Olympic champ O'Callaghan in tears after 200m freestyle win at Australian trials
The 21-year-old surged to the wall in Adelaide in 1min 54.43secs to easily qualify for next month's Singapore world championships, where she will be the red-hot favourite.
She became emotional during her poolside interview about the 'rough couple of months' coming down from the high of the Olympics, where she won three gold, a silver and a bronze.
'You know, it was really stressful for me. And I think even though it's not the time I exactly wanted, it's just hard to, like, come back,' she said as the tears flowed.
'I'd say this lead-up has been the hardest thing I've experienced so far.
'I don't think there's been anything as hard as this, coming here and trying to race and trying to, you know, defend my Olympic status in a way.
'But just happy that I stood up and just raced my main event.'
O'Callaghan arrived in Paris with her 200m freestyle world record just broken by fellow Australian Ariarne Titmus and under enormous pressure.
She rose to the occasion, edging Titmus to win gold. She was also a key part of Australia's 4×100m freestyle and 4×200m freestyle gold-medal winning teams.
O'Callaghan and Titmus, who is on a season-long break, share the 10 fastest times in history.
'It's a really tough thing to take on. You feel once you become an Olympic champion, you're expected to perform every single meet,' said Titmus, who was commentating on the race.
'And athletes, of course, we're incredible at what we do, but we're also humans first, and I think it's really important to let people in on that. I know exactly how Mollie feels.'
O'Callaghan has also qualified for the 50m and 100m backstroke but is yet to decide whether she will race them in Singapore, with the 50 and 100m free, along with the relays, also on her radar.
Lani Pallister came second in 1:54.89 with all eight finalists underneath the qualifying time, once again reinforcing Australia's seemingly endless factory line of top women freestylers.
Another Paris Olympic champion, Cam McEvoy, clocked a blistering 21.30 to win the 50m freestyle ahead of Kyle Chalmers (21.68).
'Honestly, I can't really fault that at all. Just stoked to hit 21 three again,' said McEvoy, who is heading to his seventh world championships.
In other races, 16-year-old Sienna Toohey backed up her breakthrough swim in the 100m breaststroke on Tuesday by winning the 50m breaststroke.
She was just outside the qualifying time, but will almost certainly suit up over 50m in Singapore given she has already booked her 100m ticket.
Harrison Turner (1:54.90) made the grade in the men's 200m butterfly, while Sam Short (7:40.95) was in ominous form to take out the men's 800m freestyle.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
3 hours ago
- The Star
Soccer-Spain out to finally end winless run against Germany in Euro semi
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - UEFA Women's Euro 2025 - Quarter Final - Spain v Switzerland - Stadion Wankdorf, Bern, Switzerland - July 18, 2025 Spain's Alexia Putellas misses from the penalty spot REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo ZURICH (Reuters) -World champions Spain will aim to secure a first-ever win against Germany in their Euro 2025 semi-final on Wednesday, though the Spaniards insist reaching their first European Championship final matters more than settling old scores. Spain have never beaten eight-times European champions Germany, most recently losing to the Germans for bronze at last year's Paris Olympics. "Personally I see it more as an opportunity, not so much a revenge or a thorn in my side," Spain midfielder Alexia Putellas said in Tuesday's pre-game press conference. "The Olympics are a completely different competition and any player who has been able to play the Olympics and a European Championship or a World Cup, I think we all agree, it is a totally different context, other stadiums, another way of competing. "So I think that the Olympic Games will have nothing to do with the European Championship, with tomorrow's game, but, well, in the end it was a rival against whom we lost and tomorrow we have the opportunity to win it for the first time." Spain coach Montse Tome would love to end their winless run against Germany. "We have not been able to beat them, but we have been closer and closer to beating them," Tome said. "In the Olympic match, we had a chance to do so, it was good and now we are at another point. "I think they are also another team, they have another coach, but Germany is Germany and they have eight European Championships. Their essence is the same, regardless of who is in charge, and we are very clear about the game we want to play tomorrow, how we want to condition it and where we want to take it." Spain won their three group stage games by a combined score of 14-3 before defeating a spirited Swiss side 2-0 in the quarter-finals. "My feelings are good, full confidence in what we are creating, in the mentality we have, in the game we have played throughout the European Championship," Putellas said. "It will be a very tough game, like any semi-final of a major tournament, but with maximum enthusiasm and maximum motivation to move forward and make history once again." The winner meets either England or Italy in the final on Sunday in Basel. (Reporting by Lori Ewing in GenevaEditing by Toby Davis)
