The Melbourne Sports And Aquatic Centre has been announced today as the host venue for the 2023 Australian World Championship Swimming Trials – returning to the Victorian capital for the first time since 2006.
Swimming Australia announced the news on the MSAC pool deck this morning with Birmingham Commonwealth Games triple medallist Sam Williamson (Melbourne Vicentre, VIC) front and centre for the announcement of the six-day meet to take place in the centre’s indoor pool from June 13-18.
This year’s Trials for the Fukuoka World Championships in Japan will feature the cream of Australia’s Olympic and World Champions – a star-studded line up will contest the World Trials with Australian Dolphins including Emma McKeon (Griffith University, QLD), Ariarne Titmus (St Peters Western, QLD) , Kyle Chalmers (Marion, SA), Zac Stubblety-Cook (Chandler, QLD), Kaylee McKeown (Griffith University, QLD), Mollie O’Callaghan (St Peters Western, QLD) , Cody Simpson (Griffith University, QLD) and Lani Pallister (Griffith University, QLD)all currently timing their preparations to June, as they battle for spots on the Dolphins Team.
Melbourne has a proud and distinguished history in hosting major sporting events, including swimming, with MSAC attracting huge crowds to last December’s successful FINA World Short Course Swimming Championships.
The MSAC venue has been the home of Swimming Victoria’s major championship meets since it opened in 1997 and in 1998 MSAC hosted it’s first Australian Championships, Trials for the Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games and featuring the likes of Michael Klim, Ian Thorpe and Grant Hackett who had dominated the World Championships in Perth earlier in the year.
The 2006 Commonwealth Games Trials saw Leisel Jones, Libby Trickett and Jade Edmistone embark on a world record blitz in the lead up to the Melbourne Games at the Albert Park outdoor venue which also played host to the 2007 FINA World Long Course Championships.
Melbourne’s Australian Championship and Trials history dates back to the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s and also includes the 1962 Commonwealth Games Trials and 1968 and 1980 Olympic Trials, swum at the old Olympic Swimming Stadium which hosted the 1956 Olympic Games.
The previous swimming Victorian swimming HQ, the State Swim Centre in Batman Avenue, also played host to several National meets including the 1989 and 1991 Pan Pac Trials.
The move to Melbourne is also a major venue shift by Swimming Australia after Adelaide became the home of the last three Olympic Trials and World Championship Trial meets since 2012.
TURNING THE CLOCK BACK: Australian Olympic swim coach Michael Bohl and Olympic champion Kaylee McKeown keeping up with the times in the MSAC outdoor pool. Photo Courtesy: Wade Brennan (Speedo Australia).
Triple Olympic golden girl McKeown recently set the MSAC pool alight with some of her career best times at the Victorian Open Championships just three months after her five-medal haul, including three golds and the 100-200m backstroke double at the FINA World SC Championships.
And fresh from her quadruple gold medal haul in the MSAC pool in December, McKeown’s team mate Pallister said it was exciting to be heading back to Melbourne.
“It’s a place that now holds such fond memories for me and I have no doubt I’ll draw on those during the important moments at trials,” Pallister said.
“To share those experiences with a home crowd was incredibly special and I’m sure their passion and energy contributed to my performances, so I’d encourage the Melbourne fans to turn up again.”
GOLDEN WAVE: Lani Pallister was on top of the world at the FINA World SC Championships. Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
“It will be a week of high quality racing with a number of the best athletes in the world fighting for the Dolphins team which means so much to us all.”
Swimming Australia CEO, Eugénie Buckley, welcomed the return to MSAC for such a quality meet.
“The Trials environment brings out the very best in our athletes and taking that platform to a state-of-the-art facility like MSAC will undoubtedly inspire some exceptional performances,” Buckley said.
“As we saw so clearly during World Short Course, the performance lift experienced by competing in front of a passionate home crowd is tangible and we expect another typically large Melbourne turn out to spur our athletes on once again.”
“We are proud to continue our strong relationship with the Victorian State Government and Visit Victoria to bring premier events and world class athletes to one of the sporting capitals of the world.”