Lani Pallister joined American great Katie Ledecky and Dane Lottie Friis as the third woman to swim the 1500m freestyle on Saturday in under 15 minutes and 40 seconds.
Pallister set a new Commonwealth record of 15:39.14 when he struck the wall during the Australian world championship trials in Adelaide.
In 2013, Friis’ 15:38.88 was set. Ledecky holds the world record of 15:20.48 and all 23 of the fastest times before that.
Pallister’s time concluded a historic meet in which the 23-year-old broke the 800-meter national record set by Ariarne Titmus and set a new 400-meter time of less than four minutes.
The 20-year-old Ella Ramsay was another exceptional swimmer who secured a fourth event at the international championships in Singapore next month by defeating Jenna Forrester in the 400-meter medley with a time of 4:36.12.
In addition, she placed second in the 100-meter breaststroke and won the 200-meter medley and 200-meter breaststroke.
Ramsay was a member of Australia’s 4×100-meter medley relay team, which won a silver medal in the Olympics in Paris. Her 200-meter medley campaign was halted by an attack of Covid, but she finished fifth in the 400-meter medley.
She is one of only two swimmers to qualify for four different events, along with Mollie O’Callaghan (50-100m backstroke and 100-200m freestyle).
When O’Callaghan placed fourth in the 50-meter freestyle, which Olympic silver champion Meg Harris won in 24.17, she lost out on a fifth place finish.
Alex Perkins and Olivia Wunsch tied for second place at 24.70; it is still unclear who will occupy the second spot.
Despite being pregnant and not competing this year, Harris is a serious gold medal contender with Swedish world record holder Sarah Sjostrom, who defeated her to win the Olympic gold medal in Paris.
With a swim time of 4:12.81, Olympic 400-meter medley bronze champion Brendon Smith secured his ticket ahead of fellow qualifier Will Petric (4:13.23).
After placing first in the 50-meter butterfly with a time of 22.89, a revitalized Kyle Chalmers will compete in three events in Singapore.
