(Brisbane) Olympic 100m freestyle champion Emma McKeon will not defend her title in Paris after missing qualifying on Friday in Brisbane, with Mollie O’Callaghan and Shayna Jack having Australia’s two places at stake.
O’Callaghan won in 52.33 and Jack took second qualifying place (52.72).
Meg Harris and Bronte Campbell placed third and fourth and will be part of Australia’s 4x100m relay team, which not only are Olympic champions, but also hold the world record and the eight fastest times in history.
McKeon, Australia’s most decorated Olympic athlete with 11 medals, including five gold, came only sixth.
But the 30-year-old athlete will still go to Paris. She qualified for the 100m butterfly and will be part of the relay team with six swimmers.
Another Australian nugget, swimmer Zac Stubblety-Cook, qualified for the 200m breaststroke and will go to Paris to defend his gold medal obtained in Tokyo.
The 25-year-old, who lost his world record last year to China’s Qin Haiyang, made up for it after unexpectedly missing out on the 100m breaststroke.
In the men’s 200m backstroke, Bradley Woodward (1:56.22) and Lee Se-bom (1:57.02) achieved the Olympic minimums and earned their place in the selection.