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Tom Decent

Tom Decent

Tom Decent is the chief sports writer for The Sydney Morning Herald.

Isaah Yeo with his parents Justin and Amy back in 2014.

‘It didn’t feel like a sacrifice’: How Yeo’s bush grind shaped a potential Origin-winning captain

Isaah Yeo has won premierships and represented Australia, but the Blues skipper says leading NSW to a series victory would rank among the proudest moments of his career.

  • Tom Decent

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Shayna and Jamie Jack after making their first Australian swimming team together.

Shayna Jack’s brother helped her through hell. They’re now on an Australian team

Australia will take a team of 60 swimmers to Glasgow for next month’s Commonwealth Games.

  • Tom Decent
Samuel Short.

Short makes bold Commonwealth Games claim after having pizza and Hackett on his mind

Sam Short showed he is in scintillating form ahead of the Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacs by winning his fourth event at the Australian trials in Sydney.

  • Tom Decent
Kyle Chalmers looks on after competing in the men’s 100m freestyle at the Australian swimming trials in Sydney.

Why Chalmers was right to fire up at IOC over athlete funding

In a remarkable post-race interview, Olympic champion Kyle Chalmers blasted the IOC and said he had major fears for the future of swimming.

  • Tom Decent
Cam McEvoy takes out the men’s 50m freestyle final at the Australian swimming trials on Wednesday evening.

McEvoy laughs off Enhanced Games as Short stuns by breaking Australian record

World record holder Cam McEvoy has delivered a candid assessment of last month’s Enhanced Games before taking out another Australian title ahead of the Commonwealth Games.

  • Tom Decent
Stunned: Sienna Toohey after smashing her personal best in the women’s 100m breaststroke final at the Australian trials.

The future of Australian swimming has arrived – and they’re only 17

If there are two names you should commit to memory ahead of the swimming program at the Brisbane 2032 Olympics, make them Sienna Toohey and Henry Allan.

  • Tom Decent
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Sam Williamson after winning the men’s 100m breaststroke on the opening night of Australia’s swimming trials in Sydney.

Williamson thought he’d never swim again after a horrific injury. He just made another Australian team

Thirteen months after a devastating knee injury left him learning to walk again, Sam Williamson completed a remarkable comeback at swimming trials, while Sam Short went within touching distance of a world record.

  • Tom Decent
Australian swimmer Cam McEvoy is the world record holder in the men’s 50m freestyle.

World records and rising stars: 10 storylines to follow at the Australian swimming trials

Can Cam McEvoy lower his world record? How much faster can Lani Pallister go? Who are the Commonwealth Games bolters? Take note ahead of this week’s trials in Sydney.

  • Tom Decent
Olympic gold medallist Zac Stubblety-Cook and his former coach Mel Marshall.

‘An awkward and precarious situation’: Olympic champion breaks silence on ugly coach split

Olympic champion Zac Stubblety-Cook has opened up on his dramatic exit from Griffith University alongside girlfriend Ella Ramsay, describing the fallout as a “stressful” ordeal on the eve of the Commonwealth Games.

  • Tom Decent
Nathan Lyon with a young cricket fan in Orange.

‘I’d love to make spin bowling cool’: Inside the passion project driving Nathan Lyon

As he recovers from serious injury and tries to force his way back into the Test side, Nathan Lyon has spent weeks driving through country NSW and Victoria trying to shore up the future of spin bowling.

  • Tom Decent