Aussies Reveal Back-To-Back Plans For Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacs; But Kyle Chalmers To Miss Olympic Warm Up In Irvine
Australia will send a full-strength team to the Glasgow Commonwealth Games this year and an almost full-strength team to the Pan Pacs in Irvine, California in what will be a busy 2026 for the travelling Dolphins.
After Glasgow, the Aussies will tackle the Pan Pacs and the might of the US, Canada and Japan without freestyle sprint king Kyle Chalmers, who will sit out the Irvine meet.
Australian Dolphin Head Coach Rohan Taylor revealing his plans to Swimming World for what could well be a golden pathway for the Dolphins in LA28.
HIGH FLYER: Sprint king Kyle Chalmers will miss the Pan Pac. Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
The teams will be named after this year’s Australian Trials meet that returns to the “Pool Of Dreams” – the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre from June 7-13.
The Commonwealth Games will be swum over six days from July 24-29 at Glasgow’s Tollcross International Swimming Centre before the Dolphins fly to the US for the Pan Pacs to be swum over four days from August 12-15 at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center, Irvine, CA.
Taylor said that everyone has declared their availability for Glasgow and only Olympic champion Chalmers saying he will reluctantly have to by-pass the Pan Pacs but he may be followed by fellow Olympic gold medallist Cam McEvoy, who is yet to decide.
And Australia’s everyone for the Commonwealth Games includes the availability of Dolphins kingpins – Olympic and or World Champions Chalmers, McEvoy, Mollie O’Callaghan, Kaylee McKeown, Meg Harris, Lani Pallister, Sam Short, Elijah Winnington and Zac Stubblety-Cook.
“Effectively the athlete and the coach determine whether they want to swim both meets and from a Swimming Australia view point we are planning on both,” said Taylor.
WOMAN POWER: Lani Pallister Mollie O’Callaghan and Kaylee McKeown will spearhead the Dolphins to Glasgow and Irviine.Photo Courtesy Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
“At this stage Kyle has said he (just) wants to go Comm. Games and not Pan Pacs and Cam is looking at it (yet to make a decision) – they both have young families and it’s the time away from home for them.
“(But for everyone else) the plan is that it’s all in, the Pan Pacs in Irvine, too good an opportunity for us leading into LA28.
“Everyone is going to Com Games who I have spoken to and the (extra) Com Games guys (only selected for Glasgow) will drop off and the Pan Pacs team will travel to San Diego and then on to Irvine.
“The Pan Pac Team selection will be top eight in the world, based on the 2025 World Championships in Singapore with the extras for Glasgow based on rankings.
“As of today no one has said they are just going to Pan Pacs and not Comm. Games.
“As we get closer there may be others who will only want to do one or the other but at the moment everyone wants to go to Com Games and maybe some of the more experienced athletes may say no to Pan Pacs.
“At this point no one apart form (Kyle and Cam).”
The Dolphins five-and-half-week campaign will kick-start in Darmstadt, Germany for a 10-day Staging Camp before flying into Glasgow.
The team will stay an extra day in Glasgow after the competition so as to recover and fly straight into San Diego the following day.
It will then be 10 days at UC San Diego which is also the Australian team’s LA28 Staging Camp.
“We will then drive an hour up the coast to Irvine, race the Pac Pacs and stay an extra day in LA, spending some time checking our UCLA camp venue, so we won’t travel the next day, we’ll travel the day after,” said Taylor.
The Head Coach confirming that the Pan Pacs is the Australian bench mark, the higher standard meet, but also noting there will be some good swimmers at Comm Games.
“Any chance to race is a chance to gain international experience,” says Taylor.
“But that’s what we rely on to get as much international exposure as possible – but no one will remember what happened in 2026 it’s what you do in 2026 and how you build on that for 2028.
“Then we’ve got World Short Course in Beijing (December 1-6) at the end of the year that people want to go to so it’s a busy year all-round for us.
“This year is a good time for that…in 2027 …you can lay the foundation of that experience and build on the work.
“We’ll run a World Short Course trials in September/October……another Trials format and again in Sydney.
“And remembering Sydney, the heritage, the history and memories…a lot of fast swimming has been there….so two hit outs in Sydney will be special.”
