The drought has lasted nearly a quarter of a century, but the Australian men’s 4x100m freestyle relay team believes it is primed to break it at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics – and Bond’s Bull Sharks are leading the charge.
Hancock Prospecting Swimming Excellence Scholarship recipients Flynn Southam and Max Giuliani teamed with Kyle Chalmers and Kai Taylor to storm home for gold at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, setting a championship record of 3:08.07 in a thrilling come-from-behind win over Italy and the United States.
The victory has injected real belief that the country can finally add another Olympic gold to the one won on home soil at Sydney 2000.
That iconic moment, which ended the USA’s unbeaten run in the event at the Olympics and also included a Bondy, Chris Fydler, remains one of Australian sport’s most celebrated moments.
In poolside interviews the team made no secret of their Olympic ambitions.
“It’s so good to be part of a relay team that’s young and hungry and eager to have success in LA,” Chalmers said.
“We’ve won bronze, bronze, silver. I really desperately want to win a gold medal in a few years’ time.”
Southam said the aim for himself, Giuliani and Taylor was simply to give Chalmers a “punter’s hope” heading into the anchor leg – and they did exactly that.
“We all did our job extraordinarily well, but we came together and represented the country. There’s no greater honour, and to do it in a relay is so much more special than an individual event,” he said.
Giuliani described the result as “unbelievable”.
“We spoke about it the first day we came together on staging … and to deliver on that in great fashion – I mean championship record (and) we weren’t too far off the world record,” he said.
“I think we’ve got a whole lot of potential in this team.”
Women continue golden dominance
Australia’s all-conquering women’s 4x100m freestyle relay team extended its remarkable winning run, with Bull Sharks Milla Jansen and Hannah Casey also collecting gold medals.
Casey swam in the heats while Jansen produced a superb third leg in the final to hand Australia the lead heading into the last change, setting up Olivia Wunsch to storm home in 3:30.60 seconds ahead of the US and the Netherlands.
Bond’s presence felt on world stage
Bond Director of Swimming Kyle Samuelson said the performances of the Bull Sharks and the university’s World Aquatics scholarship recipients in Singapore had been outstanding, pointing to Lani Connolly’s breakthrough meet as a standout highlight.
“Lani was awesome – a big PB of 1:07.4 in the 100m breaststroke and her highest finish ever at a World Championships,” Samuelson said.
“She swam out of her skin.
“Flynn’s PB in the 200m and Milla’s relay splits were also world class.
“There have been great results across the board from the Bond performance squad and our World Aquatics athletes who have broken a swag of national records.
“It is not easy to step up and swim personal best times at major international meets and our swimmers are consistently achieving that.”
Samuelson said the Bull Sharks were also making their mark out of the water.
“Watching the way our swimmers conduct themselves on the pool deck makes us very proud of the program we have here at Bond,” he said.
“There are some great leaders among our squad, they are among the youngest athletes on the team, but the maturity they demonstrate is a great sign for Australian swimming into the future.”