Cate Campbell’s quest to swim at a fifth Olympics appears doomed after missing the 100m freestyle final at selection trials by one-hundredth of a second.
Campbell was bidding to become the first Australian swimmer to race at five Olympics.
But a cruelly timed illness in the lead-up to selection trials appears to have cost the 32-year-old her chance.
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Campbell, a four-time Olympic gold medallist, was ninth-fastest through Friday morning’s 100m heats at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre.
She clocked 54.27 seconds, just 0.01 second behind eighth-ranked swimmer Milla Jansen.
In a field stacked with sprint talent, Meg Harris (52.52) topped times ahead of last year’s world champion Mollie O’Callaghan (52.57).
Shayna Jack (52.60) was third-quickest and Campbell’s sister Bronte (52.95) was next-best ahead of Olivia Wunsch (53.30), reigning Olympic champion Emma McKeon (53.61) and Brianna Throssell (53,78).
Bronte Campbell said she felt for her sister, who was Australia’s joint flagbearer at the Tokyo Games.
“I’m obviously really disappointed for Cate,” she said.
“She is one of the most incredible athletes that we’ve ever had in this event.
“She was her number one freestyler for what, 10, 11, 12 years in a row — that is a feat that’s pretty much unmatched in Australian sporting history.
“I know she was a bit ill leading into this and had a really rough last few weeks.
“So I’m sure she’ll be disappointed because we all know that she’s an incredible athlete and can swim a lot faster than that.”
Cate Campbell, who was visibly upset after her swim and didn’t speak with media, does have one more event at the selection trials, the 50m freestyle on Saturday.
But it’s a long shot that the 32-year-old will finish in the top two and earn selection for the Paris Olympics given the event features defending Olympic champion McKeon, O’Callaghan, Jack and Harris.
Meanwhile, men’s 1500m freestyle favourite Sam Short has withdrawn from the trials as he recovers from illness.
Short, who won a bronze medal in the event at last year’s world championships in Japan, has already posted a 1500m time under Swimming Australia’s qualifying benchmark for the Olympics.
The 19-year-old finished second in both the 400m and 800m freestyle finals earlier at the trials but after securing selection in those events revealed he had been battling gastroenteritis.
In Friday’s men’s 200m backstroke heats, Mitch Larkin kept alive his hopes of racing at a fourth Olympics by sneaking into the final.
He clocked one minute 59.93 seconds and was eighth-fastest qualifier in a field headed by Brad Woodward (1:56.91) and Josh Edwards-Smith (1:58.14).
In the men’s 200m breaststroke heats, defending Olympic champion Zac Stubblety-Cook topped qualifying in two minutes 08.40 seconds with Joshua Yong (2:10.66) next best.
Jenna Strauch was quickest through the women’s 200m breaststroke heats in 2:24.83 followed by Ella Ramsey (2:25.21).
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