EXCLUSIVE: Aus vs. The World to put swimmers in ‘an absolute pain cave’ as new format pushes stars to their limits

Swimming great Cate Campbell sees a huge opportunity ahead for some of the world’s best stars to play their sport just as basketballers play in the NBA.

A sole focus on recording the fastest time will no longer matter. Getting to the wall first will be front of mind. That is the nature of Aus vs. The World.

Taking place in the Valley Pool in Brisbane, some of the world’s best swimmers will test their skills in a fast-paced competition environment that is unlike what they are used to.

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It will provide a chance for Australia’s Mollie O’Callaghan to showcase her ability to outlast a group of “real sprinters” in a ‘skins style’ event, while others like Flynn Southam will be looking to push their case as a future leader of the national swim team.

But there is one race in particular that is bound to catch the eyes of many, as Australian freestyler Sam Short gets another chance to battle Lukas Märtens over 400m.

Silver medallist Samuel Short and gold medallist Lukas Martens pose with their world championship medals. Getty

Only this time, their is a major twist that could change the course of their battle.

Campbell said Short will be “gunning for Märtens” after falling short of the world championship gold medal to the German by 0.02 of a second.

However, the Australian star will need to consider his tactics to not only get ahead of his rival throughout the race, but also provide his teammates with valuable points.

Each time the athletes hit the 100m mark in the race, whoever is the first to reach that point will receive bonus points for their team, in this case Team Australia or Team World.

While it is likely that Short, Märtens and fellow Australian Elijah Winnington will be among the favourites to win the race, the trio could find that other athletes will challenge them to be the first to the wall at the 100m mark to ensure their team gets bonus points.

Thus, Campbell has warned of the mind games that will be at play.

“There are so many mind games and tactics that come into play because it isn’t just about who gets the hand on the wall first due to the point scoring,” Campbell told Wide World of Sports.

Watch the Aus vs. The World meet live and free on Nine and 9Now.

Sam Short in action at the world championships. Getty

“I really think that this is going to play some real mind games with our athletes. They’re gonna have to rethink maybe how they would normally swim this event to figure out ‘how do I want to win each hundred?’

“You’ll have some athletes who know that they are probably not going to have a chance of winning against Sam and Lucas … and they might push them out hard and try to get those extra points at the hundred.

“So maybe it’s about Sam and Lukas waiting until the last hundred (to push hard). But the coaches are going to have their work cut out for them to be able to give each athlete a solid race plan to follow (that ensures points for the team).”

How does Aus v The World work?

Instead of the primary focus being on the first to hit the wall and record the fastest finishing time, swimmers in Brisbane will look to accumulate points for their team – in this case their nation – to ensure at the competition’s end they sit on top of the leaderboard.

Unlike usual competitions, there will be a series of twists to the schedule, with athletes set to compete in a skins event, a mega relay, a speed challenge and/or a mystery medley. There will also be the option to activate a power play in three events.

But what exactly do those events mean?

Mollie O’Callaghan of Team Australia. Getty

The skins event is an elimination-style sprint race, where the slowest swimmers from each round will be cut from the race until just two swimmers remain. There is a short break – roughly two to three minutes – between each race throughout the rounds.

A showdown race will then take place to determine who ends up in the Champions Race, where the winners from all four disciplines (backstroke, butterfly, breaststroke and freestyle) will face off with staggered start times.

“I can tell you that they are going to be in the absolute pain cave by the end of it,” Campbell said of the skins races.

“You were going to see athletes really pushed to the absolute limits.

“I think it’ll be really interesting to watch how O’Callaghan goes. She isn’t typically a real sprinter but she has incredible underwater work and she is a phenomenal 200m freestyler, which means that she has the ability to manage that lactic acid production.

“If she can make it through the first couple of rounds, she’ll be really dangerous in the back end and be the winner. However she’s gonna have to turn on as much as she can to get through those first round so if she makes it through the first couple rounds.”

The mystery events include the relays and the medleys, where athletes will not find out their order for the event until the moments before they step up to the block.

For the mega relay, the crowd will get a say in which female athlete gets to lead their team in the 6x50m race, while in the 4x50m race, the crowd will get to choose whether it is a freestyle or medley relay.

The winners from those events will take home five points, second place claims three points and third will win two points.

However, if a power play is activated, the team can earn double points for their race. It should be noted that the power play can only be used in one female, one male and one relay event.

“It makes competing so much fun,” Campbell said of the unique twist on the events.

“Having been a swimmer, it’s often not a lot of fun when it comes to training and competing. The training is quite boring and monotonous, then the competitions are really high stress and high-pressure environments.

