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Stroke-For-Stroke Palmer, Barratt On 4:04s
Apr 1, 2011 - Craig Lord
Sydney - Australian Championships, day 1 finals and semi-finals:
The first day of finals delivered a full score of qualifiers, two berths filled in both men's and women's 400m freestyle as Kylie Palmer and Bronte Barratt clocked 4:04.29 and 4:04.36 respectively, and Ryan Napoleon and Thomas Fraser-Holmes leapt up the Aussie ranks to 4th and 5th all-time behind Thorpe, Hackett and Perkins with efforts of 3:45.16 and 3.46.54.
In other action, triple Commonwealth champion Alicia Coutts booked two spots in lane 4 by clocking 58.32 in the 100m butterfly and 2:13.95. Danger lurks in an even more accomplished triple golden girl, Olympic champion Stephanie Rice, on 58.76 and 2:13.90. The 'fly final is set to be a scorcher, in between Coutts and Rice world 200m champion Jess Schipper (58.62) and teenage threat Yolane Kukla (58.63), with Emily Seebohm also in the mix (59.34)
"It's always tough competition between Steph and I ... there's always been a big rivalry between us," Coutts told reporters in Sydney. "She's definitely (had the edge) in the past few years, but I don't feel stressed about it or anything. Two pretty solid swims so I'm happy with that. I definitely think I've got a little bit in reserve."
The take from Rice, back from shoulder surgery in 2010: "She's swimming well, I always knew that she would swim well and when you come off a high you always have that extra adrenaline. I'm in the stage where I've sort of had that and I'm trying to build it up again. I think I'm sort of out of racing practice, I would have like to have a few more races under my belt. But really excited to get in there and that's the first time I've raced her in the 200IM for a while now."
Race reports
Women's 400m freestyle
A stroke-for-stroke eight-lap battle between Kylie Palmer and Bronte Barratt ended with the rivals just 0.07sec apart on low 4:04s and tickets to the world championships in Shanghai this July.
Palmer, 21 and coached by Stephan Widmer at Commercial at the Chandler pool in Brisbane, and 22-year-old Barratt, coached by Tracey Menzies at the Canberra AIS facility, now boast the No2 and 3 spots on the world rankings: 4:04.29 for Palmer and 4:04.36 for defending champion Barratt. That places them in the shadow of Olympic champion Rebecca Adlington, on 4:02.85 at British trials last month. The bronze in Sydney today went to Katie Goldman, of Miami, in 4:06.39. All went inside the 4:07.80 cut for Shanghai but just two per nation get to go for each event.
"Good start, that takes a lot of pressure off for the rest of the meet," Palmer told reporters in Sydney. With a nod to Barratt, she added: "We’ve been such good friends for a long time and its really great for both of us to get on the team in the first night - it’s awesome."
The top two fell just shy of Barratt's 4:04.16 Australian record set in 2008 when non-textile suits were allowed. The best textile effort by an Australian woman had been Goldman's 4:05.84 from last year. Palmer's victory also delivered a lifetime best, 4:05.98 having been her previous peak, from 2008.
The splits tells the tale of how tight the fight was:
Locked out were Blair Evans on 4:09.94 and Angie Bainbridge, on 4:08.81, with 12500m national record holden and open water world champ Melissa Gorman last inside 4:10, on 4:09.42.
How they measure up:
Best AUS podium result at world titles: gold - in 1978, Tracey Wickham clocked 4.06.28 to get the better of Americans Cynthia Woodhead (4:07.15) and Kim Linehan (4:07.73). Not only would Wickham's time remain the world championship record until Laure Manaudou took the title for France at Melbourne 2007 but the 1978 podium would remain the fastest until 2003.
Men's 400m freestyle
Aussie men, long having raced in the shadow of icons of they distance world, are stepping up. On a best time of 3:45.16, Ryan Napoleon marched ahead from 7th best Australian ever to fourth behind the giant figures of Ian Thorpe, Grant Hackett and Kieren Perkins. No shame there - those three men account for five world 400m titles in their time. The time on the clock today made Napoleon, 20, coached by Michael Bohl at St Peters Western, the first at trials to book a ticket to Shanghai. His previous best was a 3:47.15.
Even greater progress was to be seen from the man with silver round his neck, 19-year-old Thomas Fraser-Holmes, on 3:46.54, inside his previous best of 3:49.56 and good enough for the second berth in Shanghai. Fraser-Holmes, coached by Grant Hackett mentor Denis Cotterell at Miami on the Gold Coast in Queensland, rise from 12th best Aussie ever to 5th behind Napoleon.
The splits:
Defending champion Robert Hurley finished third in 3:49.66. After him came three on 3:50s with big best times to celebrate: 18-year-old Ned McKendrym on 3:50.20, 20-year-old Jarrod Killey, on 3:50.40 and 18-year-old brother of Emma Mckeon, David, on 3:50.52. McKeon raced in lane 4 after wiping 4sec off his lifetime best in heats, on 3:50.79. Hurley's teammate at Wests Illawarra Aquatic SC, he is coached by his father Ron McKeon, who swam for Australia at the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games in the men’s 200m and 400m freestyle and at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games in the men’s 400m freestyle. At 6ft 4in, Mckeon junior, along with McKendrym and Kiley, is among those to watch for the future in a country brimming with potential in distance free events.
Napoleon's time places him second on the world rankings behind the 3:43.85 of Yannick Agnel (FRA) at his trials last week - though as the Frenchman noted at the time: early days yet - while victory marked the Australian champion's first national title. Last year, he failed a drug test after a mix-up with his asthma medication and was temporarily suspended. A successful appeal against the ban allowed him to race at the Commonwealth Games, where he took silver just behind Canadian Ryan Cochrane.
"It's probably the best preparation I have had," Napoleon told reporters when looking back at his season so far. "I feel as good as I did before Pan Pacs and I was really disappointed I couldn't swim there [due to suspension] so this is a chance to make up for it."
He added: I’ve been working really hard during this preparation and I’m so glad it has paid off. It’s given me my first Australian title over 400m which is great. I did a few time trials a week and a half ago and have been working hard over the first 300m and feeling good, so it’s a time I thought I was capable of doing."
How they measure up:
Best AUS podium result at world titles: gold, five times - Kieren Perkins, 1994; Ian Thorpe, 1998, 2001, 2003; Grant Hackett, 2005.
Semi-finals
Women's 100m butterfly
Commonwealth champion Alicia Coutts booked lane 4 for the final in 58.32 ahead of Jess Schipper (58.62), Yolane Kukla (58.63), Stephanie Rice (58.76) and Emily Seebohm (59.34), while world 50m champion Marieke Guehrer missed the final eight.
Women's 200m medley
Coutts backed up with another ticket to lane 4, on 2:13.35 ahead of Ellen Fullerton, 2:13.66, and Olympic champion Stephanie Rice, in third equal on 2:13.90. Rice has won the past four Australian crowns.
Men's 50m butterfly
Geoff Huegill, Commonwealth 100m champion, and Matt Targett, Australian 50m record holder, are on a collision course: Targett claimed lane 4 in 23.34, with Huegill through in 23.63.
Men's 100m breaststroke
Christian Sprenger, Commonwealth Games silver medallist and world 200m record holder from 2009, clocked 1:00.67 for lane 4, with world champion and record holder from 2009, Brenton Rickard, through in 1:01.67 and targeting a seventh straight Australian title in the final tomorrow.
