Sunshine Coast swimmer Lani Pallister is celebrating a gold-medal winning performance with her team-mates, after they won the 4x200m freestyle relay at the Paris Games.
The former Maroochydore State High school student joined stars Mollie O’Callaghan, Ariarne Titmus and Mooloolaba resident Brianna Throssell to swim an Olympic record time of 7min38.09sec.
They finished ahead of the United States (7:40.86) and China (7:42.34) in the final.
Caloundra West’s Jamie Perkins also received a gold medal after swimming in the heats for the Australian squad, as did Shayna Jack.
Pallister has endured a rugged path to become an Olympic gold medallist.
She went through heart surgery and overcame an eating disorder just to make Australia’s swim team for the Paris Olympics.
Then she contracted COVID-19 in the French capital.
Pallister’s immediate thoughts were of her debut Olympics turning to disaster.
The 22-year-old was forced to withdraw from her 1500m freestyle event. And she feared missing out on Australia’s 4x200m freestyle relay. Nothing is certain in sport.
But with Australia holding the 4x200m relay world record, and the team boasting O’Callaghan and Titmus – one-two placegetters in the individual 200m free in Paris – the gold was theirs to lose.
Two days ago, Pallister thought she’d lost hers.
“When I got COVID, I honestly thought I’d be out of that relay completely,” Pallister.
“I didn’t know if I would even have the opportunity to swim the heat, let alone stand on the podium with the girls.”
Pallister was put on anti-viral medication and ordered to isolate from the Dolphins pod.
But on Thursday night she was atop the podium with O’Callaghan, Titmus and Brianna Throssell after they won gold in the relay.
“Physically, I’m not that bad,” Pallister said.
“My symptoms were very, very mild and the AOC (Australian Olympic Committee) have been incredible in the medications they’ve been able to give us.
“Some COVID anti-viral – all checked, nothing wrong with it – very, very grateful for them.
“The fact that I got on top of it so quickly definitely helped my case.
“I’m pretty in tune to when there’s something going on so I wasn’t really scared to have to do a COVID test.
“But obviously it was very disappointing pulling out of the 1500.”
The setback followed a rugged road to Paris for Pallister, the daughter of Janelle, nee Elford, who swam for Australia at the 1998 Seoul Olympics.
Janelle placed fifth in the 400m freestyle in Seoul.
Without two East Germans swimming during that country’s drug-tainted era and finishing second and third, Janelle would be an Olympic medallist.
In 2019, Lani was a rising star of Australian swimming, collecting the award for best female swimmer at the world junior championships.
But she missed selection for the Toyko Olympics when mysteriously underperforming at Australia’s selection trials.
The mystery was solved when she was diagnosed with glandular fever.
In 2021, Pallister underwent surgery for supraventricular tachycardia, which can cause an irregular heartbeat.
When recovering, she developed an eating disorder, admitting she craved being thin rather than fit.
Stalwart Throssell, who made her first national swim team a dozen years ago, is now a dual Olympic gold medallist.
But the 28-year-old feels like a first-time winner, as her previous gold was for a heat swim in Australia’s triumphant women’s 4x100m medley team at the Tokyo Games three years ago.
“Standing on the podium just makes it that extra special being in the final team,” she said.
Originally from Western Australia, Throssell now calls Mooloolaba her hometown.
She announced her retirement from top-tier swimming after the relay in Paris.
Meanwhile, Perkins can cherish a gold medal at her first Games.
The 19-year-old swam second for the team in the heat, clocking a time of 1min56.78sec to help Australia qualify for the final with the fastest time.
Perkins trained at Mountain Creek Swim Club as a junior, before joining Dean Boxall’s top squad at St Peters Western in Brisbane.
She is also a talented surf lifesaver. Perkins, competing for Alexandra Headland Surf Life Saving Club, won a host of titles at the beach as a junior, including eight gold medals at the 2021 Australian championships and another six in 2022.
Her swimming career took off at the world junior championships in Israel in 2023, when she won the 400m freestyle final, and she booked her ticket to Paris as a relay swimmer when she dead-heated with Jack in the 200m final at the selection trials.
Earlier on Thursday night, Sunshine Coast product Kaylee McKeown’s quest for Olympic history remained on track after another strong backstroke showing.
McKeown, bidding to become the first woman to win consecutive 100m-200m backstroke titles at the Olympics, was second-quickest through the 200m semi-finals.
She successfully defended her title over the shorter distance on Tuesday night.
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