An emotional 16-year-old schoolgirl is being hailed as the future of Australian swimming after earning world championship selection.

Sienna Toohey left seasoned campaigners including Kaylee McKeown in awe with a stunning swim at Australia’s selection trials in Adelaide on Tuesday night.

The Albury teen, who only started swimming because she wanted to play water polo, triumphed in the women’s 100m breaststroke.

Toohey’s victory, in a personal best time of one minute 06.55 seconds, secured her berth at the world titles in Singapore from July 27 to August 3.

“All of these people being my idols, now I get to be on the team with them,” Toohey said.

“These are people that I was watching two years ago, saying I want to be like them.”

The daughter of the relieving principal at Albury High School, Toohey initially wanted to be a water polo player.

“My parents told me that I couldn’t do water polo if I didn’t swim, so I started swimming,” she said.

“And then my water polo progressed and my swimming was too at the same time.

“I got to the point where I had to choose swimming or water polo. Obviously, I chose swimming – it was the right choice.”

Five-time Olympic gold medallist McKeown was among those impressed with Toohey’s feat at the South Australian Aquatic Centre.

“I was 16 when I made my first team and it really taught me a lot being with the older guys,” McKeown said after winning the 100m backstroke final on Tuesday night.

“I’m excited to see young swimmers coming through the ranks.

“The more experience that they can get leading into LA (the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics), we have a really good chance of doing Australia proud.”

McKeown, who has told of the mental toll during her decorated career, offered some advice to the precocious Toohey.

“Just to enjoy yourself,” McKeown said.

“The more you be serious, the more you’re harsh on yourself, you keep just digging yourself in a bit of a hole and it’s quite hard to get out of.”

For Toohey, she now will revise plans which had centred on the goal of swimming at the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.

“The team I was first aiming to get on was definitely that one,” she said.

“Now that I’ve made this one, we’ll have to push up the timeline a bit more.”

Also on Tuesday night, Alex Perkins threatened the national women’s 50m butterfly record by clocking 25.36 seconds, 0.05 shy of Holly Barratt’s benchmark set six years ago.

Injury-plagued Ed Sommerville, 20, made his first senior long-course national team by winning the men’s 200m freestyle in 1:44.93 ahead of Sam Short (1:45.71).

Joshua Edwards-Smith prevailed in the men’s 100m backstroke in 54.28 and and Matt Temple took out the men’s 100m butterfly in 51.00.

Jimmy “Jomboy” O’Brien has made it to the big leagues.

O’Brien’s Jomboy Media has inked a strategic pact with Major League Baseball, under which MLB is acquiring a minority stake in his baseball-centered media company. Financial terms of the deal aren’t being disclosed.

The partnership will see Jomboy Media and MLB collaborate on content activations around tentpole moments like the MLB All-Star Game and the Home Run Derby. Under the pact, Jomboy Media also will gain access to intellectual property from MLB and individual clubs, to be integrated across “new apparel, home goods and more” that will be sold on Jomboy’s ecommerce site and other distribution channels.

The investment also is aimed at growing Jomboy Media’s stable of intellectual property, including podcasts “Talkin’ Baseball” and “Talkin’ Yanks” and the Warehouse Games, a kind of baseball-cricket hybrid indoor league “where backyard and back-alley sports meets high-end production.” MLB plans to work with Jomboy Media to have pro baseball stars, as well as the league’s media and celebrity partners, appear in the Warehouse Games. Per Jomboy, the Warehouse Games is nearing 400 million all-time views.

“Our community is the reason we’ve been able to turn this from ‘just a hobby’ into something bigger than we ever could’ve imagined,” said O’Brien, 36, who founded the company in 2017 with his friend Jake Storiale. “Partnering with MLB marks a huge moment for Jomboy Media, and through this partnership, we’ll be able to give back to our community with storytelling that’s deeper than ever before.”

Noah Garden, MLB’s deputy commissioner for business and media, said the league has “long admired the passionate fandom of Jimmy O’Brien and his unique ability to connect with baseball fans.” The partnership “will ensure that Jomboy Media will have the resources and access to MLB intellectual property necessary to help it continue to grow,” Garden said. “We are looking forward to bringing baseball fans more entertaining content to help further expand baseball’s online presence and deeper the connection between our sport and its fans.”

New York-based Jomboy Media currently has 54 employees. The company has several million followers across Instagram, X, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. In 2024, Jomboy Media generated more than 93 million engagements on social media, the company claims.

