|
|
 |
 |
|
articles
click here to be taken directly to the Daniel section And while spectators had to hold their collective breath for the final couple of strokes, they eventually got what was expected as Samantha Riley won her sixth national 200m breaststroke final. Riley had to dig deep to hold off a spirited challenge from fellow Queenslander Caroline Hildreth to win by just 0.1s in 2min29.14s. Riley managed the trademark smile but described her performance as "a shocker". "I was really disappointed in the way I swam," she said. "I saw Caroline coming and I was just lucky I had enough to come back. I don't know, I feel a little too relaxed - I was putting the effort into the strokes, but there just wasn't enough of them." Riley admitted that getting used to the new semi-final format might have played a part in her flat swim last night. After winning her semi-final on Wednesday, she had 24 hours to wait for the final. "Maybe it takes a bit of getting used to, knowing what to do in the morning of the final," she said. "Maybe I could have used that hitout I used to get in the morning. I know I felt like I could have gone 2:26 tonight." Riley looked to have her opponents covered at the final turn, before Hildreth charged home over the final 25m to all but steal the show. Third place went to NSW's Nadine Neumann, in 2:31.39. Another swimmer with reason to smile was Victorian Ray Hass, the 21-year-old who has taken a firm hold on the men's backstroke at these titles. Hass, whose family came to Australia from South Africa in 1993, won the 100m backstroke on Monday and completed the double with the 200m last night. "I'm pretty happy - to be honest, I had no idea what I was going to do here," Hass said. "I'd been gearing all my work towards the 200m, so when I won the 100m that was a real bonus." Hass recorded 2:01.11, the third fastest time by an Australian, to finish ahead of NSW pair Cameron Delaney and Josh Watson. It's hard to keep the teenagers out of the spotlight, and another stepped forward last night. Rebecca Creedy, just 16 but touted as a sprint star of the future, claimed her first national 100m title with a 56.12s swim. Creedy, a relay gold medallist in Kuala Lumpur, was able to hold off Shoalhaven's Lori Munz (56.66) and South Australian Sarah Ryan (56.68) to add the 100m crown to the two 50m titles she won in 1997 and 1998. The night's other final, the 200m individual medley, was robbed of its fastest qualifier, Matthew Dunn, who was forced out through illness. Dunn awoke with a high temperature yesterday morning and coach Gennadi Touretsky considered it not worth risking his swimmer with the world shortcourse championships beginning in Hong Kong next week. Dunn, the Commonwealth record holder, has won six of the previous seven Australian titles in the 200m IM and had been expected to comfortably win his seventh. However, he has already qualified for the Pan Pacs team by winning the 400m individual medley earlier in the program. In Dunn's absence, second-fastest qualifier Rob Van Der Zant claimed his first national title in 2:0.3.19, holding off Grant McGregor and Justin Norris, who both claimed places on the Pan Pacs team with their medal-winning performances. Another swimmer who forfeited his final place last night was Daniel Kowalski. Kowalski had apparently picked up a virus and had to withdraw from the 200m backstroke final. He now is in doubt for this morning's 1,500m heats. Kowalski is paired in heat two with new 200m world record holder Grant Hackett, while Kieren Perkins will contest the other heat. Russian Alexandre Popov made a return to the pool at the championships yesterday, competing in the 50m freestyle heats and semi-finals. Popov had been sidelined since having knee surgery in January but yesterday clocked 23.19 in the heat to be third fastest into the semis. He next finished second to Jeff English last night in a time of 22.94. Despite being the fourth fastest (Chris Fydley fastest, 22.75) from the semi-finals, Popov will not swim in tonight's final, as finals are exclusively for Australians. Michael Klim has shown he is keen to win tonight's 100m butterfly. Klim, who set a world record in the 100m butterfly in this pool 18 months ago, has withdrawn from the 50m freestyle final to concentrate on the butterfly semi-finals. He won his semi and qualified fastest for the final in 53.21. Geoff Huegill was second best in 53.40, with Scott Miller next in 53.84.
Article originally located at the fairfax
/sydney morning herald homepage
|
|
|