Aussies Shine During Initial Day of Telstra Swimming Championships

BRISBANE, Australia, December 3. THE Aussie contingent opened the Telstra Australia Long Course Swimming Championships with some quick mid-season times. Tracey Wickham's 28-year-old national record in the 400 free nearly fell to Linda Mackenzie, while Brenton Rickard continued his chase of Brendan Hansen with solid semi-final and preliminary times in the 100 breast at the Chandler Aquatic Center.

Men's 100 Butterfly Multi-Disability Finals
Damien Narbeshuber took home the title in the men's 100 fly multi-disability by touching in 1:07.06. Troy Puttergill claimed silver in 1:10.23, while Andrew Pasterfield garnered bronze in 1:08.46.

Men's 400 Freestyle Finals
Grant Hackett held off a hard-charging Craig Stevens to win the 400 free title in 3:46.00, while Stevens clocked a 3:46.66. The difference proved to be Hackett going out fast in the first 100 meters to take an early .62 second lead. Hackett then kept Stevens in his wake the rest of the way. Nic Donald took third in 3:52.78.

Women's 400 Freestyle Finals
Linda Mackenzie won the women's 400 freestyle going away in 4:06.79. That effort stood just a half-second off the Australian record of 4:06.28 set by Tracey Wickham on Aug. 24, 1978. After trailing second-place finisher Bronte Barratt (4:08.34) at the 200-meter mark, 1:30.11-1:30.46, Mackenzie dropped the hammer over the last 200 meters to score a nearly two-second margin of victory. Kylie Palmer rounded out the top three in 4:11.05.

Women's 400 Freestyle Relay Finals
The quartet of Karina Leane, Ellese Zalewski, Amy Cockerton and Emma Neely touched first in 3:51.74, while the foursome of Dana Wikaire, Jade Neilsen, Ellen Fullerton and Amelia Evatt-Davey finished in 3:52.24. The team of Jessicah Schipper, Melissa Gorman, Rebecca Creedy and Kylie Palmer earned bronze in 3:52.51.

Men's 400 Freestyle Relay Finals
The team of Jason Cohen, Ashley Delaney, Michael McEwin and Andrew Dyson hit the wall first in 3:24.77, while the contingent of Kenrick Monk, Grant Brits, Pete Richardson and Misha Payne placed second in 3:25.54. Sam James, Leif Lyons, Stephen Mewing and Andrew Mewing closed out the top three in 3:25.80.

Women's 100 Butterfly Semi-Finals
Australian record-holder Jessicah Schipper took the top spot in finals with a 58.20, while Libby Lenton will join her with the second-fastest time of 59.02. Felicity Galvez will also give chase after clocking the third-fastest time of 59.28.

Women's 200 IM Semi-Finals
Stephanie Rice topped the semi-final round with a 2:15.07 clocking, finishing ahead of Jennifer Reilly (2:15.39) and Lara Carroll (2:15.51), who turned in the second and third-fastest times of semi-finals, respectively.

Men's 50 Butterfly Semi-Finals
A pair of Matts put together the quickest 50 fly times in semi-finals as Matthew Targett touched in 24.29, while Matt Welsh, the Australian record-holder in the event, placed second in 24.35. Jonathon Newton (24.36) and Andrew Lauterstein (24.46) finished close behind.

Men's 100 Breaststroke Semi-Finals
Brenton Rickard look outstanding in his semi-final race, clocking a 1:00.70 to finish just .31 seconds off his Australian record. Jim Piper (1:02.29) and Robert McDonald (1:03.14), the second and third-fastest semi-final qualifiers, will provide some competition – but it looks to be Rickard's race during finals.

The women's 100 backstroke multi-disability final results were not available at press time.

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