Australian Swimming Championships Preview

Australia’s best swimmers will converge on the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic centre this Friday for the 2011 Telstra Australian Swimming Championships incorporating selection trials for the 14^th FINA World Championships to be held in Shanghai in July.

See below for a sneak preview of the day by day action.

Day 1 – Fri 1 April – Finals from 7.00pm

Men’s 400m Freestyle PREVIEW… Thomas Fraser-Holmes missed out on a medal in this event last year, but expect the Denis Cotterell coached 19-year-old to be right amongst the finishers in 2011. The Novocastrian will have to defeat Robert Hurley, Commonwealth Games silver medallist in this event Ryan Napoleon and dual Olympian Patrick Murphy if he is to pick up his first national title.
Women’s 400m Freestyle PREVIEW… If Fraser-Holmes is a favourite for the men, so too is his Pro-Ma Miami clubmate and middle distance queen Katie Goldman for the women. Silver medallist from the Commonwealth Games in Delhi Kylie Palmer will look to strike early in the championships, while 2010 champion Bronte Barratt, who now trains under Michael Bohl at St Peters Western will be out to make it a double. And on opening night, don’t discount WAIS scholarship holder Blair Evans from the City of Perth.

Day 2 – Sat 2 April – Finals from 7.00pm

Women’s 100m Butterfly PREVIEW… On the same night as the 200m IM, will the 100m fly final go to one of the medley girls in Stephanie Rice or Alicia Coutts, or will one of the sprinters step up with Yolane Kukla and Marieke Guehrer likely to be amongst the contenders? Keep an eye on Emily Seebohm in this event and world champion over 200m, 2009 national champion Jessicah Schipper will also be looking to stake her claim on the two lap event.
Women’s 200m Individual Medley PREVIEW… Stephanie Rice will be looking for five 200m IM titles in a row tonight, but it will not be an easy night at the office for the Olympic champion. With a strong performance under her belt from the NSW championships, Rice will need to have one eye on five-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist Alicia Coutts, who swam the fastest 200m IM by an Australian in Delhi last year.

Day 3 – Sun 3 April – Finals from 7.00pm

Women’s 100m Backstroke PREVIEW… Emily Seebohm made the 100m backstroke her own in 2010 winning gold at the national championships, Pan Pacific Championships and Commonwealth Games in Delhi. To make it five titles in a row she’ll have to overcome Sophie Edington, 200m specialist Belinda Hocking and Commonwealth Games tyro Grace Loh.
Women’s 100m Breaststroke PREVIEW… After a decade of dominance in the 100m breaststroke, winning 10 out of the last 11 national titles in this race, Leisel Jones will be a standout in this final with the race for that second spot proving very interesting. Jones’ training partner Sarah Katsoulis has the experience while Samantha Marshall will by buoyed by her silver medal from the Delhi Commonwealth Games. Queensland’s Tessa Wallace will also be in the mix and don’t discount 50m specialist Leiston Pickett.

Day 4 – Mon 4 April – Finals from 7.00pm

Men’s 100m Freestyle – Semi Final PREVIEW… There will be plenty of interest in the semi-finals of the men’s 100m freestyle with Australia’s depth in the event continuing to grow. Last year’s title holder Eamon Sullivan comes into another campaign with a disrupted preparation due to injury while silver medallist Tommaso D’Orsogna will want to recapture his form from 2009. Matthew Abood will want to step up onto another senior long course team, while keep an eye on James Roberts from the AIS.
Women’s 200m Freestyle PREVIEW… One of the races of the meet at last year’s Telstra Australian Championships, the women’s 200m free will be a who’s who of women’s middle distance freestyle. Last year, Blair Evans got the money from out wide in lucky lane 6, but Evans won’t have it all her own way this year. Bronte Barratt will be keen to re-establish herself over the four laps, while Kylie Palmer is the Commonwealth champion for the event. Add Stephanie Rice and this should be another cracker.

Day 5 – Tue 5 April – Finals from 7.00pm

Men’s 100m Freestyle PREVIEW… Kyle Richardson raced more than most in 2010 and could be an outside chance for his first national long course title tonight, but the bigger fish will be circling. James Magnussen wants to step up to an individual swim at the world championships, while Cameron Prosser is in a similar position. It’s the blue riband event and it is two laps of splash, thrash, turn and crash.
Women’s 200m Butterfly PREVIEW… Jessicah Schipper had to wait until the final night of competition to win gold in Delhi, taking out the 200m fly and then adding the 4x100m medley relay to a long list of accolades. Tonight she will fly for a seventh national title in a row, but Samantha Hamill will have different ideas about that. Hamill missed out on a medal in the event in Delhi and will have prepared well for this race.

Day 6 – Wed 6 April – Finals from 7.00pm

Women’s 100m Freestyle PREVIEW… Emily Seebohm and Alicia Coutts are expected to continue their rivalry in the women’s 100m freestyle, but with Head Coach Leigh Nugent placing an emphasis on the 100m over the 50, expect some of the real sprinters to be in the running as well. Yolane Kukla will be keen to make up for her false start in the same event from last year, while Alice Mills under new coach Glenn Baker will be pushing hard for a place on the podium.
Men’s 200m Backstroke PREVIEW… Hayden Stoeckel and Ashley Delaney have shared the spoils in the men’s 200m backstroke over the last two years and while Delaney returned home from Delhi with three individual bronze medals, Stoeckel had to settle with a silver and a serious bout of gastro. Delaney seems to have improved under Shannon Rollason at the AIS, while Stoeckel linked up with Ian Pope earlier this year to get back on track for 2011 and beyond.

Day 7 – Thur 7 April – Finals from 7.00pm

Women’s 200m Backstroke PREVIEW… Commonwealth Games gold medallist and Australian record holder Meagen Nay will be looking to win back her national title that was last year claimed by Albury’s Belinda Hocking. The 20-year-old Hocking will be no push over however, after clocking a new personal best time of 2:07.75 at the 2011 NSW State Championships in February, just 0.34 of a second off Nay’s record.
Men’s 100m Butterfly PREVIEW… Like Bart Cummings watching the Melbourne Cup, Grant Stoelwinder won’t know where to look as his three butterfly bruins battle it out for a place on the world championship team, with Geoff Huegill, Andrew Lauterstein and Mitchell Patterson all legitimate shots at taking the title.

Day 8 – Fri 8 April – Finals from 7.00pm

Men’s 400m Individual Medley PREVIEW… This event will see the new breed of Australian IM swimmers lock horns in what is sure to be a talking point at tomorrow’s world championships orientation camp in Manly. Leading the pack will be reigning champion Thomas Fraser-Holmes, while teenage Queenslander Mitch Larkin, who posted Australia’s fastest 400m IM time of 2010 at the Junior Pan Pacs in Maui, will team up with Jayden Hadler to try and topple the champ.
Women’s 400m Individual Medley PREVIEW… Australia’s Beijing golden girl Stephanie Rice will be looking to make it four 400m IM national titles in a row. Standing in her way will be the determined Sunshine Coast swimmer Sam Hamill, who along with last year’s bronze medallist Blair Evans, will be looking to derail the Rice train.

Swimming Australia