Thorpe Wins “Slow” 200 Free

By Ian Hanson

BRISBANE, QLD., Australia, March 19. IAN Thorpe and Grant Hackett will lead a new-look Australian men's 4x200m relay team into the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in July and into the future after an intriguing 200m freestyle final on night two of the Telstra Australian Swimming Championships in Brisbane tonight.

Thorpe took the gold medal after clocking a "slow" 1:45.09 with Hackett registering 1:46.67 to claim silver, but it was the elevation of Jason Cram (1:49.89) and Leon Dunne (1:50.70) into Australia's all-conquering relay team that caught the imagination of the Brisbane crowd.

The retirement of William Kirby and the injury to Michael Klim left two places left on Australia's 4x200m freestyle relay team and tonight it was Cram and Dunne who grabbed those positions with both hands.

Cram, 19, who trains with Ian Thorpe under Doug Frost at SLC Aquadot Club in Sydney, broke the 1:50.00 mark for the first time and set his second personal best time for the day while Dunne continued his rise by finishing fourth.

For Dunne, the fourth placing was sweet as he was the only swimmer in the Australian team at the 2001 World Championships who did not dive into the pool after he was left out of the heats of the 4x200m relay.

"It's very prestigious to be on the Australian swim team, especially the relay, and I'm really looking forward to the Commonwealth Games," said Cram, who will make his debut in the Australian Swim Team after contesting the 2000 Commonwealth Youth Games in Edinburgh.

"I've only been training alongside Ian and with Doug for the last 12 months and tonight Doug said 'Just go out and do it'.

"Coming down the last lap I looked across and could see I was in third place and I felt so strong, stronger than I have ever felt on the final lap of a 200m."

Dunne, cheered on by coach Ric Van Der Zant and over 50 members of his Yeronga Park Swim Club, was entitled to quit the sport after the disappointments of 2001 but it has made him stronger both mentally and physically.

"I was determined to come here to make this team and to do it in my home town and in front of all my mates makes it that much more special," Dunne said. "After missing the relay team last year nothing was going to hold me back in this preparation."

A tired Ian Thorpe expressed disappointment with his winning time. "I'm just really disappointed. I've had a really good preparation and hoped to swim really well here," Thorpe told reporters. "It's frustrating."

He retained the 400 meter title on Monday in a time of three minutes 40.54 seconds, 0.37 seconds outside the world record of 3:40.17 he set in winning one of a record six gold medals at last year's world championships in Fukuoka.

Thorpe said yesterday that a lack of air-conditioning on a hot night at Brisbane's Chandler Aquatic Centre had slowed his record bid and left him feeling more exhausted than after any other race since the Olympics. Officials moved quickly to fix the problem before Tuesday's second day of the championships.

Hackett, the 1,500 meter world record-holder, said the Australia sporting public needed to stop expecting Thorpe to be a world-beater all the time.

"He's human. He's done unbelievable things and he's still going to, but let's not put too much pressure on him to keep on breaking world records every time he steps in the water," Hackett said.

Thorpe insisted he did not feel pressure to set world records. "I don't approach it like that," he said.

Meanwhile, Leisel Jones would have left her rivals wondering what was to come after a solid performance to win her first Australian 50m breaststroke title.

Jones clocked 32.02 to beat Sarah Kasoulis (32.22), defending champion Tarnee White (32.27) with 2000 champion Brooke Hanson (32.28) fourth before declaring she had improved her starts and thought she had plenty left in the tank for the upcoming 100m and 200m breaststroke races.

After jumping out of the pool, a leaner and lighter Jones expressed her surprise at winning the event.

"I wasn't supposed to be a 50m specialist. I have really been working on my 100m race," Jones said.
"It's a good start but I'm not putting too much expectation on myself for the 100m and 200m tomorrow.

"I thought it would take a faster time but I am really happy to have swum a PB in the semis and gone below 32 for the first time. I have improved my starts but I have a lot more work to do. That's good because I know I can go faster."

