SYDNEY (Reuters) – Swimming Australia has named a slimmed down team of 24 to compete at February’s world championships in Qatar with a slew of big names skipping the meet as they continue preparations for the Paris Olympics.
A team of 38, including six open water swimmers, won 30 medals at this year’s world championships in Fukuoka but only 18 Australians will compete in the pool at the Feb. 11-18 event in Doha.
Australia’s swimmers have a packed schedule in the leadup tothe Paris Games next July and August, with national trials in April and Olympic trials in June.
World champions Kyle Chalmers and Sam Short, Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus, 200 metres freestyle world record holder Mollie O’Callaghan and Emma McKeon, who won four gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics, have all decided not to go Qatar.
Sprinter Cameron McEvoy will defend the 50m freestyle title he won in Japan in July, while Elijah Winnington will attempt to win back the 400m freestyle title he secured last year in Budapest but lost to Short in Fukuoka.
In-form sprinter Shayna Jack headlines the women’s team as she looks to secure a first individual world title to add to her four relay gold medals.
Open water swimmer Chelsea Gubecka, who has already qualified for the Olympics, will compete in her seventh world championships, setting an Australian record.
Team: Iona Anderson, Jaclyn Barclay, Jack Cartwright, Abbey Connor, Isaac Cooper, Jenna Forrester, Madeleine Gough, Abbey Harkin, Shayna Jack, Moesha Johnson, Cameron McEvoy, Kiah Melverton, Alexandria Perkins, Kai Taylor, Brianna Throssell, Samuel Williamson, Elijah Winnington, Bradley Woodward, Bianca Crisp, Chelsea Gubecka, Bailey Armstrong, Kyle Lee, Nicholas Sloman, Robert Thorpe.
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Peter Rutherford)
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