The 2026 Australian Swimming Trials Day 2 Finals Live Recap: A Day of Surprises and Records
The second day of the 2026 Australian Swimming Trials in Sydney was a thrilling day of racing, with Commonwealth and Pan Pac roster spots on the line in six events, plus Para Pan Pac selection up for grabs across four multi-class events.
The day started with the women's 100 breaststroke, where 17-year-old Sienna Toohey set a new personal best of 1:05.97, breaking the 1:06 barrier for the first time. This swim also broke the Australian Age Record for 17-year-old girls of 1:06.37, set by Leisel Jones in 2003, and her own All-Comers Record of 1:06.43 set earlier this year. Toohey became the third-fastest Australian of all-time, only trailing Jones and Sarah Katsoulis.
In the women's 50 butterfly, Alexandria Perkins dominated, winning in a time of 25.60, just shy of her season-best of 25.44. She also set a new lifetime best and co-Aussie Record of 25.31 at the 2025 World Championships.
The women's 100 backstroke saw Kaylee McKeown, the reigning Olympic and world champion, deliver a blistering closing split to book the victory with a new season-best time of 57.77. This was her first swim under 58 seconds this season.
In the men's 200 freestyle, Edward Sommerville was the only Aussie man under 1:45 last year, and he leads the national rankings again this season with his 1:45.34 clocking from the Japan Open in November.
The men's 100 back was headlined by 17-year-old standout Henry Allan, who recovered from a slow start to secure a runner-up finish last night in the 50 back final. Isaac Cooper, who won the 50 back, led Allan through the heats by a small margin, but has scratched the final.
Matt Temple has long been a dominant force on the domestic scene in the men's 100 fly, and he popped off a stunning 50.60 swim in the prelims to move into 4th in the 2025-26 world rankings. Ben Armbruster has been impressive over the last year, breaking 51 last summer and clocking 51.22 at the Japan Open in November.
Kyle Chalmers set a new personal best of 51.04 in the prelims, but has scratched out of the final.
The day's highlights also included the women's 100 butterfly multi-class event, where Jasmine Greenwood, S10, topped the field in the women's 100 fly multi-class, clocking 1:06.63 after already earning a Para Pan Pac spot with her 1:07.86 showing in the prelims.
In the men's 100 butterfly multi-class event, five men hit Para Pan Pac qualifying times in the final, led by Declan Budd, who blasted his way to a time of 57.11 to get comfortably under the mark.
Overall, the 2026 Australian Swimming Trials Day 2 Finals Live Recap was a day of surprises and records, with several swimmers breaking personal and national records, and securing their spots on the Commonwealth and Pan Pac teams.
(Note: This article is a fictional recap and does not reflect actual results from the 2026 Australian Swimming Trials.)
