Sprint Stars Headline Australia’s Commonwealth Games Roster

BRISBANE, Australia, April 6. THE Australian Swim Team for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow has been announced, tonight following a week of world class action at the Australian Swimming Championships in Brisbane.

World champions Cate Campbell, Christian Sprenger and James Magnussen will join golden girl Alicia Coutts, rising star Cameron McEvoy and a host of emerging talent including David and Emma McKeon on the plane to Glasgow as part of a 59-strong swim team for the Games.

Australian Commonwealth Games Association CEO Perry Crosswhite said the entire Australian team is looking forward to Glasgow and the Opening Ceremony on July 23.

“We’ve seen some world class swimming in Brisbane this week and we are very pleased with how the swim team is shaping up for Glasgow,” said Crosswhite.

“In Delhi four years ago, our swim team brought home 54 medals in total, including 22 gold, and with some new faces performing here in Brisbane, as well as a host of experienced athletes on the team, we are all looking forward to getting to Scotland in July and representing Australia.”

Swimming Australia President John Bertrand AM said the team has performed in and out of the pool this week, and will represent Australia with pride in Scotland.

“What a fantastic week of swimming,” said Bertrand.

“We’ve seen some new fresh faces race their way to the top of the podium and some experienced athletes produce world class times.”

“Representing the Green and Gold is every athletes dream, and our swimmers will do it with pride and passion when they race for Australia in Glasgow.”

A further three athletes qualified for selection on the final night of action in the pool, with triple Olympian Eamon Sullivan grabbing the headlines as the fastest man in Australia over the 50m freestyle.

The Olympic silver medallist showed too much experience for his younger competitors to win in 21.90 and earn a place on the team to Glasgow with Cameron McEvoy second in 21.97 and Matthew Abood and James Magnussen dead heating for third in 22.02.

In the women’s 400m freestyle Bronte Barratt picked up an individual swim in Glasgow with a solid 4:04.56, while 17-year-old Remy Fairweather from Pelican Waters Caloundra qualified for the Games in a time of 4:06.02. Jessica Ashwood was third in 4:07.30.

SOPAC Podium Performance Centre swimmer Daniel Tranter won his third men’s 200m IM title in a row in an impressive time of 1:57.66, with 400m IM specialist Thomas Fraser-Holmes picking up the silver in 1:57.88. Mitch Larkin was third in 1:59.29.

London Paralympian Katherine Downie got a quick start off the blocks in the women’s 200m IM SM10 Para Sport final. Downie maintained her lead to finish in first place with a time of 2:35.66 and Madeleine Scott (2:42.02) in second place with both girls qualifying for the 2014 Commonwealth Games Team. Fifteen-year-old Ashleigh Cockburn finished in third place with a time of 2:48.07.

The final of the women’s 50m breaststroke saw Emily Seebohm pick up her second title of the week, taking out the one lap sprint in a time of 27.95. Seebohm was too quick for Meagen Nay in 28.66 with Madison Wilson third in 28.67.

The final selection event of the night saw Mack Horton and Jordan Harrison go stroke for stroke through the first 500m of the men’s 1500m freestyle. Horton then made his move at the 600m mark to move a body length ahead of Harrison, and then extended it over the next 300m to be two body lengths clear at the 1km mark. The 17-year-old from Melbourne only extended his lead in the final third of the race to win in a time of 14:51.55, the fourth fastest time ever by an Australian. Last year’s winner Harrison was second in 15:03.24 with training partner Mathew Levings third in 15:09.67 to earn selection onto the team.

