For a man whose two most recent major championships have been blighted by squirrelly guts, Sam Short sure does like to keep us abreast of his epicurean exploits.
He was eager to dive into a bowl of his mum’s spaghetti after wrapping up his 800m national title at the Australian Swimming Trials, and as his knees were weak and his arms were heavy in the final third of his 1,500m, Short admitted to fantasising about the takeaway meal awaiting him.
This is a man whose 2024 Paris Olympics were hurt by a bout of gastroenteritis and who missed the 800m final at the 2025 world championships due to food poisoning.
But, after the brutal program Short had at these trials for the Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacific Championships, it all falls under the auspices of carbohydrate loading — the thinking man’s “cheat day”.
Short has been one of Australia’s biggest stars at the meet after winning the 200m, 400m, 800m and 1,500m to equal the feats of Grant Hackett in 2005 as the only men to complete the distance quad.
“That’s sick, I didn’t know that. That’s awesome. It’s been a really hard week,” he told Channel Nine.
“To be honest, none of it’s that big a surprise. I’ve trained the best I’ve ever trained.”
After personal bests in his first three races, including breaking his own national record in the 800m, Short was more than two seconds ahead of world record pace for much of the 1,500m on Friday night.
Then, just as he did as he won bronze at the 2023 world championships in Japan, Short “hit a wall pretty hard” after the first kilometre.
But this time, he didn’t fade from first to third; he simply slipped behind the rapid mark of American Bobby Finke to finish in 14:42.09, outside Hackett’s national record and Mack Horton’s all-comers record for the fastest time in an Australian pool.
Short spent over 40 minutes racing in the pool at these trials. (Getty Images: Andy Cheung)
Short finished eight seconds clear despite personal bests by Matt Galea (14:50.22) and Ben Goedemans (14:50.67), both of whom swam personal bests and came in under the qualifying time.
“I remember a couple of years ago, people saying Australian distance swimming’s really fallen off,” Short said.
“But just in case anyone doesn’t know, Benny and Matt would’ve beaten Kieren Perkins in Sydney 2000 for the Olympic silver medal, so it’s moved a long way and it’s awesome to be here.
“I really hope selectors take Benny as well because I really do think we could sweep the podium at the Commies.”
With the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow starting late next month, and a showdown with the Americans at the Pan Pacs just a few weeks later, Short said the times would only get faster.
“It’s a different ball game internationally … when you’ve got eight elite boys in the final, that last 500m is just pure adrenaline,” he said.
“I reckon all of us will smash our PBs in a couple of weeks’ time.
“I just love racing, [I’m] itching to get back up and can’t wait to represent my country.”
