Lani Pallister breaks the 800m freestyle record and gets a hug from Dawn Fraser

Australia Broadcast Center

12-06-2025

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.