The Sun
7 hours ago
- The Sun
Leon Marchand drops two events for world championships in Singapore
FOUR -time Olympic champion Leon Marchand has decided to drop two of his usual events at the upcoming world championships in Singapore. The French swimmer will only compete in the 200 and 400 metres individual medley, skipping the 200 butterfly and 200 breaststroke. His coach, Nicolas Castel, confirmed the decision, stating it was a strategic choice for the post-Olympic season. 'He won't be doing the 200m butterfly and 200m breaststroke,' Castel told Franceinfo. The move allows Marchand to focus solely on the medley events without the fatigue of back-to-back races. Marchand, 23, had a stellar performance at the Paris Games, securing gold in the 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly, 200 IM, and 400 IM, along with a bronze in the 4x100m medley relay. Castel explained, 'He wanted to test this isolated 200m medley and see what he was capable of.' The swimming segment of the world championships will run from July 27 to August 3 in Singapore. - Reuters
The Star
8 hours ago
- The Star
Rugby-Lions hold firm after scare from First Nations-Pasifika XV
Rugby Union - AUNZ Invitational XV v British & Irish Lions - Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, Australia - July 12, 2025 Duhan van der Merwe of the Lions celebrates scoring their first try with Hugo Keenan Matt Turner/AAP Image via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. AUSTRALIA OUT. NEW ZEALAND OUT MELBOURNE (Reuters) -The British & Irish Lions were rocked by the underdog spirit of the First Nations & Pasifika XV (FNP) but held on grimly to claim an unconvincing 24-19 win on Tuesday. Centre Jamie Osborne scored a try in each half, and Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe also crossed for the Lions who remain unbeaten on their Australian tour despite producing a largely ragged display at Melbourne's Docklands Stadium. It was full credit to the FNP team, who gave Joe Schmidt's Wallabies a lesson in ferocity at the breakdown and scored tries from Tristan Reilly, Seru Uru and Rob Leota, the last allowing them to creep within five points with less than 10 minutes left. Although the Lions notched their seventh win in succession in Australia, coach Andy Farrell may have more headaches than just selection for Saturday's second test against the Wallabies at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, where they will bid to seal the series. The claims of his son Owen Farrell for a test jersey were unharmed, though, the former England captain leading from the front as skipper on Tuesday. "Probably wasn't our best performance, but massive, massive credit's got to go to the First Nations and Pasifika boys, thought they came after us tonight," said Owen Farrell. "They got off the line really well, they caused us some trouble ... I'm thankful we got the job done in the end." Farrell was right in the thick of it, charging in to shove Reilly after the hosts' winger hammered into Graham with a try-saving tackle that earned him a yellow card in the fifth minute. Moments later, Farrell set up the Lions' first try with a neat chip over the First Nations' line that Osborne collected and planted down. GRAHAM TRY Farrell had a hand in the second for Scottish winger Graham who streamed through a paddock of space. FNP were 14-0 down after 11 minutes but Reilly returned to the field to intercept a poor Fin Smith pass near the Lions' 22 and jog over for the easiest of tries. Improbably, FNP wiped out the lead with a converted try to Uru, who burrowed over in the 23rd minute. Lions lock James Ryan was yellow-carded in the same play for slowing the ball down at the ruck. Undermanned, the tourists shut out FNPZ for the rest of the half but were lucky to avoid conceding a third try after another interception. Home fans hoping for an upset were buoyant in the crowd of 30,420 but Osborne silenced them soon after the restart, with flyhalf Smith making up for errant passing with a long ball that set up the centre's second try. Still the errors flowed, with forward passes and knock-ons denying the Lions two certain tries before Van der Merwe latched onto a Farrell pass to cross in the corner. Still FNP responded, rumbling the ball to the tryline before Melbourne boy and former Wallaby Leota barged through a crack to trim the deficit to five points in the 71st minute. The drums were beating among the Pacific Islanders in the terraces but the Lions did well to lock down and ensure they head into the second Wallabies test with winning form. "Not many people gave us a chance," said FNP's man-of-the-match Charlie Gamble. "We showed that we deserve to be out there, and we played very hard for each other." (Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Ed Osmond)
