An exciting squad of 46 able-bodied Australian Dolphins have been selected to take on the best swimmers from across the Commonwealth in Birmingham.

A Dolphins squad comprising superstars and exciting newcomers has been selected to represent Australia at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

46 able-bodied swimmers join the previously named 27 Para-swimmers to form the 73-member Australian swimming team for Birmingham.

Champions Ariarne Titmus OAM, Emma McKeon AM, Kyle Chalmers OAM, Zac Stubblety-Cook OAM, Kaylee McKeown OAM and Brendon Smith spearhead an outstanding team chosen to further enhance Australia’s golden legacy in the pool.

Bringing some (pop) star power to the Dolphins’ squad will be debutant, Cody Simpson. The 25-year-old returned to swimming 18 months ago, after taking a decade away from the sport to focus on his music career.

Emerging stars who have won selection include Mollie O’Callaghan OAM, 18, Flynn Southam, 16, Jenna Forrester, 18, Isaac Cooper, 18 and Lani Pallister, 19.

O’Callaghan dominated at the Australian Swimming Championships in Adelaide this week, winning six medals, including two golds.

The youngest member of the Dolphins squad for the Birmingham Games is schoolboy Flynn Southam, who produced an outstanding swim in the 100m freestyle in Adelaide.

Distance swimmer Lani Pallister, a former world junior champion in the 400, 800 and 1500m freestyle, is following in the footsteps of her mother, Janelle Elford. Elford was a triple medallist at the Auckland 1990 Commonwealth Games, winning gold in the 4 x 200m freestyle relay.

Ariarne Titmus cemented her name on the list, swimming a world record in the 400m freestyle in Adelaide this week. The winner of three gold medals at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games, Titmus is looking for another neckful of medals after a triumphant Tokyo Olympics.

“I’ve just loved swimming the past six months. I’ve been going to training and enjoying the sport – which is so underestimated,” Titmus said following her world record breaking swim.

“I am very excited (to be going to the Games) and I think we’ve got a great team going in. It’s insane the depth we have,” she said.

By virtue of their success in Tokyo, winning individual medals, Titmus, McKeon, McKeown, Chalmers, Stubblety-Cook and Brendon Smith were granted automatic selection for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. The others in the green-and-gold Dolphins squad were selected on their performances at the Australian Swimming Championships.

Gold Coast-based Emma McKeon has a phenomenal Commonwealth Games record, having claimed eight gold medals in two appearances at Glasgow (2014) and the Gold Coast (2018).

Kaylee McKeown, who is also based on the Gold Coast, debuted at the 2018 Commonwealth Games finishing fourth in the women’s 100m and 200m backstroke events. She returns for her second Commonwealth Games, as a three-time Olympic gold medallist after an astonishing performance at the Tokyo Olympics. She’ll take to the blocks in Birmingham alongside her sister, Taylor, who won gold in Glasgow in 2014 but missed the Gold Coast and Tokyo due to injury.

Zac Stubblety-Cook, 23, from Brisbane, set a new world record in the 200m breaststroke during the Australian Swimming Championships, his gold-medal event in Tokyo. Since making his Commonwealth Games debut on the Gold Coast he has matured greatly and is aiming to enhance his reputation as the world’s best breaststroker in Birmingham.

“I was just trying to swim fast – I didn’t think that fast,” he said of his record swim in Adelaide.

“Last year we put everything in and we got the Olympic gold. This year there is a lot less pressure, so it is a different kettle of fish. I am just stoked.”

 

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Mollie O’Callaghan, who will be making her Commonwealth Games debut, will arrive in Birmingham familiar with the sensation of representing her nation in a big international meet. She already has two Olympic gold medals to her name from Tokyo, as a member of Australia’s 4 x 100 freestyle and 4 x 100m medley relay teams.

This week she put the world on notice, swimming the fastest 100m freestyle of 2022 at the Australian Swimming Championships. That performance is also the fastest by a female teenager in history, impressing astute judges and leaving even O’Callaghan stunned at how rapidly she is improving.

“I sometimes doubt myself a little, so I am really surprised that it was such a big jump. Before I was kind of like the underdog, but this year … it is quite crazy,” she said.

Another notable selection is freestyle sprinter Shayna Jack, who was a relay gold medallist at Gold Coast 2018. She will swim two individual races, the 50m and 100m freestyle.

Rio de Janeiro gold medallist Mack Horton OAM, 26, will hit the pool again in both individual (200 and 400m freestyle) and relay events.

Commonwealth Games Chef de Mission Petria Thomas OAM herself a nine-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist in swimming, is rapt with the calibre of our Dolphins squad.

“This is an exceptional line-up of athletes, reflecting the high standard of swim talent we have in Australia right now,” Thomas said.

“The incredible results at the national championships will send a strong message to the Commonwealth that our Aussie athletes are the ones to watch. I know all team members will embrace our mantra of ‘Greater Together’ and strive to be bold, brave and brilliant in Birmingham.”

Her thoughts are echoed by Swimming Australian CEO Eugenie Buckley.

“Swimming is synonymous with the success of Australian teams at the Commonwealth Games and this team will undoubtedly add to that rich legacy in Birmingham,” Buckley said.

“The Commonwealth Games remains a special competition for our athletes, particularly the chance to compete with their Para-swimming teammates in our country’s colours. We are immensely proud to see all of our swimmers and coaches take the opportunity to represent their country with both hands.”

Australian Swimming Team – Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games:

Please note: Events are subject to change up to the close of entries. Relay teams to be determined at a later date.

The full Australia swimming team for Birmingham is now complete, following the selection of 27 Para-swimmers earlier this month led by decorated champion Ellie Cole OAM, and defending Commonwealth Games champions Lakeisha Patterson OAM and Matt Levy OAM.

The Commonwealth’s finest swimmers are set to showcase their dynamic strength, speed, and

technique as they make a splash at Birmingham 2022 where 54 swimming gold medals will be on offer.

Australia has won 732 total medals in swimming at the Commonwealth Games, including 306 gold medals, with Para-swimming events debuting at the Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games.

Ben Austin OAM won Australia’s first Para-swimming gold medal at the Commonwealth Games.

Commonwealth Games swimming medals summary by nation:

The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games will be held from Thursday 28 July to Monday 8 August with the Swimming competition taking place from Friday 29 July to Wednesday 3 August at the Sandwell Aquatics Centre.