Sullivan Secures Silver in 100m Freestyle

Eamon Sullivan has won silver in the 100m freestyle after a breathtaking final at the Watercube in Beijing.

Sullivan was edged out by arch-rival Alain Bernard of France whilst bronze was shared by American Jason Lezak and Brazilian Cesar Cielo Filho.

After all the speculation and build up, the race itself lived up to the hype with Sullivan making a blistering start and reaching the 50m wall first, but the Frenchman closed in and overpowered Sullivan in the final 25m to record a gold medal time of 47.21sec. with Sullivan home in 47.32sec.

Fellow Australian Matt Targett finished seventh in the final whilst Dutchman Pieter Van den Hoogenband missed out on winning his third straight 100m final and was outside the medals.

Sullivan stated after the race that he was pleased with his effort and proud to have a medal from an Olympic campaign.

“I’m more than happy with the silver medal,” Sullivan said.

“Unfortunately it didn’t go my way. The better man won on the day.”

Sullivan however, will get a shot at revenge when he contests the 50m freestyle in Beijing. Sullivan holds the world record for the event but Bernard will again be the man most likely to stop the West Aussie speedster, but with Eamon’s characteristic fast start, he will again be favourite for gold.

Bernard’s win in today’s final was the culmination of an amazing week that included the pair swapping and breaking world records through both individual and relay swims.

Sullivan’s 50m freestyle campaign begins tonight in the heats for the one lap dash, with the final scheduled for Saturday morning (16 August).