Latest news with #OliviaWunsch
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
Double golden joy as Australia's swimmers triumph at world championships
Australia ended the opening night of the swimming world championships with a dose of double golden joy after the country's men and women prevailed in the 4x100m freestyle relay events. There was heartbreak to begin the night after Australian Sam Short was pipped by 0.02 of a second by German world record holder Lukas Maertens in a thrilling 400m men's freestyle showdown in Singapore. But the relay events proved to be Australia's saviour, propelling them to the top of the standings. First, Olivia Wunsch pulled off a huge late comeback to fire Australia to an upset victory over the US in the women's 4x100m freestyle relay. Then Kyle Chalmers achieved the same result for Australia's men, reeling in a sizeable lead from the US to snare gold. The Australian coaching staff celebrated wildly upon each victory. Australia entered Sunday night's 4x100m women's relay with a new-look team featuring Mollie O'Callaghan, Meg Harris, Milla Jansen and Wunsch. The US were hot favourites to win, but Australia threw a spanner into the works by clawing their way into the lead by the time Wunsch dived into the water for the final leg. American Torri Huske quickly re-took the lead and held a half-length margin with 50m remaining before Woods came storming home to snatch victory. 'I definitely can't believe it,' Jansen told Channel 9. 'This is something that I wanted growing up. I was feeling very nervous coming into this, but it's just a dream come true.' Australia finished in a time of 3:30.60, with the US (3:31.04) in second. The Australian men followed suit, with the quartet of Chalmers, Flynn Southam, Kai Taylor and Maximillian Giuliani posting a world championship-record time of 3:08.97 to defeat Italy (3:09.58) and the fading US (3:09.64). 'I've kind of lost my voice already from cheering so hard,' Southam said. 'I'm just so happy to be here, and we all swam out of our skin, and we did it for the country, and we're so proud of ourselves.' Earlier, in the first medal event of the championships, Short overcame an early deficit to hit the lead with less than half the race remaining. The 21-year-old still led by a fingernail with 50m to go, and was neck-and-neck with Maertens right until the end. Sign up to Australia Sport Get a daily roundup of the latest sports news, features and comment from our Australian sports desk after newsletter promotion Short, the 2023 world champion who finished fourth at the Paris Olympics, couldn't hide his disappointment upon touching the wall and seeing he had lost by two hundredths of a second. Maertens, the Olympic champion, posted 3:42.35 to narrowly beat Short (3:42.37). South Korea's Kim Woomin finished third in 3:42.60. 'I won two years ago by 0.02 and today I just lost by 0.02,' Short said. 'I'm happy to be back on the podium after a hard last year. So, you know, I can't complain. 'I just want to dedicate that performance there to my auntie who passed away a couple weeks ago. As bad I was hurting there, it's nowhere near as bad as her battling cancer for 10 years. So I had to toughen up and get it done.' In a stacked women's 400m freestyle field, Australian Lani Pallister (3:58.87) produced a personal-best effort but it was only enough to finish fourth. Canadian world record holder Summer McIntosh (3:56.26) blitzed the field to win gold, China's Li Bingjie surged late to finish second, while the legendary Katie Ledecky had to be content with bronze. Australia's 400m Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus didn't feature after deciding to skip the world championships to give herself a mental and physical breather.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
It's mind boggling: Ian Thorpe blown away by upset win
Australian swimming legend Ian Thorpe has praised the country's rebuilding 4x100m women's freestyle relay team after they pulled off a shock victory over the US at the world championships in Singapore. Mollie O'Callaghan, Meg Harris, Milla Jansen and Olivia Wunsch entered Sunday night's final in Singapore with a nothing-to-lose approach against hot favourites the US. The tactic worked a treat, with Wunsch reeling in star American Torri Huske in the final 50m to produce a huge upset victory and a first gold medal for Australia at the 2025 world championships. What a finish by 🇦🇺 Olivia Wunsch to close the Women's 4x100m Relay 🤯🤯 #Swimming #AQUASingapore25 — World Aquatics (@WorldAquatics) July 27, 2025 Thorpe praised Australia's efforts, especially considering they did it without retired star Emma McKeon. Wunsch (19 years old) and Jansen (18) are still teenagers, leaving Harris (23) and O'Callaghan is (21) as the relay team's leaders in Singapore. "It is really difficult to be able to find someone to match our most successful Olympian we've ever seen - Emma McKeon. She's not there," Thorpe said. "Cate Campbell's not there. Bronte Campbell's not there. "But what we do have in Australia is the consistency in this race, that it's tough to make this team. "And what I'm most impressed with is ... how they could lift for the entire team in this race. Amazing stuff." Thorpe heaped special praise on Olympic gold medallist Harris, who produced 50m splits of 24.34s and 27.53s across her 100m leg to be the fastest Australian. "Her split was mind boggling," Thorpe told Channel 9. O'Callaghan said the win came as a shock given how young the team is. "I knew it was going be a very tough year, like we've had so many rookies come through, and it's great to see them," she said. "They're trying to gain experience, and it's amazing to see them step up and perform. "We didn't really have expectations on this meet, especially for this 4x100m. "It was just about gaining experience, setting up for the next four years. But I'm incredibly proud of these three amazing women, and the two others who swam in the heats." The Australian men were just as impressive, with the quartet of Kyle Chalmers, Flynn Southam, Kai Taylor and Maximillian Giuliani posting a world championship-record time of 3:08.97 to defeat Italy (3:09.58) and the fading US (3:09.64). CHAMPIONS! 