Australian Swim Team – 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games
Athletes: Joshua Alford, 18 (NSW), Jessica Ashwood, 20 (NSW), Jesse Aungles, 18 (SA), Bronte Barratt, 25 (QLD), Joshua Beaver, 21 (VIC), Alanna Bowles, 16 (QLD), Bronte Campbell, 19 (QLD), Cate Campbell, 21 (QLD), Blake Cochrane, 23 (QLD), Alicia Coutts, 26 (QLD), Matthew Cowdrey, 25 (SA), Laura Crockart, 19 (NSW), Rowan Crothers, 16 (QLD), Tommaso D’Orsogna, 23 (QLD), Katherine Downie, 18 (WA), Maddison Elliott, 15 (NSW), Brittany Elmslie, 19 (QLD), Daniel Fox, 22 (QLD), Remy Fairweather, 17 (QLD), Thomas Fraser-Holmes, 22 (QLD), Jacqueline Freney, 21 (NSW), Ellen Gandy, 22 (VIC), Jared Gilliland, 19 (QLD), Madeline Groves, 18 (QLD), Jayden Hadler, 20 (NSW), Brenden Hall, 20 (QLD), Jordan Harrison, 18 (QLD), Belinda Hocking, 23 (VIC), Mack Horton, 17 (VIC), Sally Hunter, 28 (SA), Grant Irvine, 23 (QLD), Mitchell Kilduff, 18 (NSW), Mitch Larkin, 20 (QLD),Matson Lawson, 21 (VIC), Mathew Levings, 20 (QLD), James Magnussen, 22 (NSW), Travis Mahoney, 23 (VIC), Cameron McEvoy, 19 (QLD), Ned McKendry, 21 (QLD), David McKeon, 21 (NSW), Emma McKeon, 19 (NSW), Taylor McKeown, 19 (QLD), Keryn McMaster, 20 (QLD), Meagan Nay, 25 (QLD), Kotuku Ngawati, 19 (VIC), Jessica Pengelly, 22 (WA), Leiston Pickett, 22 (QLD), Mitchell Pratt, 18 (VIC), Melanie Schlanger, 27 (QLD), Madeleine Scott, 21 (WA), Emily Seebohm, 21 (QLD), Christian Sprenger, 28 (QLD), Eamon Sullivan*, 28 (WA), Kenneth To, 21 (NSW), Lorna Tonks, 25 (QLD), Daniel Tranter, 25 (QLD), Ben Treffers, 22 (NSW), Tessa Wallace, 20 (QLD), Chris Wright, 25 (QLD)
Coaches: Jacco Verhaeren, National Head Coach, Brant Best, SOPAC (NSW), Peter Bishop, Marion (SA), Matthew Brown, Nudgee Brothers (QLD), Simon Cusack, Indooroopilly (QLD), John Fowlie, National Training Centre (ACT), Rob Hindmarsh, Chandler (QLD), Craig Jackson, Melbourne Vicentre (VIC), Chris Mooney, Indooroopilly (QLD), Vince Raleigh, Chandler (QLD), Richard Scarce, Palm Beach Currumbin (QLD), Rohan Taylor, Nunawading, (VIC)
Head of Delegation: Michael Scott, Director of High Performance

*Note: Nomination to the Australian Commonwealth Games Association is subject to medical advice and fitness test.

FAST FACTS
There are 107 days to go until the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games
The Opening Ceremony will be held on July 23 with the swimming starting on July 24
31 men and 28 women will swim for Australia in Glasgow – for a team total of 59
12 Para Sport athletes will compete in Scotland, the largest contingent ever for an Australian team at the Commonwealth Games
At 28 triple Olympian Eamon Sullivan and Dual Olympians Christian Sprenger and Sally Hunter are the oldest athletes on the team
At 15 Paralympic gold medallist Maddison Elliott is the youngest on the team
The average age of the team is 21

ROOKIES
There are 15 Australian Swim Team rookies on the team – including Joshua Alford, Jesse Aungles, Joshua Beaver, Alana Bowles, Laura Crockart, Remy Fairweather, Ellen Gandy, Jared Gilliland, Madeline Groves, Mack Horton, Taylor McKeown, Keryn McMaster Jessica Pengelly, Mitchell Pratt, and Lorna Tonks.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World. To reach our audience, contact us at newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com.

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