The partnership was the result of months of negotiations between MLB and Jomboy Media, led on Jomboy’s side by CEO Courtney Hirsch. “We’ve always believed that deep storytelling and our unique approach to content and community can grow the game — and now we’re excited to do that alongside the league itself,” said Hirsch.

Two of Jomboy Media’s investors and board members — producer and entrepreneur Jack Davis and Adam Friedman of Connect Ventures — played key roles in landing the MLB deal, the company said. (Connect Ventures is a joint investment partnership between CAA and venture-capital firm NEA.) Other investors include Patrick Schwarzenegger, Eli Roth, Cameron Fuller, WWE, Quinn Cook, Billy Crystal, Josh Hader, Gabrielle Union, Dwyane Wade, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, current and former MLB players Christian Yelich, CC Sabathia, Noah Syndergaard and Trea Turner, and NBA star Karl-Anthony Towns.

Jomboy has longtime sponsorship deals with DraftKings and SeatGeek, each in their fifth consecutive years as partners, as well as with DirecTV, T-Mobile, Corona and Best Western.

(Pictured above: Jimmy O’Brien)

The fourth annual Muddy River Showcase takes place June 21 at John Wood Community College’s Student Activity Center. The girls game will tip at 2 p.m. with the boys game to follow at 4 p.m. General admission is $10.

MEMPHIS, Mo. — Kwyn Hamlin signed a letter of intent for more than just herself.

By signing with the University of Central Missouri to continue her track and field career, Hamlin is continuing a family tradition. Her grandfather, Charley Hamlin, brought home five state medals for Knox County in 1961.

Charley will not get to see Kwyn live out her college track and field dreams, though. The Hamlin family lost Charley to cancer in August 2020.

“To honor him and carry on the Hamlin legacy, I guess you could say, meant a lot because he helped me a lot with track,” Kwyn Hamlin said. 

Even as Charley fought cancer, he was still there for Kwyn.

“When he was really sick, he would still come to all my track meets in my seventh and eighth grade year,” Kwyn Hamlin said.

Charley was also there in spirit with Kwyn, a six-time state qualifier in her career at Scotland County and state medalist in two events this spring, when she signed with UCM on January 19 — Charley’s birthday.

“It means everything,” Hamlin said of carrying on her grandfather’s legacy.

Hamlin will lace up her high tops one more time before beginning her college track career. Hamlin will represent Scotland County for the Missouri girls in the fourth annual Muddy River Showcase. Hamlin discussed her future as a physical therapist, music, pickleball, and more with Muddy River Sports Writer Shane Hulsey in this Showcase Q&A.

Q: What are you looking forward to most about playing in the Muddy River Showcase?

A: Definitely being able to lace up the shoes one last time before college and playing with and against some of the best girls in the area.

Q: You’re going to UCM for track. What events are you going to be participating in there?

A: We talked about high jump and some sprints, maybe some different new events.

Q: What are you doing this summer to prepare for what lies ahead?

A: I’m in contact with my college coach a lot. I went and performed in the all-star track meet not too long ago, and he said that he was watching it. He sends workouts and all that. I’ve just been going into the weight room and lifting, getting ready for the college experience.

Q: Will one last time on the basketball court be like one last hoorah? It’s not for a district title or anything. You’re just out there hooping.

A: Yeah, I’m really excited. Basketball was definitely something I wanted to go to college for, but when it came down to it, I was enjoying track more than basketball. It was close, though. I had a few offers for basketball, but UCM really stuck out to me, so I decided to keep doing track.

Q: Did you ever think about doing both basketball and track?

A: I did, but I’m studying kinesiology, so I’ll need to focus more on my studies.

Q: What made you want to get into kinesiology?

A: I have awful ankles. It’s like an inside joke. We have a Barstool page for our school, and I get posted a lot just because of how bad my ankles are. I spend a lot of time in physical therapy because of them, so I want to be able to help other people who have also struggled. Not being able to play a sport is really hard on someone mentally and physically, so I want to help people get back to what they want to do.

Q: Do you have to do anything different as you’re preparing for a meet or a game because of your ankles? Do you wear a brace?

A: I do in basketball. I wear two ankle braces playing basketball, but not during track. I think it’s the defensive slides and things like that that are hard on my ankles. You’d think high jump would be hard on them but it’s really not.

Q: Do you have any crazy ankle injury stories?

A: I was playing AAU basketball this summer, and I had to have my right foot in a boot. I got hurt at the beginning of July. Then softball came along, and I slid into second base, and I rolled my left ankle, so I was in a boot and then I had a brace on my left ankle.

Q: What other hobbies do you have outside of track, basketball, softball, and school?