💥The Aussie power squad smashes the Championships Record in the Men's 4x100m Freestyle Relay with a blazing 3:08.97! 🔥 #Swimming #AQUASingapore25 — World Aquatics (@WorldAquatics) July 27, 2025 Chalmers started from behind in the final leg before producing a powerful swim to lift Australia to victory. "We've all been able to swim really well individually or split great times at different points, but it's been a matter of doing it all together at the same time, which I think we were able to do tonight," Chalmers said. "And like I said to the boys, it's all about now just getting it right in LA in three years time, and standing on the top of the podium there. "It'd be really nice to be able to do that." Monday's early action will feature 16-year-old Sienna Toohey and Ella Ramsay in the women's 100m breaststroke heats, Kaylee McKeown in the 100m backstroke heats, Josh Edwards-Smith in the men's 100m backstroke, and Lani Pallister in the women's 1500m freestyle.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Double golden joy as Australia triumph at world champs
Australia have ended the opening night of the swimming world championships with a dose of double golden joy after the country's men and women prevailed in the 4x100m freestyle relay events. The night started with heartbreak, with Australian Sam Short falling agonisingly short of adding a second world title to his name when pipped by German world record holder Lukas Maertens in a thrilling 400m men's freestyle showdown in Singapore. But the relay events proved to be Australia's saviour. First, Olivia Wunsch pulled off a huge late comeback to fire Australia to an upset victory over the US in the women's 4x100m freestyle relay. Then Kyle Chalmers achieved the same result for Australia's men, reeling in a sizeable lead from the US to snare gold. The Australian coaching staff celebrated wildly upon each victory. Australia entered Sunday night's 4x100m women's relay with a new-look team featuring Mollie O'Callaghan, Meg Harris, Milla Jansen and Wunsch. The US were favourites to win, but Australia threw a spanner into the works by clawing their way into the lead by the time Wunsch dived into the water for the final leg. American Torri Huske quickly re-took the lead and held a half length margin with 50m remaining before Woods came storming home to snatch victory. Australia finished in a time of 3:30.60, with the US (3:31.04) in second. Earlier, in the first medal event of the championships, Short overcame an early deficit to hit the lead with less than half the race remaining. The 21-year-old still led by a fingernail with 50m to go, and was neck-and-neck with Maertens right until the end. Short, the 2023 world champion who finished fourth at the Paris Olympics, couldn't hide his disappointment upon touching the wall and seeing he lost by two hundredths of a second. 🇩🇪 Lukas Martens activating the afterburners for a sprint finish to claim gold in the Men's 400m free 🤯 #Swimming #AQUASingapore25 — World Aquatics (@WorldAquatics) July 27, 2025 Maertens, the Olympic champion, posted 3:42.35 to narrowly beat Short (3:42.37). South Korea's Kim Woomin finished third in 3:42.60. "I won two years ago by 0.02 and today I just lost by 0.02," Short told channel 9. "I'm happy to be back on the podium after a hard last year. So, you know, I can't complain. "I just want to dedicate that performance there to my auntie who passed away a couple weeks ago, "As bad I was hurting there, it's nowhere near as bad as her battling cancer for 10 years. "So I had to toughen up and get it done." And the winner is: Summer McIntosh!This is her first World Aquatics Championships's Gold Medal on the 400m Freestyle!#AQUASingapore #Swimming — World Aquatics (@WorldAquatics) July 27, 2025 Australian Olympic silver medallist Elijah Winnington failed to qualify for the final of the 400m freestyle after posting a time of 3:46.37 to finish 10th overall during the preliminary sessions earlier in the day. In a stacked women's 400m freestyle field, Australian Lani Pallister (3:58.87) produced a personal-best effort but it was only enough to finish fourth. Canadian world record holder Summer McIntosh (3:56.26) blitzed the field to win gold, China's Li Bingjie surged late to finish second, while the legendary Katie Ledecky had to be content with bronze. Australia's 400m Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus didn't feature after deciding to skip the world championships to give herself a mental and physical breather.
The Age
14-06-2025
- Sport
- The Age
Sprinters reflect on 50m dash
Meg Harris, Olivia Wunsch and Alexandria Perkins talk to Nine's Giaan Rooney after the women's 50m freestyle final at the 2025 Australian world championship trials.
Sydney Morning Herald
14-06-2025
- Sport
- Sydney Morning Herald
Sprinters reflect on 50m dash
Meg Harris, Olivia Wunsch and Alexandria Perkins talk to Nine's Giaan Rooney after the women's 50m freestyle final at the 2025 Australian world championship trials.
