Bronze for Blair in 400m IM
The Telstra Dolphins Australian Swim Team will take a 52-strong team to the FINA World Championships in Shanghai this July, with Geoff Huegill, Leisel Jones, Stephanie Rice and Brenton Rickard joining seven newcomers Olivia Halicek, Jarrod Killey, James Roberts, Sam Ashby, Mitch Larkin, Jessica Ashwood and Rebecca Kemp selected at Sydney Olympic Park tonight.
Following eight days of competition, producing Australian records to Kylie Palmer in the 200m freestyle and Belinda Hocking in the 200m backstroke, Swimming Australia Head Coach Leigh Nugent said the team is well placed for success in Shanghai.
“The aim of setting our own qualifying times was to raise the standard of performance and competition nationally, and we have certainly seen that in a number of events over the last eight days,” said Nugent.
“With two Australian records and a handful of world class times, the performances bode well for the world championships in July and we have also selected the team with an eye to further developing athletes in the lead up to London.”
“With this in mind, we have extended the selection criteria to include all available first and second place getters from Olympic events who have met the FINA qualifying times, which will now see us take a strong team of 52 to Shanghai.”
Triple Olympic gold medallist Stephanie Rice maintained her stranglehold on the women’s 400m IM with a come from behind victory that saw her snap a string of silver medal performances from earlier in the meet.
Rice, who is the current world record holder in the event, withstood the challenge from Beijing Olympian Samantha Hamill to record her fourth consecutive 400m IM Australian title.
The Queenslander’s time of 4:36.61 proved too slick for Hamill (4:40.43) and the fast-finishing Western Australian Institute of Sport athlete Blair Evans (4:40.86).
Rice said it had been a long week but she was happy with her physical condition.
“It’s great to finish off the week with a win,” Rice said. “An eight day meet with four events is a pretty hard workload, particularly mentally, but I’m glad I’ve made it through and my shoulder feels really good.
“I’m looking forward to some more racing before the world champs now.”
In the pool tonight, unheralded NSW sprinter Olivia Halicek caused a major boilover in the women’s 50m freestyle to break through for her debut Australian title on the final night of competition at the 2011 Telstra Australian Swimming Championships in Sydney.
The 22-year-old, whose mum, Wendy Bowie, swam at the 1982 Brisbane Commonwealth Games, went 0.19 of a second under her personal best to touch in 24.88 and make her first Australian team.
Halicek upset 15-year-old reigning champion and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Yolane Kukla (24.92), while Beijing Olympian Sophie Edington (25.05) finished in third place.
Halicek had a swimming sabbatical in 2009, before teaming up with new coach Bruce Vyvyan at the University of New South Wales, where he refined her technique and got her under the magical 25 second barrier for the first time in her career.
“I can’t believe it I’m just so amazingly excited,” Halicek said. “I gave the sport away in 2009 but after watching the 2010 trials from the stands I could not sit still and had to get back into competitive racing.
“I haven’t represented Australia in an open competition before and I’m really looking forward to going overseas and competing with an Australian flag on my back.”
Swimming Australia