Sam Short vowed to 'smash everyone' on Easter Monday. The swimming champion did just that
Updated . First published at
GOLD COAST: "I really just wanted to smash everyone."
Those were the dogged words of Sam Short after the Queenslander dominated the final of the men's 400-metre freestyle at the Australian Open swimming championships on Easter Monday.
Short clocked 3:42.53 to obliterate the field at Gold Coast Aquatic Centre and send his rivals an ominous warning ahead of the Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacific swimming championships.
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Sam Short en route to his crushing victory on Easter Monday. Getty
Short beat Elijah Winnington, the silver medallist in the gruelling eight-lap event at the Paris 2024 Olympics, by just shy of four seconds, or the best part of five body lengths.
Winnington finished second in 3:46.36 and New Zealand's Lewis Clareburt took third in 3:46.86.
"It was a hot field and I didn't want to leave it to chance," Short told reporters.
His admission that he wanted to "smash everyone", delivered unflinchingly, spoke volumes of the grit in him.
"It's just growing up with it," he said.
"I think a bit of a surf life saving background [helped as well] — just getting in there and having a red-hot crack and not leaving anything to chance.
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"That's why I love pool swimming, you know? I knew I was there with 150 [metres] to go.
"I thought I was on for something crazy, crazy fast, but I've got to take a 3:42.5 — not many people have done that."
The 400m freestyle world record is 3:39.96, set by German superstar Lukas Martens last year.
Short already owned the fastest time of 2026 prior to his Easter Monday demolition, having clocked 3:43.49 at a TYR Pro Swim Series meet in Westmont, Illinois in early March.
The 3:42.53 he ripped out under lights at the outdoor Gold Coast pool on Monday night sent a formidable message to the gun Japanese trio plotting to take him down at the Pan Pacs in mid-August: Asaki Nishikawa, Tatsuya Murasa and Kazushi Imafuku.
Sam Short claimed the men's 400-metre freestyle title at the Australian Open in commanding style. Getty
Short has got to be a short-priced favourite to dethrone Winnington as 400m freestyle Commonwealth champion at the Glasgow Games, beginning in late July.
"There's been some quick swimmers around the world," said Short, who won a 400m freestyle world title in Fukuoka, Japan in 2023.
"I just really wanna go get that 3:40 or 3:39 again. [Swimming] 3:42 is a good step there — [it's the] fastest of the season for me so far."
Making Short's swim all the more impressive was he had only just shaken off jet lag, having returned home from the US last week, and he hadn't tapered for the championships.
"It was pretty good ... I'm super happy," he said.
"I knew my speed probably would be lacking a little bit in comparison to my aerobic [work]."
He is also pencilled down for the 800m and 1500m freestyle events at these championships.
Teen sensation dazzles again
Prodigious teen breaststroker Sienna Toohey, the Albury youngster who's broken a couple of junior Australian records owned by Olympic gold medallist Leisel Jones, produced another swim from the top shelf on Easter Monday.
Aged just 17, the Albury phenom clinched the women's 100m breaststroke title at the Australian Open in 1:06.69.
It wasn't quite a personal best — her best time is 1:06.29 — but it was another resounding indication that this is an athlete worth keeping track of on the runway to the Brisbane 2032 Olympics.
Toohey last year qualified for her first senior Dolphins team at just 16, making the cut for the Singapore world championships.
Mollie's masterclass
Olympic champion Mollie O'Callaghan was another star of the Easter Monday finals.
The 22-year-old from Logan stormed to the women's 100m freestyle title in 52.66 seconds.
Dolphins teammates Meg Harris (53.36) and Olivia Wunsch (53.58) finished second and third respectively.
McKeown's crushing win
The peerless Kaylee McKeown delivered a thumping win in the women's 200m backstroke final, charging to the title in 2:05.66.
She beat the second-placed Hannah Fredericks by more than three seconds and the third-placed Jenna Forrester by more than five seconds, though this was always going to be a race between McKeown and the clock.
The five-time Olympic gold medallist said after climbing out of the water that she wanted to go faster. Rarely does she not say that, so high are her standards.
The 200m backstroke world record, which McKeown owns, is 2:03.14.
Mollie O'Callaghan after claiming victory on Easter Monday. Getty
Pallister bags dominant win, then spews up her guts
One of the great comeback stories in Australian sport, long-distance extraordinaire Lani Pallister powered to victory in the women's 800m freestyle final by a yawning margin.
The daughter of 1988 Olympic swimmer Janelle Pallister (née Elford) won the race in 8:11.28, finishing way ahead of Maria Costa (8:23.98) and Kiwi Erika Fairweather (8:26.55).
Pallister then ducked away to spew up her guts.
King Kyle reigns supreme
This year marks 10 years since an 18-year-old Kyle Chalmers shocked the swimming world with that golden swim at the Rio Olympics — but the veteran sprinter is not slowing down.
The three-time Olympic medallist taught his younger rivals another lesson in the final of the men's 100m freestyle, hauling in the title in 48.39 seconds.
Relay buddies Flynn Southam and Kai Taylor rounded out the podium, finishing second in 48.80 and third in 48.94 respectively.