World backstroke champion Matt Welsh fulfilled a pre-meet promise to make selection for his first Commonwealth Games a foregone conclusion after he narrowly missed the team for the 1998 Commonwealth Games by taking out the 50m backstroke final.

Welsh clocked 25.71 to defeat promising Kingscliff-based Port Macquarie teenager Ethan Rolff (26.08) and veteran Robbie Van Der Zant (26.42) to book his seat on the plane to Manchester.

It was a very different story four years ago when after winning a gold medal at the 1998 World Championships in the 4x100m medley relay he missed the team for the Commonwealth Games after finishing second in the 200m backstroke and 4th in the 100m backstroke.

"I want to make the selectors job very easy when they sit down to pick the team for these Commonwealth Games," Welsh said before the start of the meet. "The first priority is to win one of the three races (50m, 100m, or 200m) so I get automatic selection."

Commonwealth Games selection completes Welsh's major championships scrapbook after making the 2000 Olympic, 1999 Pan Pacs and 2001 World Championship teams.

"I'm very happy with that,"Welsh said. "The one thing I wanted to get out of the 50m backstroke was confidence. Any time under 26 seconds is good. It's within 0.20 of my best which I set at worlds, so on not much of a preparation it's very encouraging."

Triple World Champion Petria Thomas added the 50m butterfly gold medal to her 200m freestyle silver medal with a dominant performance in what was without doubt the fastest 50m butterfly final in Australian history.

Thomas, who holds the Commonwealth Record, stopped the clock at 27.22 but the top five finishers all recorded times to move into the top ten all-time Australians in the 50m butterfly.

Nicole Irving (27.44) took the silver and moved to 3rd on the all-time list, Nichola Chellingworth claimed bronze with a time of 27.55 to be the 5th fastest Australian in history while Marieke Guehrer (4th) is now 6th on the list and Lisbeth Lenton finished 5th in the final to move into 8th place.

It emphasised the depth and talent that is progressing through the ranks at the 2002 Telstra Australian Swimming Championships.

In the Elite Athlete with a Disability selection event, Katrina Lewis from NSW clocked 31.31 to take out the 50m freestyle. Taking the silver was Dianna Ley from NSW while Kate Bailey made it a NSW trifecta, claiming third place.

In Multi Disability M/D finals action NSW's Siobhan Paton (33.24) won the women's 50m backstroke from Queensland duo Chantel Wolfenden and Aleshia Yet Foy.

Queensland local Bradley Owen took out the M/D 50m men's backstroke in a time of 35.55 with Victoria's Alex Harris claiming silver and Troy Puttergill from NSW finishing third.

In semi final action, Jim Piper (1:01.59) is the fastest qualifier for tomorrow night's 100m breaststroke final after coming within 0.03 of the Australian record. He will have to work all the way with Regan Harrison (1:02.84) and Brenton Rickard (1:03.08) on either side of him in lanes 5 and 3.

Dyana Calub (1:02.30), Giaan Rooney (1:02.38) and Clementine Stoney (1:02.95) will contest a gripping 100m backstroke final tomorrow night after qualifying fastest in tonight's semi finals.

Sarah Ryan (55.65) qualified in lane four for the final of the 100m freestyle but she will have to hold off the charge of the youth brigade with Jodie Henry (55.66), Cassie Hunt (56.24), Elka Graham (56.35), Alice Mills (56.49) and Rebecca Creedy (56.94) all within striking distance. Relay positions are also up for grabs with the top four place-getters heading for Manchester.

Geoff Huegill put his own world record in the 50 meter butterfly on notice with a storming semi final performance in clocking 23.61, 0.17 outside the world mark he set at the 2001 World Championships. Adam Pine looks his nearest rival after registering a 24.49 while sprint freestyle specialist Brett Hawke is the third fastest qualifier after a very impressive 24.54 in the semi finals.

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