Commonwealth Games: Australian swim team ready to launch gold-medal assault

Australia’s swim team made a low-key arrival in Scotland on Wednesday, but the all-conquering Dolphins’ gold-medal assault will be anything but.

The Aussies’ vaunted squadron of swimmers includes multiple Olympic medalists and record breakers galore, with each shooting for nothing short of gold.

And there won’t be any acclimatising for the Aussies, set to hit the pool on the 23rd Commonwealth Games’ opening day on Friday, barely 48 hours after arrival.

The Aussies were put through their paces in a training session on Thursday, enigmatic coach Dean Boxall saving his voice for event days with a whistle accompanying the stopwatches in hand instead.

The coach has become well known for his passionate reactions to success, going viral at the Tokyo Olympics, celebrating Ariarne Titmus’ barnstorming performances.

Since then, he has become a regular feature around Australia’s swim team as a whole and was seen dishing plenty of advice on Thursday, including to Queensland ace Elijah Winnington.

Thursday’s session was a vital hitout for the squad with many in action straight away.

In fact, one of the team’s stars will feature in the very first event, long-distance champion Lani Pallister kicking off her campaign in the 400m freestyle, while Australia’s Para athletes will also take to the water on the opening day.

But all eyes will be on the women’s and men’s 4x100m freestyle as both teams attempt to defend their crowns from Birmingham in 2022.

Australia swept all three 4x100 freestyle categories at the last Games, including the mixed event, to continue a remarkable streak of success and will be the favourites to do so again.

Molly O’Callaghan and Shayna Jack, who led the way in Paris when Australia claimed Olympic gold, will power the team with Jack, who recently moved to Western Australia, fueled by the extra motivation of her pending retirement after the Games.

Young gun Meg Harris, who is also a Commonwealth and Olympic gold medalist, will join the pair.

However, Harris will be more than just one to watch in the relays with the 24-year-old gunning for her first individual gold medal.

She came close on debut in Birmingham, nabbing a silver medal behind Aussie superstar Emma McKeon and was again runner-up in the 50m freestyle in Paris.

But she enters Glasgow with an individual world title from 2025 under her belt and as an established member of the squad.

“Comm Games actually was the first team that I made an individual race for last time in Birmingham,” Harris said.

“I got silver last time, so hopefully I can improve a little bit on that this time. That’s one of the goals.

“Especially considering the last (Games), I was one of the young ones who transitioned on, and now I’ve established myself on the team. Hopefully, I can be a leader on this team and carry that forward.”

For the men, much of the hype surrounds their fast-finishing torpedo, Kyle Chalmers.

Always fired off as the closer, Chalmers is more often than not the deciding leg for the Aussies. He will also be out to defend his 100m freestyle title later in the program.

One of the other must-watch stars, Cam McEvoy, will only have to wait until day two for his chance to shine in the 50m freestyle, an event for which he owns the world record.

Returning to a Commonwealth Games in Glasgow is almost McEvoy’s career coming full circle, and it will be a special feeling after his career almost ended four years ago, after taking a sabbatical to rediscover his passion for the pool.

While the 32-year-old swam at the 2012 London Olympics, his breakout came in Scotland two years later with two relay gold medals.

But 12 years on, the short-form star says he’s much better placed to succeed than the “super shy” 19-year-old he was last time out in the Scottish Lowlands.

“I’m in the same sport,” McEvoy, now a father, explains.

“But the way I’m conducting training on a day-to-day basis, the way being on the team feels now compared to (being) a rookie, (it) almost feels like it’s a new sport, in a sense.

“It’s nice, I will just take it all in. I was basically a kid back then, and now I have my own kid.

“There’s actually a member of the swim team who’s 14 (Mia Hogan), so she was only two when I ... was competing here last time.

“A lot has happened. Basically, my entire international career has unfolded. Four years ago, I was definitely in the wilderness. I wasn’t swimming, at that point I wasn’t sure if I was going to come back.”

His return was emphatic, storming to gold in Paris after revolutionising his training regime.

One of McEvoy’s rivals for the 50m title is fellow Dolphin Jamie Jack.

The budding swim star is Shayna’s younger brother and is on his first Commonwealth Games odyssey.

Jack isn’t simply making up the numbers either, after an impressive performance in California last year saw him become the fifth-fastest Australian all-time in the 50m freestyle.