Lani Pallister backs up Friday’s national short course titles with Bluff to Bar ocean swim win

Is there anything Lani Pallister can’t do?

On Friday night, Pallister wrapped up a hugely successful Australian short course championships with a fourth gold medal in the 800-metre freestyle to seal her spot in the 24-strong squad for the world championships.

Then, the 24-year-old rushed up to Queensland’s Sunshine Coast to claim honours in the 1.2-kilometre Bluff to Bar ocean swim at Alexandra Headland on Saturday morning, after a 4am wake-up call.

“I’d get really bad FOMO [fear of missing out],” Pallister said when asked why she made the trip.

“It’s important to give back … Alexandra Heads Surf Club helped make me the athlete I am today.”

Pallister’s dedication to her surf club cannot be doubted after she posted a story on her Instagram feed tagged at 4:38am to get her flight for an 11:20am race on the Sunshine Coast.

And the Paris Olympian made sure the early wake up was worth it, leading a stacked field from start to finish to claim a third-straight victory in the event.

Competing in a point-to-point ocean swim couldn’t have been more different from the 125 tumble turns she completed in competition at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre in the past four days.

Pallister competed in every freestyle event from 100m to 1,500m, winning gold in all but the 100m, where she finished second.

That ensured that she would be the headline act for the Dolphins squad named for the Beijing world championships from December 1-6.

The squad includes six debutants: Amelie Smith, Mark Nikolaev, Marcus Da Silva, Emily Jones, Cameron Bladen and Alex Quach.

Head Dolphins coach Rohan Taylor noted Pallister’s performance as a stand-out in Sydney, with Sam Short’s clean sweep of the 400m, 800m and 1,500m freestyle and Jenna Forrester’s four silvers and a gold also worthy of mention.

“Those three without a doubt have been stand-outs here,” Taylor said. 

“But also it’s been great to see the likes of Amelie Smith and Marcus Da Silva come through the ranks and shift the dial. 

“Also credit to Mark Nikolaev; it’s a credit to his consistency and perseverance that he has earned his Dolphin number tonight.

“The international exposure in Beijing is an opportunity to come together and build towards LA 2028 and the meet presents a great opportunity for our younger swimmers to learn from established Dolphins.”

Speaking of experienced Dolphins, Cam McEvoy is also set to join the Aussie team in Beijing, despite not competing at the national championships this week.

World Aquatics is offering wildcard spots for the world championships to any to any swimmer who finishes on the podium of an individual final during the the World Cup series.

The 32-year-old long course world record holder duly set a new national short course record of 20.22 for the 50m freestyle to win gold on the opening night of the 2026 World Cup series in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Friday.

Pallister will now head for an altitude training camp in Flagstaff, USA, before the world championships, which represents her ninth Australian Dolphins selection.

“Off to altitude in a couple of weeks’ time, and then just pretty much getting back into full training, knuckling down and targeting world champs,” Pallister said during the short course titles.

“I didn’t really anticipate fast swimming this week. I was actually pretty shocked with the 200 being plus 0.2, so [I’m] pretty happy.”

Dolphins World Championships squad

Iona Anderson, Ben Armbruster, Cameron Bladen*, Brittany Castelluzzo, Josh Collett, Isaac Cooper, Marcus Da Silva*, Jenna Forrester, Max Giuliani, Emily Jones*, Tara Kinder, Mark Nikolaev*, Lani Pallister, Alexandria Perkins, William Petric, Alex Quach*, David Schlicht, Sam Short, Amelie Smith*, Flynn Southam, Stuart Swinburn, Matt Temple, Olivia Wunsch, Josh Yong.

*debut Dolphins squad