“You know you’re competing at a world championships, an Olympic Games or a Commonwealth Games, and there really isn’t a lot of opportunity to have a play. I feel like this is an opportunity for our athletes to play swimming in the way that you can play basketball.

“I think that the Australian public are going to see a very different side to some of our athletes from when they see them at a major benchmark competition, where they locked in and they’re focused. It’s a great opportunity for our athletes to relax enjoy themselves but also, of course, they’re gonna be competitive, you can’t switch that off.”

Lani Pallister. Delly Carr/Swimming Australia

Who is representing each team?

There is no hiding that the Australian swim team is in a transitional period, with big names including Ariarne Titmus, Mack Horton and Emma McKeon all calling time on the sport.

But that does not mean that the nation is going to be short of talent in Brisbane.

In fact, Campbell is predicting that two new leaders will emerge and stand out as the loud voices that the team needs going forward.

“Someone like Lani Pallister is really well positioned to become a real leader in the team,” Campbell said.

“She is in swimming incredibly well but she is also very team oriented and has gone through a lot of different challenges in recent times.

“We have some young guys like Flynn Southam, he’s just 20 years old, who has consistently been on the team, so he knows what that’s all about. I look at him as a leader of the future.

“The future of Australian swimming is looking really bright, because all eyes are already on LA, but some of these athletes are young enough that they could conceivably go until Brisbane 2032.”

Marrit Steenbergen reacts after winning the gold medal in the 100m. Freestyle Women with the new European Record. Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Im

As for Team World, Dutch star Marrit Steenbergen will be a “dangerous” talent to face.

“She has just come off an incredible European short course championships and she is only going from strength to strength,” added Campbell.

“She will fly under the radar but she is super, super dangerous in the freestyle.

“She’s one of those really versatile athletes who will be able to slot in (to the mystery relay events) any point and she’ll be a real asset to that team.”

Below are the athletes listed to be competing in Aus v The World.

Team Australia: Henry Allan, Ben Armbruster, Josh Edwards-Smith, Hannah Fredericks, Sienna Harben, Meg Harris, Jamie Jack, Shayna Jack, Tara Kinder, Cam McEvoy, Kaylee McKeown, Mollie O’Callaghan, Lani Pallister, Alex Perkins, Jamie Perkins, Will Petric, Lily Price, Ella Ramsay, David Schlicht, Sam Short, Flynn Southam, Zac Stubblety-Cook, Matt Temple, Sienna Toohey, Nash Wilkes and Elijah Winnington.

Team World: Abbie Wood (Great Britain), Abdelrahman Elaraby (Egypt), Alberto Razzetti (Italy), Angelina Köhler (Germany), Angharad Evans – (Great Britain), Cam Gray (New Zealand), Caspar Corbeau (Netherlands), Daiya Seto (Japan), Duncan Scott (Great Britain), Erika Fairweather (New Zealand), Isabel Gose (Germany), Lauren Cox (Great Britain), Lewis Clareburt(New Zealand), Louise Hansson (Sweden), Lukas Märtens (Germany), Marrit Steenbergen (Netherlands), Milou Van Wijk (Netherlands), Nyls Korstanje (Netherlands), Oliver Klemet (Germany), Rebecca Meder (South Africa), Roos Vanotterdijk (Belgian), Taylor Ruck (Canada), Thomas Ceccon (Italy) and Tom Dean (Great Britain).

Full Aus v The World schedule

All of the swimming action will be broadcast live from 7.30pm AEDT on Nine and 9Now.

Event 1: Mixed 4x50m Fans choice relay

Event 2: Women’s 25m freestyle, round 1

Event 3: Men’s 25m freestyle, round 1

Event 4: Men’s 50m breaststroke skins

Event 5: Women’s 50m breaststroke skins

Event 6: Women’s 400m freestyle

Event 7: Men’s 400m freestyle

Event 8: Men’s 50m freestyle skins

Event 9: Women’s 50m freestyle skins

Event 10: Women’s 25m freestyle, round 2

Event 11: Men’s 25m freestyle, round 2

Event 12: Women’s 50m butterfly skins

Event 13: Men’s 50m butterfly skins

Event 14: Mixed 6x50m freestyle mega relay

Event 15: Women’s 50m backstroke skins

Event 16: Men’s 50m backstroke skins

Event 17: Women’s 200m mystery medley

Event 18: Men’s 200m mystery medley

Event 19: Women’s 25m freestyle, round 3

Event 20: Men’s 25m freestyle, round 3

Event 21: Women’s 50m champions race

Event 22: Men’s 50m champions race

Event 23: Mixed 4x25m freestyle relay