Article by Retta Race courtesy of Swim Swam
Continuing with its relatively new model of conducting trials closer to the biggest elite international meets, Swimming Australia has confirmed that the nation’s Olympic Trials for next summer will be held in June of 2020.
The organization’s plan, as we detailed back in February 2017, includes shifting Aussie Selection Trials events closer to the actual ‘Benchmark Events’, aligning Swimming Australia more with the American timing model.
As such, the Australian Swimming Championships, which serve as ‘nationals’, will take place at Perth’s HBF Stadium, Claremont Pool April 17th-21st, with the Australian Age Championships taking place just prior.
The Olympic Trials meet will then take place June 14th-19th at the South Australian Aquatic & Leisure Centre, home of Olympic champion Kyle Chalmers.
Says Swimming Australian Chief Executive Leigh Russell of the schedule, “We’re delighted to provide our athletes, coaches and fans with two high-quality events in different corners of our country next year – it’s the perfect precursor for our athletes as they strive to make the Australian Olympic and Paralympic team,” Russell said.
“I know Perth will be a terrific host for both our Hancock Prospecting Australian Age Championships and Hancock Prospecting Australian Swimming Championships, and there’s no question regarding the calibre of racing we’ll witness as our athletes ramp up their preparation for trials in June.
“We know Adelaide always puts on a great show whenever swimming comes to town and all eyes will be on South Australia as they host our blue-ribbon event next year. Dreams will be made and the atmosphere will be electric, so it’s an event not to be missed.
“I would like to thank South Australian Tourism Commission and Tourism Western Australia for their support of swimming, we truly value their relationships and look forward to working with them on an exciting seven months ahead.”
This same general timeline was followed for 2019, the year of the FINA World Aquatic Championships. The Australian Age Championships and Australian Swimming Championships both took place in April, while the official Trials for Gwangju were conducted in June.
The Aussies also rolled out this same shortened lead-time between Trials and the main event with the Pan Pacific Championships. Although the Commonwealth Games served as one qualifying meet for the Pan Pacs, the actual Trials competition took place June 30th – July 4th, finishing up just about 5 weeks ahead of the quadrennial meet in Tokyo.
In Gwangju, Australia ultimately came away with 19 medals in all, including 5 gold, 9 silver and 5 bronze medals, to finish runner-up to the United States in the overall medal standings. That represented a marked improvement from the 2017 edition of the meet following the old Trials model, with the nation reaping 10 medals in total, marked by just one gold.
Aussie Meet Info for 2020:
What: 2020 Hancock Prospecting Australian Age Swimming Championships
Where: HBF Stadium, Claremont Pool
When: 7-14 April 2020
What: 2020 Hancock Prospecting Australian Swimming Championships
Where: HBF Stadium, Claremont Pool
When: 17-21 April 2020
What: 2020 Hancock Prospecting Australian Swimming Trials
Where: SA Aquatic & Leisure Centre
When: 14-19 June 2020
