Gold medal aims for rising star
Open-water swimmer Chelsea Gubecka added to her silver collection with a second placing in the women’s 5km at the World Aquatics Championships.
At the Old Doha Port, the Queenslander lost out to Dutch veteran Sharon van Rouwendaal, who came from a body length down with 150m remaining to overhaul Gubecka.
Having already qualified for Paris on the back of her silver medal at the world championships in July, Gubecka, 25, was rested from her signature 10km event to compete in ocean swimming’s “sprint”.
“It was harder than I thought to sit and watch the 10km earlier this week, so it was really great to get out there,“she said.
“There are things to think about and some takeaways. I didn’t really know my form coming in so just wanted to test and see how we were progressing.
“Today’s result cements that what we are doing at home is right, so I’m really happy to walk away with a silver – Sharon (van Rouwendaal) is such a class act.”
Dynamic duo Anabelle Smith and Maddison Keeney secured silver in the 3m springboard synchronised final in Doha, finishing behind the dominant Chinese pair.
It was 31-year-old Smith’s third world championship medal 13 years after she won her first with Sharleen Stratton in the same event in Shanghai 2011.
It took the Australian tally to four medals in the diving pool, headed by Alysha Koloi’s gold and Li Shixin’s silver in the 1m springboard events.
Most of Australia’s Olympic swim team have skipped the event in Doha.
Two-time surfing world champion Tyler Wright has made the perfect start to her quest for a second Pipeline title in Hawaii.
Breakthrough star Molly Picklum also picked up an opening heat win, recording the day’s best score as she plots a path for more than only a world title in 2024.
The duo joined veteran Sally Fitzgibbons in the round of 16 after she finished second in her heat, relegating defending champ Carissa Moore to last.
With a gold medal at the Paris Olympics in her sights, Picklum, 21, said 2024 loomed as a huge year.
“This year I’m definitely focused on the world title, (and) the gold medal at the Olympics is in there,” she said. Wright, who was runner-up in 2023, having won the title in 2020, said that experience was helping her this time around.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever feel a sense of confidence out here,” she said. “I’ve put a lot of energy in the pre-season and I really want to focus on doing my best.” Ethan Ewing is the only Aussie left in the men’s event after champion Jack Robinson’s loss in the round of 32.