Sullivan Wins Gold in Eternal City

WAIS swim star Eamon Sullivan has produced some fast form at the Seven Hills International meet in Rome, Italy.

Sullivan reinforced his standing as the World’s best 50m freestyle sprinter by outgunning a quality field that included Stefan Nystrand, Alain Bernard and Filippo Magnini.

Sullivan was the only man to touch home under 22 seconds winning the gold in 21.85secs, whilst in Holland, Pieter van den Hoogenband also competed in the Dutch national titles, winning the 50m freestyle in 22.21 to confirm he will also be a threat in Beijing.

Australian Head Swimming Coach, Alan Thompson was pleased with Sullivan’s form and reflected on a blistering swim.

“It was all over from the start,” said Thompson.

“Eamon was off and going before the other boys knew what was happening and they just couldn’t catch him. In the end it was pretty convincing really and a good psychological win over the likes of Nystrand, Bernard and Magnini.”

Filippo Magnini however, had his revenge in the 100m freestyle on day two of competition, edging out Sullivan by sixth hundreds of a second in front of a vociferous home crowd.

Magnini finished in a time of 48.35secs with Sullivan and Bernard equal second on 48.41secs.

Sullivan will not be downbeat by the time however, Beijing finals are scheduled for mornings, and the time scheme will suit Sullivan, with Perth sharing the same time zone as the host city.

Sullivan’s WAIS swim partner Garth Kates, also competed in Rome, finishing second behind fellow Australian Andrew Lauterstein in the 100m butterfly in a time of 52.83secs.