of returning for other events. She is scheduled for the 800m freestyle Wednesday, the 1500m Friday and the 200m Sunday. MEN’S 50m BUTTERFLYShort course butterfly gun Matthew Temple has comfortably secured a lane in the semis with the sixth-swiftest heat time, finishing with a personal best 22.3. The 23-year-old is fresh off winning gold at the Australian short course championships in Sydney in August, where he posted 22.7.WOMEN’S 200m MEDLEYKaylee McKeown has set up a medley showdown with American long-course world champion Alex Walsh in what will be an eagerly awaited final on Tuesday night.McKeown took things lightly in the 100m backstroke heats earlier Tuesday before finishing behind Walsh with the second-fastest 200m medley heat time.It sets up a rematch of the long-course final held in Budapest earlier this year, where McKeown had to settle for silver while Walsh claimed gold. WOMEN’S 50m BUTTERFLYAussie Alex Perkins snuck into the semis in 16th position with 25.65, telling Channel 9 she was happy with her efforts after pushing her 25.52 PB.“I was really happy with that as a morning swim in the first little hitout,” she said.“I think I executed quite well, but there are still things I can improve on.“Great crowd, (it’s) exciting friends and family can watch.MEN’S 50m BUTTERFLYShort course butterfly gun Matthew Temple has comfortably secured a lane in the semis with the sixth-swiftest heat time, finishing with a personal best 22.3. The 23-year-old is fresh off winning gold at the Australian short course championships in Sydney in August, where he posted 22.7.MEN’S 100m BACKSTROKETeenage backstroke gun Isaac Cooper has returned from his ban with a strong swim in the heats, advancing to the semis with the sixth-fastest time. The 18-year-old was sent home from a lead-in Commonwealth Games training camp in July for “misuse of medication”. WOMEN’S 100m BACKSTROKE HEATS Freestyle sprint specialist Mollie O’Callaghan has flexed her prowess as a backstroke prospect, storming into the 100m semifinals with 56.35 as the third-fastest heat swimmer. Meanwhile, backstroke Tokyo gold medallist Kaylee McKeown scraped through, qualifying by half-a-second with 57.11.WOMEN’S 400m FREESTYLE HEATS Lani Pallister has kicked off the Aussies’ short-course campaign in style, posting 3:59.50 in her 400m freestyle heat to book a spot in Tuesday night’s final. She’ll be tasked with chasing down 18-year-old Kiwi Erika Fairweather, who was the pick of the heats with 3:58.27. Queenslander Leah Neale also snuck through, claiming the last lane in the final with 4:02.30. WHY HAVE BIG NAMES BAILED?The absence of some of the country’s fastest swimmers has forced Australia’s team bosses to lower their medal expectations for this week’s short-course (25m) world championships in Melbourne.The Dolphins have been consistently among the best teams in the world at most of the major international events in recent years but are trying to keep a lid on things ahead of the first world championships in Australian waters in 15 years.Rohan Taylor, the mastermind head coach behind Australia’s stunning success at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, has always played his cards close to his chest when talking about the team’s chances, but he’s probably right to bite his lip this time.While there’s always going to be plenty of firepower in a Dolphins squad which features Emma McKeon, Kaylee McKeown and Kyle Chalmers, it’s still nowhere near as strong as it could be after some of Australia’s biggest names pulled out.Olympic gold medallists Ariarne Titmus and Zac Stubletty-Cook and world champion Elijah Winnington have all opted to skip the six-day event at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre, while freestyle sprint sensation Mollie O’Callaghan is entered only in backstroke.Even though it’s been so long since a swimming world championship was held in local waters, it is no real surprise that the Australians are going in understrength because the Dolphins have always prioritised long-course (50m) swimming.The skill set for short-course swimming is different because the half-sized pool means there are more turns and time spent underwater, so it has made it tough for Taylor to predict how many medals the home team might come away with.“It is definitely more difficult because one, there’s a little bit of an unknown. It’s not as easy to track as in long-course,” Taylor said.