Mollie O’Callaghan, the prominent Australian swimmer, will return to the pool on Sunday for the women’s 4x100m medley relay following a disappointing outcome for the Australian mixed relay team at the world championships in Singapore. The team, which did not include O’Callaghan, finished with a time of 3:25.15, placing them 11th and missing out on a spot in the final, with Canada claiming the eighth position at 3:24.95.
This most recent turn of events is a serious setback for O’Callaghan. She has been doggedly chasing after her unprecedented 11th world championship gold medal. O’Callaghan is now tied with Ian Thorpe—Australian swimming superstar—on 10 gold medals. Her next chance to shine in the medley relay will be extremely monumental.
The Australian team’s decision to rest O’Callaghan with compatriot swimmer Kyle Chalmers turned out to be an expensive one. The quartet of Kai Taylor, Max Giuliani, Hannah Casey, and Milla Jansen dove into the mixed relay heats full of optimism. Sadly, they did not make it through, showing the dangers of their smart chess move. The Australian team’s performance was well below expectation, earning Australia no medal in this event.
O’Callaghan is back on Sunday, looking to capitalize upon one of the best second chances there’s ever been. She could even clinch her legacy as the most decorated Australian swimmer with the most world championship golds. All eyes—including those of fans, analysts and reformers—are on them. They are looking to her to see if she can step up to the plate and make this landmark great.
With the championship down to the final three races, all eyes are on O’Callaghan. We can’t wait to see her run for a strong finish in her next race! The failure of the mixed relay will only make Ledecky and her teammates more dangerous. They’ll take it as motivation to train even more ferociously for subsequent contests.
