Australia’s swim stars have touched down in Glasgow ahead of the Commonwealth Games which kicks off Friday.
World record-holder Cam McEvoy, retiring star Shayna Jack and Olympic champion Kyle Chalmers were among the team members to land in Scotland overnight, with the Dolphins expected to do the heavy lifting in Australia’s gold pursuit.
Last week, Jack, pictured, announced the Glasgow Games would be her last in an emotional video posted on social media, calling it an “absolute privilege” to be an Australian athlete.
“I think I’ve definitely ticked off all the boxes. It’s been a long career, but I’m ready to announce my retirement and just be Shayna Jack,” she said.
The Queenslander has won two Commonwealth gold medals in the 4x100m freestyle relay team, also winning gold in the 4x100m freestyle and 4x200m freestyle relays at the 2024 Paris Olympics. But while Jack has had plenty of success, she also faced some adversity — serving a two-year ban after a performance-enhancing drug was found in her system.
She always maintained she did not knowingly take the substance throughout the saga.
Former teammate and Seven expert commentator Ariarne Titmus — also coached by Dean Boxall — commended Jack’s resilience.
“Shayna has had an incredible career, quite unusual career, but I really admire her and commend her for her resilience off the back of her doping saga,” she told The Nightly.
“I think many people would have given it away with what she went through, but she stuck to her guns and maintained her innocence and her integrity the entire time.
“The way she came out the other end and is now an Olympic gold medallist, I think she leaves on her terms.”
Glasgow also marks a special moment for Jack, as she will be joined by her brother Jamie with the siblings both earning selection together for the first time.
“I’m sure that would have been a big driving force for why she continued swimming after the Paris Olympics to try and experience an Australian team with her brother,” Titmus said.
“I’m looking forward to seeing Shayna compete for one last time and getting to see her in person and and hopefully getting to do her final interview as an Australian Dolphin on pool deck. I think it’s going to be very special.”
Jack will compete in the 50m and 100m freestyle events where she will be up against teammate Meg Harris, the world champion in the 50m event. The pair will first join forces with Mollie O’Callaghan as the Dolphins aim to defend the women’s 4x100m freestyle crown on the opening day of competition.
Australia’s women freestylers led the way at the 2022 Games, claiming victory in all but one of the 15 races to help the nation take home 25 gold medals out of a possible 52.
Meanwhile, Australia’s athletics team is tearing up the track in Barcelona. The team is training in Spain before heading to Glasgow, developing a family-like bond that’s powering their preparations.
Pole vaulting sensations Nina Kennedy and Kurtis Marschall are in many ways like brother and sister, both defending Commonwealth Games champions powering each other to new heights.
“It’s competition against myself and against the other competitors, but there’s a little unspoken rivalry between Nina and I as well,” Marschall said. Their confidence is contagious. Marschall is chasing Steve Hooker’s Australian record of 6.06m.
“I feel like it’s coming. I feel like it’s just around the corner and I’m just saving it for Glasgow,” he said.
Kennedy has a different goal: clearing the 5m barrier.
“You’ve heard it here first, it’s going to happen this year, I really, really hope so. But yeah, even just daring to dream, I think that takes a lot of vulnerability,” Kennedy said.
And Marschall, like a good brother, has her back.
“He will say I’m probably the most competitive person he knows and look, I am,” Kennedy said.
Fatherhood has put the Birmingham Comm Games discus champion Matt Denny on a different trajectory.
“When you’re doing throws and he’s sitting there just watching with his toys and stuff, you feel like it’s the most pressure I’ll ever have,” Denny said of his infant son Roman.
But Denny’s still got that killer instinct.
“The goal for us is to, you know, obviously win, but have a number with a seven with it. And we’re in that kind of shape,” he said.
The 190cm, 100kg sprinter Eddie Nketia is one of this team’s younger sons.
“I just can’t wait to see what I can do on the big stage for Australia with the support that I’m getting right now,” the 100m contender said.
But it’s Nketia’s family really driving him.
“They are like the backbone of me. Like they have been there for me, like for my ups. They have been there for me for my downs,” he said.
Eddie broke his own father’s 100 metres Kiwi record. Sprinting is in his blood.
Fast and Furious, the perfect film for Eddie’s life.
“Yeah, fast. Fast, fast. We always got to go fast, for real,” he said.
Catch the Glasgow Commonwealth Games opening ceremony at 4.45am Friday. Live and Free on Seven and Seven-Plus.
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