A: I love pickleball. My friends and I play pickleball all the time. It’s just so fun. We have really nice courts at our town park, so my friends go up there and have little tournaments. I go golfing a little bit here and there, too.

Q: Do you know what your rating is?

A: No, we just play. There are some old people out there every once in a while, and they get very serious.

Q: How long have you been playing pickleball?

A: Since about last July, but then I hurt my ankle, so I had to sit out for a while.

Q: Have you played pickleball much this summer?

A: It hasn’t really been great weather, so maybe like three or four times. I play with my grandpa a lot. He’s a big pickleball guy, but like I said, the older people always take it very seriously, so it’s hard to play with them.

Q: What’s your favorite dessert?

A: Probably apple pie. That’s always so good.

Q: Who’s your favorite musical artist?

A: Probably Usher. I like the 2010s rap. Usher or Drake. I was really big on the Kendrick Lamar-Drake drama there for a while. I probably changed sides like every week.

Q: Did you end up on Drake’s side?

A: Kind of. I like his old music more than Kendrick, but I like Kendrick’s new music more than Drake’s.

Q: So, you were on both sides then?

A: Yeah. The Super Bowl halftime performance by Kendrick kind of sealed it, though. Name dropping at the Super Bowl is crazy.

Q: Do you have a playlist or a few songs that you listen to before a meet or a game?

A: Not really a playlist. It kind of depends. I’ll just come across a song and be like man, “This is really good.” Something by Drake, we’ll just say that.

Q: Is there anything else people should know about Kwyn Hamlin?

A: I hate to lose. I might be the biggest sore loser on the planet. I hate losing. I will do anything in my power not to lose.

Check out more of the Muddy River Showcase Q&As at the links below:

Illini West’s Reagan Reed

Payson Seymour’s Blake Schwartz

South Shelby’s Callie McWilliams

Canton’s Tyler Frazier

West Hancock’s Lewis Siegfried

Quincy Notre Dame’s Alex Dance

Mendon Unity’s Chloe Shaffer

Western’s Casen Tobias

Palmyra’s Clare Williams

Payson Seymour’s Ella Archer

Palmyra’s Mason Smith

Full caption: Team ‘The Final Rally’, made up of Noxon High volleyball players, won the 1st Annual Filling Station Youth Volleyball Tournament held this past Saturday in Clark Fork. In addition to team ‘The Final Rally, three other teams participated, two from Clark Fork and one from Bonners Ferry. The tournament, which lasted nearly 10 hours from start to finish, was a competitive one, with the majority of sets being decided by just a few points. The Filling Station would like to thank all of their volunteers and supporters for helping to make the inaugural event a success. Pictured, in front, from left are champions Nevaeh Christensen, Sandy Bonney, Emma Swanson, Seanna Richter, Callie Cano and Jasmine Risch. In the back is coach Toni Richter. Not pictured is Abigail Yoder.

The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee and the NCAA office of inclusion will partner for a second consecutive year as part of the Para-College Inclusion Project and Paralympians Made Here initiatives at the 2025 NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships taking placeWednesday through Saturday in Eugene, Oregon. 

As part of the Para-College Inclusion Project, two national collegiate wheelchair 100-meter races will be held during the  track championships to provide collegiate adaptive student-athletes with more visibility and support. The men’s 100-meter wheelchair finals will be held at 4:50 p.m. Pacific time Friday, while the women’s 100-meter wheelchair finals will be held at 5:50 p.m. Pacific time Saturday. 

Though the NCAA does not sponsor Paralympic sports, the Para-College Inclusion Project was created in 2021 to engage schools that offer adaptive sports to collectively increase Paralympic sport understanding, awareness and connection across the collegiate landscape. In addition to para track and field, the project has featured wheelchair sport exhibitions, demonstrations and national collegiate finals at the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Final Fours, the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championships and the National Collegiate Men’s and Women’s Fencing Championships. 

The NCAA and USOPC have also collaborated on the Paralympians Made Here campaign, which was created to support Paralympic sports and build national awareness for opportunities within the college sports landscape. Like the Olympic movement in the United States, the Paralympic movement has strong collegiate ties across the nation. More than 70 U.S. Paralympians competed in an NCAA championship sport before taking the world stage at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games. A total of 11 collegiate athletes representing NCAA schools won 18 medals at the Paris Games in para athletics (track and field) — eight gold, six silver and four bronze. U.S. collegiate Paralympians also tallied robust numbers in other dashboard categories in Paris.

The next Paralympic Games will be held this winter, March 6-15 in Milan, while the next summer Paralympic Games will be held in 2028 in Los Angeles.