Brisbane played host to the opening preliminary session of the 2025 Australian Open, featuring a stacked lineup of events. Swimmers competed in the men’s 100 breaststroke, women’s 200 individual medley (IM), men’s 50 butterfly, women’s 100 freestyle, men’s 400 freestyle, women’s 50 breaststroke, and men’s 200 backstroke.

This is not the Australian selection meet for the 2025 World Championships. Most swimmers are using this competition as a tune-up for the World Championship Trials, which are set for June 9–14 in Adelaide.

Men’s 100 Breaststroke: Lello leads the Pack

In the men’s 100 breaststroke, Bailey Lello, 21, representing St. Peters, clocked the fastest time of the morning at 1:01.02. lello is closing in on breaking the one-minute barrier, with a personal best of 1:00.11.

Joshua Collett, 21, from Bond, followed closely with a time of 1:01.05. The Chris Mooney-trained athlete was just shy of his lifetime best of 1:00.57.

Sam Williamson of Melbourne Vicentre, who recorded the fastest Australian time in 2024 with a 58.80 at the Olympic Trials, finished in 1:01.30. Coached by Craig Jackson, williamson split 27.71 at the 50-meter mark before closing in 33.59.

Joshua yong, 23, who helped Australia secure bronze in the mixed 4×100 medley relay in Paris, posted a time of 1:01.48. His personal best is 59.48, set at the Trials last June.

Zac Stubblety-Cook, former world record holder in the 200 breaststroke, was absent from the event. he recently transitioned training bases from Chandler and coach vince Raleigh to Griffith University under Mel Marshall, who has coached British sprint breaststroke legend Adam Peaty.

Women’s 200 IM: McKeown Shines,Scratches Final

Kaylee McKeown,competing in the 200 IM for the first time as the Olympics,recorded a time of 2:08.58, nearly matching her 2:08.66 prelim swim from the previous year. McKeown first broke the 2:07 barrier at this meet in 2024, winning in 2:06.99. Her 2:08.58 is the second-fastest time in the world this year.

McKeown split 27.98 for butterfly, 32.40 on backstroke, 37.50 on breaststroke, and 30.70 for freestyle. She has decided to scratch tonight’s final.

McKeown holds the Australian record in this event with her 2:06.63 from the Olympic Trials last June. She won bronze at the Olympics in 2:08.08 following that record-setting performance.

Like Stubblety-Cook, McKeown has also undergone a coaching change since Paris. Her former coach, Michael Bohl, took a role with the Chinese Swimming Association, and she is now training under Marshall.

McKeown’s training partner, Ella Ramsay, 20, clocked 2:12.45 to advance in second place. She has a personal best of 2:09.32 in this event, set at the trials last June.

Men’s 50 Butterfly: Ceccon Takes the Lead

Italian star Thomas Ceccon, the world record holder in the 100 backstroke and Paris champion, was the fastest in the men’s 50 butterfly, clocking 23.00. Ceccon,the 2023 World Champion in the 50 butterfly with an Italian record of 22.68, led Cameron McEvoy, who logged 23.09. McEvoy, the 50 freestyle gold medalist in Paris, earned bronze in this butterfly distance at the 2024 Doha World Championships and narrowly missed his best time of 23.07.

Kyle chalmers recently achieved his first sub-23-second swim in the 50 butterfly at the Stockholm Open, with a time of 22.89. This performance edged closer to Matt Targett’s super-suited national record of 22.73 from 2009.

Ceccon is currently training with Dean Boxall at St. Peters and is using this meet to qualify for the World Championships after receiving special permission to compete instead of at last week’s Italian Nationals.

Ceccon decided to scratch tonight’s final, choosing instead to focus on the 200 backstroke, where he advanced fifth with a time of 2:00.54. Marius Boll was the fastest qualifier in that event at 2:00.20.

women’s 100 Freestyle: O’Callaghan Dominates

Mollie O’Callaghan, the 2022 and 2023 World Champion, took center stage in the women’s 100 freestyle.The 200 freestyle Paris Olympic champion opened with a 26.34 split through the first 50 before closing in 27.17, finishing with a final time of 53.51, which ranks fifth worldwide this season.

O’Callaghan, who confirmed a knee injury back in January, has been focusing on healing. I’ll be out of the water for a bit and sticking to modified training for now, she said at the time. Luckily, my team and I have experience from my last injury, so we should have a solid rehab plan in place.

Meg Harris (third, 54.51) and Shayna Jack (sixth,54.99) also safely advanced to the final.

Abbey Webb, who trains under Shannon Rollason, posted a time of 55.18 for seventh. Webb made headlines last November when she dropped personal bests of 54.06 (100 freestyle) and 1:56.68 (200 freestyle) at the Japan Open.

Olivia Wunsch and Milla Jansen both scratched.

Additional Top Qualifiers

• Benjamin Goedemans (3:49.47) and Elijah Winnington (3:49.61) were the fastest 400 freestylers of the morning. Winnington posted a 3:41.41 at this meet last year before earning silver in Paris with a time of 3:42.21. His personal best remains the 3:41.22 that he swam to win the 2022 World title.
• Sienna Harben was the top qualifier in the women’s 50 breaststroke (31.37). teammate Tilly King was second this morning (31.58).
• Marius Boll led the men’s 200 backstroke prelims (2:00.20),securing lane four for the final. Ceccon was fifth quickest at 2:00.54.