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Sprenger Springs Past 2006 Pace
Oct 5, 2010 - Craig Lord
Commonwealth Games, Delhi, day 2 heats:
The honking of horns could be heard from 4.30am, an hour or so before the aerial cracked from crimson to the burnt orange precursor to another searing and humid day in Delhi. Life rattles and rolls from dawn to dusk and beyond here, the sights, sounds, smells, taste and touch of extreme human experience all about. Before you reach the action at the Dr S. P Mukherjee Aquatic Complex at Talkatora Garden amid the lush lawns ringed and fenced by tall walls, barbed wire, laser sensors and snipers in Delhi's diplomatic quarter, records are to be found at every turn of the head. To the left a family of six on a moped, dad at the bars peering past the eldest daughter, mum on the back babe on knee, two kids sandwiched in between; to the right a row of men defecating on the banks of a stream turned sewer; ahead a rickshaw for two supporting eight; above burgundy flags fly on vast masts rising from the rafters of a Hindu temple, sails on swords pointing skyward.
The Commonwealth venues, like the hotels the official visitors get to stay in, are cocoons from another world. The pool here is vast, bigger than it needed to be, far larger than Manchester 2002, Melbourne 2006. India has aspirations. Her men's 4x100m free quartet made a Commonwealth final for the first time last night, finished sixth and leading local star swimmer Virdhawal Khade to say: "We were not swimming against any of the other teams. We were just trying to better our morning performance ... and we succeeded. India have qualified for the final for the first time and we should all celebrate."
India clocked 3:20.70. That's about where Americans Jim Montgomery, Rowdy Gaines, Jack Babashoff and Dave McCagg were back in 1978 for the world crown, and about two seconds per man down on where they need to be to close the gap between development and dynasty.
Today brings a host of dash finals and the men's 200m freestyle, with rounds in the women's 100m backstroke and freestyle and the men's 100m breaststroke. Let's hope the crowds show up (see the end of this file).
Heats summaries
Men's 50m butterfly
Heat four brought the first sub-24sec swim, a 23.92 for Mitchell Patterson (AUS) ahead of teammate Andrew Lauterstein. Next up, Geoff Huegill, champion from 2002, blasted a 23.66, an effort that hardly drew breath from the comeback king now aiming for peak performance a decade after taking bronze in the 100m at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. In between, Huegill beefed up 3-stone or so and then shed it all to make his way back to the race pool, a man in shape, an athlete capable of doing damage among the best of the best. In heat 6, a smooth 23.61 from Jason Dunford (KEN) laid down the gauntlet ahead of former world record holder Roland Schoeman (RSA), on 23.76. Semis tonight, final tomorrow.
Women's 100m backstroke
World champion and record holder Gemma Spofforth (ENG) and Georgia Davies (WAL) set the pace in the second heat, on 1:01.68 and 1:01.63 respectively, reigning champion Sophie Edington (AUS) ON 1:01.88. Elizabeth Simmonds (ENG), European 200m champion and 100m silver medallist behind Spofforth in Budapest, took the helm of the third heat in 1:01.05, a first 50m ensuring the win, the way home a case of pace maintenance. In the final heat, 2010 world No1 Emily Seebohm (AUS) and teammate Belinda Hocking swam stroke for stroke to take the top two spots through to semis, Hocking getting the edge 1:00.87 (0.04sec shy of Kiwi Hannah McLean's Gasmes record to 1:00.90, Stephanie Proud (ENG) on 1:01.68.
Men's 100m breaststroke
In the last heat, world 200m record holder Christian Sprenger woke everyone up with a 1:00.61 Games record, 0.33sec inside the time set by England's Chris Cook at Melbourne 2006. Next through to semis was Glenn Snyders (NZL), in 1:01.30; Michael Jamieson (ENG) on 1:01.53 in the lane next to Sprenger; Kris Gilchrist (SCO) on 1:01.87; Robert Holderness (ENG) on 1:01.90; world champion and record holder Brenton Rickard (AUS) on 1:01.91 ahead in heat 3 of Cameron Van Der Burgh (RSA), the first man beyond 1:02, on 1:02.13.
Women's 100m freestyle
As with all these heats where the big names know they can cruise into a top 16 place with relative ease, hard to tell who is on and who is not. All at ease, Alicia Coutts (AUS), medley bolter and star of day one, was to be found at the helm once more, on 55.06. Next through was Hayley Palmer (NZL) on 55.09, with Emily Seebohm (AUS) leading five others inside the 56sec mark, including medal favourites Francesca Halsall (ENG) and Yolane Kukla (AUS). The cut was 57.62. No stress for the podium pretenders.
Men's 200m freestyle
The only heats-to-finals event today, the four lap free battle is one that only the truly daring would put gamble on. From Jean Basson (RSA) celebrating his 23rd birthday morning on 1:48.21 to defending champion and last man in, Ross Davenport (ENG), on 1:49.38, were six men packed in a fraction over half a second. Place your bets...
The qualifiers:
Davenport is the only podium placer from 2006 to remain in the race four years on, Simon Burnett (ENG) and Brent Hayden (CAN more focussed on the 100m.
Will the crowds show up?
Commonwealth Games chief Mike Fennell has expressed concerned about the lack of crowds midway through day two of action. "There is one area which is causing us some concern. Yesterday it was quite clear that a number of venues did not have a lot of spectators," he said. "We are working with the organisers on this on how these venues can be filled. We do like to see spectator seats filled."
Delhi 2010 organising committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi stuck to his lines of "all will be well", insisting that the crowds would show up. "We have set up ticket box offices in every stadium. There were queues. I don't think this [situation] will continue for long. There were problems yesterday but we have improved our systems and all the stalls are up today."
His attitude reflects the 11th-hour nature of these Games. There was no sign of a pick up in numbers at the pool this morning, after a first day that unfolded with a fifth of the seats at the 5,178-capacity Dr SP Mukherjee Aquatic Complex filled, and then largely with accredited people, not paying public, which could be counted in terms of a few hundred in a city of millions of people, most of whom have little or no chance of affording the cost of a ticket even if they had the time and inclination to pop into the pool.
Asked if schoolchildren might be given the chance to see some of the sporting action if ticket sales continued to be slow, Kalmadi told reporters: "We are working on that."
At the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex velodrome something like 250 spectators watched the action, reports suggest, while the Dhyan Chand National Stadium was all but deserted for women's hockey matches. The same picture was to be found at the RK Khanna Tennis Stadium, for table tennis at the Yamuna Sports Complex and for netball at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex.
At the pool, there are no official partner outlets for food, merchandising or anything of a commercial nature that might help recoup some of the costs of these Games. At Melbourne 2006, the venue was ringed by food outlets and stores galore. Here in Delhi at a venue that is built as if made for such activity in a full circle around the seating area of the main pool. None of it used.