“The formula I’m using is really just looking at how many people we have in that top five, top eight rank to me. And then usually if they perform well, the conversion into medals is good, so that’s what I’ll be looking at.”The incredible depth of talent in the 36-member squad means Australia should still pick up a stack of medals in the relays, while there are still plenty of individuals who can get on the podium.But the challenges facing the Aussies are compounded by the fact the internationals have also come out in force, bringing some of the biggest stars in the sport from established champions like Adam Peaty, Lily King and Chad le Clos to rising stars led by Romanian teenage sprint sensation David Popovici.ESTABLISHED AUSSIE STARS TO WATCHEmma McKeonKaylee McKeownKyle ChalmersMack HortonMadi WilsonMeg HarrisTHE UP-AND-COMING AUSSIES TO WATCHFlynn SouthamTommy NeillLizzy DekkersSam WilliamsonTHE INTERNATIONAL STARS TO WATCHDavid Popovici (Romania)Adam Peaty (Britain)Tom Dean (Britain)Lily King (USA)Chad le Clos (South Africa)Maggie MacNeil (Canada)Kylie Masse (Canada)2022 WORLD SHORT-COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPSVenue: Melbourne Sports and Aquatic CentreDates: Dec 13-18. Heats start daily at 11am AEDT, finals start at 7.30pmTotal prizemoney: $3.2 million.World record bonuses: $37,000This is the 16th edition of the short-course world titles, first held in 1993.Australian swimmers have won 79 gold medals, second only to the US.This is the first time the short-course world titles have been staged in Australia, although the FINA long-course world championships have been held here three times previously, in 1991, 1998 and 2007.DAY 1 SESSION TIMES AND ORDERDAY SESSION FROM 11AM AEDT400m Freestyle W100m Backstroke W100m Backstroke M50m Butterfly W50m Butterfly M200m Individual Medley W200m Individual Medley M4x100m Freestyle Relay W4x100m Freestyle Relay M1500m Freestyle M (Timed final)NIGHT SESSIONFROM 7:30PM AEDT400m Freestyle W*50m Butterfly W50m Butterfly M200m Individual Medley W*200m Individual Medley M*100m Backstroke W100m Backstroke M1500m Freestyle M (Timed final)*4x100m Freestyle Relay W*4x100m Freestyle Relay M** indicates finalsFOMO powering Aussie megastar– Emma GreenwoodAriarne Titmus doesn’t need extra motivation to know that she wants to stand on top of the Olympic podium again in Paris.If she did though, she’s got it in spades.Titmus will admit to a smidgen of FOMO.Sitting back and watching distance queen Katie Ledecky slug it out with swimming’s rising star, Canadian Summer McIntosh in events in North America over the past month would have almost any other rival worried.Titmus beat both at the Olympics in Tokyo last year and edged McIntosh at the Commonwealth Games earlier this year but the pair has staged epic battles at the Toronto World Cup meet and US Open in recent weeks as well as the world championships in the northern summer.The Olympic champ has missed all those events and will skip the world shortcourse titles in Melbourne this week as she continues a blinkered approach to the Paris Games in 2024.“It’s been really good (watching Ledecky and McIntosh). I mean, there’s been a little bit of FOMO,” Titmus said.“But I have my own plan and I and I know what I need to do at the moment to be ready for worlds and then Paris (Olympics) and for me, it’s not about being fast at this time of the year.“As you get older, you really have to prioritise the meets that are important and there’s no point in me swimming fast this time of the year when I want to be swimming fast in six months’ time.“It’s exciting to see the times that a lot of people are putting out at this time of year and they’re very fast but I want to make sure that I’m swimming fast when it matters.”Titmus was one of Australia’s top performers in a glittering performance from the swim team in Tokyo, winning individual gold in the 200m and 400m freestyle, coming home over the top of Ledecky in an epic 400m race.And while Ledecky and McIntosh remain in her vision, her biggest competition could actually come from within her own St Peters Western squad.Teammate Mollie O’Callaghan pushed her all the way in the 200m at the Commonwealth Games, touching the wall just 0.12sec behind the Olympic champ, to snare silver after winning six medals at the world championships in Budapest just weeks earlier.O’Callaghan will be in action in Melbourne this week, showing coach Dean Boxall’s willingness not to enforce a “one size fits all” regimen on his athletes.“When I was younger, I just wanted to take every opportunity I could to race overseas and get as much experience as I could and keep learning about my events and how to swim them and I think that put me in great stead,” Titmus said.“But I feel like I’m getting older now and I’ve got a lot more experience under my belt and I know how to race at the at the highest level, so for me now, it’s about picking and choosing the most important moments to perform.”Titmus has taken the opportunity to expand her view beyond the pool since Tokyo, taking on opportunities such as being a Melbourne Cup ambassador and dipping her toe into the world of commentating, as she will do the Nine Network at this week’s world shortcourse titles when she completes her duties in the pool at the Queensland state titles where she is entered in several events this week.But the memories of Tokyo linger - and it’s something she wants to experience again.“I’ve got enough motivation within myself to get back to that level,” she said.“It’s been a very, very busy year for me but next year is going to be very different - my mindset completely switches to Paris.“I can look at other people’s swimming and that adds motivation, but I think I’ve got enough motivation within myself and wanting that self satisfaction and self-gratification to see what I can do to try and be better.”Updates to story Via news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site https://www.news.com.au