Despite missing out on selection for the Paris Olympics in 2024 as a 17-year-old, Molly Walker has taken the first steps to representing Australia at the LA Games in two years time.

Molly started swimming lessons at six months of age at the Corryong pool and then joined the Corryong Crocs swim club at around six years old.

In 2016, she moved to Maslin Beach in Adelaide with her parents Sallyanne and Jason and her brothers and announced herself as a top flight competitor at the Australian Olympic trials in June 2021 when she won her heats of the 400m and 800m freestyle events.

On Saturday, at the conclusion of six days of racing at the national trials in Sydney, Swimming Australia announced two teams set to represent Australia at the Pan Pacific Championships and Para Pan Pacific Championships in California which will be held on the Gold Coast in November, where Molly has qualified for both the 800m and 1500m ftreestyle events.

The Dolphins are set to unleash ‘Gen Now’ and ‘Gen Next’ this August at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and both head coaches said their respective meets would be used as a strategic opportunity and dress rehearsal ahead of the LA Games in which the Aussie team will be the underdogs on American soil.

Head coach of the Olympic program, Rohan Taylor, said “Outside of the Olympics and World Championships, the Pan Pacific Championships are one of the toughest international meets we can expose our athletes to.

“Especially for us, this comes on back of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, so it is a terrific test of mental and physical aptitude.

“The format is similar to the Olympic program in Irvine, California – this is a dress rehearsal of what we can expect in two years’ time at the LA Olympics.

“Unlike the Olympics and World Championships, we’re not restricted to just two swimmers advancing to semi-finals or finals and this gives us greater flexibility to provide deeper exposure for new talent like new Dolphins Matt Galea and Molly Walker.”

Molly said it was a lifelong dream to make the Olympic team and she has left nothing to chance in her quest.

Her training regime consists of 9-10 sessions a week in the pool and three in the gym.

She spent most of March in Flagstaff, Arizona at a high altitude camp and then 15 days in a high altitude tent in her room leading up to the Australian trials which definitely paid off. 

This article appeared in the Corryong Courier, 18 June 2026.