Results Wrap: QAS-supported athletes dominate Swimming Trials, more Olympic selections

Australian Swimming Trials, Brisbane:

Our QAS-supported swimmers delivered showstopping performances in front of a packed Sleeman Sports Complex and 5.7 million television viewers over six days at the Australian Swim Trials.

The final nights of Trials saw incredible outcomes for QAS-supported athletes. On night five in the Men’s 200 metre Breaststroke Zac Stubblety-Cook took home first place. In the Women’s 200 metre Breaststroke Ella Ramsay came first place and in the fiercely competitive women’s 100-meter Freestyle first place went to Mollie O’Callaghan, followed by Shayna Jack in second and Meg Harris in third. In the men’s multiclass 100 metre Backstroke Benjamin Hance won first place.

The final night of competition delivered a breathtaking display of skill and passion. In the Women's 50 metre Freestyle Shayna Jack cemented her spot in the Olympic team winning ahead of Meg Harris. In the men’s 400 metre Individual Medley, Brendon Smith touched the wall first. In the women’s Individual Medley, Ella Ramsay finished first ahead of Jenna Forrester in second. And Lani Pallister won the women’s 1500 metre Freestyle ahead of Moesha Johnson.

The week of competition ended with the announcement of the Australian Olympic and Paralympic swimming teams. 33 QAS-supported swimmers were selected to be part of the 44-strong squad. Cameron McEvoy will be the fourth Australian and first man to swim at four Olympic Games.

It will be Shayna Jack’s long awaited Olympic debut joined by Lani Pallister, Jenna Strauch, Jamie Perkins, Sam Hort, Max Guilianni, Ella Ramsay, Ben Armbruster, Jaclyn Barclay, Jenna Forrester, Jack Cartwright, Abbey Connor, Flynn Southam, Kai Taylor, Alexandra Perkins, and Moesha Johnson.

Joining them are Olympians Mollie O’Callaghan, Kaylee McKewon, Ariarne Titmus, Elija Winnington, Meg Harris, Tom Neill, Brianna Throssell, Emma McKeon, Brendan Smith, Lizzie Dekkers, Zac Stubblety Cook, Isaac Cooper, Zac Incerti, Chelsea Gubecka, Nick Sloman and Cameron McEvoy.

A talented lineup of Queensland coaches were also selected to be part the Olympic team. Joining the QAS-supported swimmers will be Dean Boxall (St Peters Western), Michael Bohl (Griffith/Gold Coast hub), Vince Raleigh (Chandler/Brisbane hub), Mick Palfrey (USC/Sunshine Coast hub), Damien Jones (Rackley), Tim Lane (Sommerset), Kate Sparkes (Yeronga), and Kareena Lee (Noosa).

And a big congratulations our QAS-supported Paralympic swimmers selected to represent Australia. Making his fifth Paralympic appearance will be Brenden Hall. He'll be joined by Emily Beecroft, Ricky Betar, Lewis Bishop, Rowan Crothers, Katja Dedekind, Tom Gallagher, Benjamin Hance, Jack Ireland, Jenna Jones, Alexa Leary, Paige Leonhardt, Madeleine McTernan, Jake Michel, Grant Patterson, Lakeisha Patterson, Callum Simpson, Keira Stephens, Ruby Storm, Holly Warn, Rachael Watson, and Poppy Wilson.

Joining the para swimmers will be expert Queensland coaches Jon Bell, Harley Connolly (USC/Sunshine Coast Hub), David Heyden (UQ), and Kate Sparkes (Yeronga)

Congratulations to all QAS swimmers, coaches and to the QAS Performance Support Team for their tremendous results!

Beach Volleyball:

Congratulations to Tokyo Olympics silver medallists Mariafe Artacha del Solar and Taliqua Clancy who have been selected to represent Australia at the Paris Games. It will be the ladies’ third Olympic appearance.

Mariafe said she was grateful for the opportunity to once again represent Australia.

“Competing under the Eiffel Tower is going to be incredible. I think it’s going to be a very popular event so the stands are going to be packed and the atmosphere is going to be super vibrant which always makes it more fun!”

You can watch the Queenslanders compete at the Eiffel Tower Stadium from Saturday 27th July to Saturday 10th August.

Diving:

Olympic selectors have recognised the outstanding performances of our QAS-supported divers at last week’s Australian Championships nominating Cassiel Rousseau, Maddison Keeney and Alysha Koloi for the Paris Olympics.

World champion Cassiel Rousseau will compete in the 10 Metre platform and 10 Metre synchronised.

He said he’s especially looking forward to competing in Paris to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps who won Olympic gold for France in cycling.

“In terms of our family history, it’s massive. I just love Paris.”

Making her Olympic debut is 22-year-old Alysha Koloi in the 3 Metre Springboard.

“I’m overjoyed, I’m still in shock. It’s been quite a long journey. I’ve been training for this since I was seven years old. The Olympics has always been the dream, but it’s really only felt like an achievable goal in the last 12 months.”

Joining them is Olympic bronze medallist Maddison Keeney in the 3 Metre Synchro and 3 Metre Springboard. Good luck team!

Wheelchair Rugby:

The Australian Steelers have reclaimed top stop in the Wheelchair Rugby world rankings following their result in last week’s Canada Cup. The team will now head into the Paris Paralympics ranked #1 in the world!

You can watch our QAS-supported wheelchair rugby stars play this weekend in Brisbane for free! Our QAS-athletes are spread across the UQ, Bond and Wildfire teams. Matches kick off 9:30AM on Friday and run until midday on Sunday at the Hibiscus Stadium, Mount Gravatt. Find more details here.