Rising Queensland Star Lincoln Wearing Breaks Sam Short’s Australian Age Short Course Record in 800 Freestyle
Queensland’s latest rising teenage distance prodigy Lincoln Wearing has continued his record-breaking demolition of Australian swimming’s biggest names, breaking another Sam Short Australian Age record. It was the latest in an all-star list of scalps that includes Olympic champions Grant Hackett and Mack Horton.
Wearing has now swum faster than the big three over 800 and 1500 in both long course and short course, breaking world champion Short’s Queensland and Australian 15 years Age and All-Comers 800m freestyle record of 8:55.08 (set in 2019) by four seconds at the 2025 Hancock Prospecting Queensland Short Course Championships.
Brisbane’s Chandler Swim Club local, coached by longstanding head coach Tsuyoshi Kimura, clocked a time of 7:50.88 (3:55.05 and 3:55.83) in an impressive display of even splitting swimming. Wearing was out in 26.99 and 56.68 at the 100m turn and through the 200m and 400m in 1:56.37 and 3:55.05 respectively – before blasting through his final 50m in 28.33 to almost negative split the race.
DOUBLE TROUBLE: Lincoln and Isaac Wearing were a dominant force at the 2025 Age Championships. Photo courtesy: Bec Ohlwein/Swimming Australia
Second home was Mackenzie Crocker (A.B Patterson College, Gold Coast; Head Coach Liam Du Feu) in 8:06.42, with Lincoln’s twin-brother Isaac Weaaring (Chandler) third in 8:09.12.
WEARING’S REDORD RAMPAGE began 12 months ago at the 2024 New Zealand Short Course Championships in Auckland, where he emerged as the standout male swimmer, bringing home nine medals – seven gold, one silver and one bronze medal at 14.
His 800m freestyle performance was also outstanding, with an impressive second place in open company, setting a new Australian 14 years record of 8:04.72 – 2.71 seconds faster than Short’s then Australian 14 years age record of 8:07.4, set in 2018.
The records continued to fall at the 2024 Hancock Prospecting Queensland Long Course Championships last December, where the youngster smashed a 28-year-old record held by two-time Olympic champion Hackett since 1996.
Wearing clocked a time of 15:28.90, taking 1.73 seconds off Hackett’s Queensland 15 years Age record of 15:30.63 – swum at the 1996 Olympic Trials in Sydney, when Hackett finished fifth to Kieren Perkins in one of the most memorable 1500m in Australian Championship history.
For Wearing, his winning time of 15.28.90 (2:00.73;4:05.65; 8:15.84) saw him drop a remarkable 52.71 seconds from the time he clocked in April this year when he won the 14 years Australian Age Championship.
Then at the 2025 Australian Age Championships in April, the Brisbane schoolboy won the 15 years’ 800m freestyle in a new national record time of 8:03.73 (57.44, 1:59.05, 3:00.34, 4:01.795:02.77, 6:15.87, 7:19.95;), bettering 2016 Olympic champion Horton’s previous mark of 8:04.74, set back in 2011.
The meet that saw Lincoln and twin brother Isaac collect gold (Lincoln) and silver (Isaac) in the men’s 200m freestyle, Lincoln (1:51.51) touching ahead of Isaac (1:54.33), the finale coming when Lincoln won his fifth gold medal of the championships in the 1500m, in a time of 15:26.14, ahead of brother Isaac (16:03.07).
2025 Hancock Prospecting Queensland Short Course Championships
Men’s 15 Years
800m SC Metre Freestyle
==================================================================
QLD RECORD: # 7:55.08 25/08/2019 Samuel Short, ALBANY CREEK
Meet Qualifying 15: 8:40.19
Name Age Team Finals
==================================================================
1 LINCOLN WEARING, 15 Chandler 7:50.88#
12.72 26.99 (14.27)
41.78 (14.79) 56.68 (14.90)
1:41.42 (14.96) 1:56.37 (14.95)
2:40.91 (14.85) 2:55.73 (14.82)
3:40.27 (14.84) 3:55.05 (14.78)
4:39.60 (14.83) 4:54.40 (14.80)
5:38.93 (14.75) 5:53.79 (14.86)
6:38.26 (14.86) 6:53.21 (14.95)
7:37.35 (14.51) 7:50.88 (13.53)
2 CROCKER, MACKENZIE 15 AB Paterson College 8:06.42
12.88 27.79 (14.91)
42.76 (14.97) 58.01 (15.25)
1:44.04 (15.30) 1:59.43 (15.39)
2:45.27 (15.35) 3:00.84 (15.57)
3:46.86 (15.36) 4:02.17 (15.31)
4:48.00 (15.33) 5:03.16 (15.16)
5:49.23 (15.40) 6:04.58 (15.35)
6:51.03 (15.67) 7:06.62 (15.59)
7:51.82 (15.06) 8:06.42 (14.60)
3 WEARING, ISAAC Chandler 8:09.12
12.95 27.67 (14.72)
43.08 (15.41) 58.35 (15.27)
1:44.46 (15.48) 1:59.74 (15.28)
2:45.99 (15.42) 3:01.38 (15.39)
3:47.85 (15.51) 4:03.39 (15.54)
4:49.68 (15.36) 5:05.06 (15.38)
5:51.35 (15.42) 6:06.84 (15.49)
6:53.01 (15.39) 7:08.59 (15.58)
7:54.70 (14.86) 8:09.12 (14.42)
Meanwhile another teen continuing to climb the records ladder is 16 year-old Gold Coaster, Leny Grigor (Somerset College; Coach Chris Urquhart), who smashed Olympic champion Zac Stubblety-Cook’s 2015 Queensland 16 years Age and All-Comers record in the boys 100m breaststroke.
Grigor, the Swimmer of the Meet at the 2024 Queensland Long Course Championships, clocked 1:00.49, to take 0.62 off Stubblety-Cook’s time of 1:01.11 and 0.90 off Jake Goldsworthy’s 2016 All-Comers mark.
At last year’s Queensland States Grigor set a new 15 years Queensland and Queensland All Comers Record of 100m breaststroke record of 1:03.59, the previous mark also held by Stubblety Cook (1:04.25) set in 2017 and the Queensland All-Comers Record (1:03.97) by Bryce Skea in 2015.
