Several standout head-to-head battles from the Tokyo Olympic Games will be rerun sooner than expected with Team USA set to take on the Australian Dolphins at the revitalised Duel in the Pool meet in Sydney.
The likes of US Olympic champions Katie Ledecky and Caeleb Dressel will resume their rivalries with Aussie heroes Ariarne Titmus and Kyle Chalmers as the countries’ best swimmers prepare to come together in August.
A new instalment of the match-race series – which was last held in 2007 – was confirmed by Swimming Australia on Wednesday after months of negotiations with USA Swimming and the NSW Government.
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It was revealed that the meet will be held in Homebush from August 19-21, straight off the back of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham which will conclude on August 8.
The event is said to be the result of months of behind the scenes planning from Swimming Australia, who are eager to exhibit Tokyo stars like unprecedented champion Emma McKeon, twin-backstroke titleholder Kaylee McKeown, breakthrough breaststroker Zac Stubblety-Cook and Australia’s host of relay specialists on home soil.
First held in 2003, the original concept behind Duel in the Pool was for the competition to take place biannually, pitting the two supreme swimming nations against one another for points after they dominated the international scene in the years prior.
The 2003 and 2005 versions were held in the USA, with the 2007 event occurring at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre. But with the Americans soon attaining a one-sided stranglehold, Australia was ultimately replaced with a European all-stars team.
Now, 15 years later and with the Dolphins coming off their best performance in the pool at an Olympic Games, the concept is ready for a second attempt.
Australia’s top swimmers will trial for the World Championships and Commonwealth Games in Adelaide next month. However, several gold medal winning athletes – like Chalmers and McKeon – have already secured their spot within the team through wildcard passes, therefore they will not take part.
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