2026 AUSTRALIAN SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS
The penultimate night of racing unfolded at the 2026 Australian Short Course Championships, the primary opportunity for the nation’s swimmers to qualify for this year’s Short Course World Championships in Beijing, China in December.
Multiple swimmers doubled up with events from the first day of racing, which is a positive scenario given that Swimming Australia has set its roster cap for Beijing at a relatively small number of 24 athletes. That’s the same roster size Australia carried into the 2024 edition of the Short Course World Championships, with the likes of Lani Pallister, Alex Perkins and Ed Sommerville already repeating with Beijing-worthy performances this time around.
Tonight’s new qualifiers include Tara Kinder, who smashed a new lifetime best of 2:05.48 in the women’s 200m IM to become Australia’s 3rd-fastest woman in history.
David Schlicht, formerly of Arizona State University, produced a mark of 1:53.45 to etch his name onto the prospective roster in the men’s 200m IM.
Finally, Olympic medalist Isaac Cooper got the job done in the men’s 50m backstroke, with his time of 22.53 falling just .04 shy of his own Australian national record.
We’ll continue to monitor those who notch qualification times in combination with placing among the top two positions in each event as this competition continues to progress.
Swimmers with SC Worlds Qualifying Times and Top Two Finishes Through Day Three
- Lani Pallister – women’s 200m free (1:51.99), 1500m free (15:18.68), 400m free (3:54.55)
- Brittany Castelluzzo – women’s 200m free (1:53.07), 100m fly (56.00)
- Ed Sommerville – men’s 200m free (1:40.16), 100m free (46.06)
- Marcus Da Silva – men’s 200m free (1:41.91)
- Iona Anderson – women’s 100m back (55.57), 200m back (2:03.00), 50m back (25.88)
- Mark Nikolaev – men’s 100m back (49.79)
- Alex Perkins – women’s 50m fly (24.78)
- Ben Armbruster – men’s 50m fly (21.90)
- Sam Short – men’s 800m free (7:25.55), 400m free (3:35.16)
- Jenna Forrester – women’s 200m back (2:04.17), 400m IM (4:28.39)
- Stuart Swinburn – men’s 200m back (1:50.81)
- Olivia Wunsch – women’s 100m free (51.72)
- Flynn Southam – men’s 100m free (45.61)
- Amelie Smith – women’s 400m IM (4:30.87)
- William Petric – men’s 400m IM (3:59.27), 200m IM (1:53.53)
- Tara Kinder – women’s 200m IM (2:05.48)
- David Schlicht – men’s 200m IM (1:53.45)
- Isaac Cooper – men’s 50m back (22.53)
