By Tom Decent
Fukuoka: The Dolphins have fallen just short in their ambitious quest to eclipse the 13 gold medals won by the Australian team of 2001, but will leave Japan with immense satisfaction and momentum heading into next year’s Olympics in Paris.
The final night of competition in Fukuoka saw rising Australian star Sam Short smash his personal best by nine seconds to win a bronze medal in the 1500m freestyle before Shayna Jack claimed her maiden individual world championship medal with a second place finish in a rapid 50m freestyle final behind world record holder Sarah Sjostrom.
Jenna Forrester thought she was dreaming when she collected a bronze medal in the women’s 400m individual medley before Australia’s men’s and women’s 4x100m medley relay teams registered more medals to end a magnificent meeting for the Dolphins.
Had the women’s relay team come over the top of the USA, in the 42nd and final event on the program, Australia would have finished with 14 gold medals and officially gone into the record books as the most successful Dolphins squad at a world championships.
Instead, it is fitting that Australia will leave Japan with 13 gold medals, just like the teams of 2001 (Fukuoka) and 2005 (Montreal).
Beating the USA on the medal table for the first time in 22 years is an achievement that cannot be overstated, even if World Aquatics announced after the last race of the night that the Americans were the ‘best team’ of the competition.
It is an award for the team who won the most medals. The USA claimed 38 to Australia’s 25.
Sam Short with his bronze medal in the men’s 1500m freestyle. Credit: Getty
On pool deck, the magnitude of what this Australian team had achieved across eight days of lung-busting races finally began to sink in as coaches and athletes hugged and embraced one another, knowing these world championships could hardly have gone better.
Mollie O’Callaghan won five gold medals, while Kaylee McKeown was named female swimmer of the program after her clean sweep in the 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke finals.
“I am happy with what I have done this week but I have teammates like Ariarne Titmus and Mollie O’Callaghan who have broken world records this week,” McKeown said. “As proud as I am, I feel like I have shared that [award] with my teammates. I never thought in a million years I would be named swimmer of the year.”
Everyone is exhausted. Just ask Kyle Chalmers.
“I’ve left everything in the pool this week. I could not do one more day,” said Chalmers after his anchor leg in the relay that helped Australia not only pick up a bronze medal, but also qualify for Paris. “That’s as much as I’ve got. It’s a great way to finish the week.”
After almost breaking the 400m freestyle world record on night one in a terrific victory, Short celebrated a silver medal a few days later in the 800m freestyle.
But the one event Short really wanted to prove himself in was the 1500m freestyle.
Sweden’s Sarah Sjoestroem and Australia’s Shayna Jack hug after the women’s 50m freestyle final. Credit: Reuters
After 500 metres, the 19-year-old from the Sunshine Coast was under world record pace and out in front. By the 1000-metre mark, he was back level with his rivals.
Short’s bronze medal time of 14:37.28 was a nine-second personal best. When you consider that Kieran Perkins (14:41.66) and Mack Horton (14:39.54) never swam quicker, you can understand why there is significant hype growing around Short before what will be a maiden Olympics.
This time last year, Short hadn’t cracked the magic 15-minute mark. He even believes he can take down Sun Yang’s world record (14:31.02), which was almost beaten by gold medallist Ahmed Hadnaoui on Sunday night (14:31.54).
Before the race, Short received a text from Grant Hackett, who broke the world record in the same pool in Fukuoka 22 years ago. His time of 14:34.56 is still the Australian record.
“He said, ‘enjoy the slog, get after it’,” Short said. “I really channelled that energy then. His mindset was always to break his competition. I’m still young and I feel I can take this to new levels and chase that 14:30 barrier.
“That’s the one I wanted to prove myself in. I love pushing myself to new limits.
“I put it all on the line. My plan was to get to the 1000 and see what I could do. I was grateful there wasn’t anyone really near me for the last 100 because that hurt.
“That last 100 is the worst by a country mile. The last 400 I thought I was going to vomit. I’m so happy I got that sub 14:40. I would have been happy with that if I came last.
“It’s time to celebrate. I’ve had the meet of my life. It’s going to be a good time I think.”
It was a special silver medal for Jack, who wondered whether she’d ever be able to compete again on the international arena after serving a drugs ban.
Jack has always maintained her innocence.
“This medal means more than anything to me,” Jack said. “I actually had quite a bit of a moment after we walked back when I saw Dean. I got a bit emotional because this does mean a lot to me. It’s been a long journey. I never thought I’d be back representing my country.”
Australia had many athletes on top of the medal dais but there were also minor medals that meant just as much.
Forrester’s third place in the 400m individual medley was not only a massive personal best (4:32.30) but the greatest moment of her young career.
“I feel like this is a dream,” Forrester said. “I never would have thought I’d be able to stand here and represent my country let alone win a medal.”
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