Aussie swim star gives world record a shake at national selection trials

Tue 9 Jun 2026 at 7:11am

Tue 9 Jun 2026 at 7:11am

In short:

Sam Short set a personal best in winning the men's 400m freestyle at the Australian Swimming Trials.

Short's time of 3:40.67 was 0.71 outside German Lukas Martens's world record.

Kaylee McKeown and Lani Pallister also won events on the opening night of finals in Sydney.

Sam Short has come close to breaking the men's 400 metres freestyle world record at the Australian Swimming Trials in Sydney.

Short was under world-record pace at the final turn but faded in the last lap to touch the wall in a personal best (PB) time of 3 minutes and 40.67 seconds.

It was 0.71 outside German Lukas Martens's world record.

"It's actually a 0.01 [second] PB, so that's three years in the making," said Short, whose time was the fastest in the world this year.

"That hurt so much. My coaching staff … they have really just pushed me to my limits. They have been saying, 'I want to keep pushing you until you break.'

"And I think I have only broken once this season, in a pretty diabolical session.

"I am full of confidence right now and I feel like I'm invincible, so I really went out there and gave it a red-hot crack."

Short won the men's 400m freestyle at the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka.

He was runner-up in the event at last year's world titles in Singapore.

Short's win confirmed his spot in Australia's squad for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, which begin next month.

"I'm so pumped. I can't wait to go over there and smash those Pommies up," Short said.

Among other events, Kaylee McKeown (27.13) pipped fellow Olympic gold medallist Mollie O'Callaghan (27.19) in the women's 50m backstroke.

Lani Pallister won the women's 400m freestyle in 3:59.72, touching ahead of Jenna Forrester, who earlier saluted in the women's 200m individual medley.

Other winners on Monday night were Sam Williamson (men's 100m breaststroke), Alex Perkins (women's 100m butterfly) and Isaac Cooper (men's 50m backstroke).

Para swimmers Alex Saffy (men's 50m butterfly), Kael Thompson (women's 50m butterfly), Declan Budd (men's 200m freestyle) and Madeleine McTernan (women's 200m freestyle) won multi-class finals.

AAP