Throssell Collects Relay Bronze at Short Course World Champs

WAIS swimmer Brianna Throssell has completed a busy first day schedule at the 2014 World Short Course Championships in Doha with a bronze medal.

Australia stormed home to win an unexpected medal in the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay, which included the City of Perth club member Throssell on the opening night of the 12th Short Course titles.

The 20-strong Australian team in Qatar was selected off the back of the Australian Short Course Championship trials in Adelaide last month, specifically for individual events with relays to be formed from the available talent.

National head coach Jacco Verhaeren opted for a young Aussie relay squad and the inexperienced quartet showed it wouldn’t go down without a fight.

Rookie Leah Neale, 19, swimming in her first international final joined WA’s emerging talent Brianna Throssell, Commonwealth Games backstroker Madison Wilson and Olympic gold medallist Kylie Palmer to bring home the bronze behind the world record breaking Dutch and Chinese teams in a time of 7:38.59.

Neale led off in 1:54.15, followed by Wilson (1:54.37) and Throssell (1:56.80) with Olympic gold medallist Palmer bringing the relay home in 1:53.27.

The girls were always in the hunt after rookie Neale’s personal best lead-off swim had the Aussie girls in second place followed by Wilson and Throssell with the experienced 2008 Olympic 4x200m golden girl Palmer charging past the USA to take a deserved bronze medal with a spirited anchor swim.

The bronze medal success was one of three swims for Throssell, who finished second in her heat in the 200m butterfly to qualify for the night final.

Throssell finished seventh in the her individual final, in a time of 2:06.40, with Spaniard Mireya Belmonte Garcia taking the win in a world record time of 1:59.61.

-SwimmingAus