2010 Telstra Australian Swimming Championships: Women’s Outlook

SYDNEY, Australia, March 15: On the eve of the Telstra Australian Swimming Championships to be swum over six days at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre, starting Tuesday, one of Australia's most respected swimming experts, IAN HANSON, looks at the women's events.

The fruit of Australia's successful youth program could well ripen over the next week in Sydney with a host of youngsters set to gatecrash their way onto the Australian Teams for this year's Pan Pacific Championships and Commonwealth Games.

Australian women have been the major headliners over the past six years with names such as Petria Thomas, Jodie Henry, Libby Trickett, Leisel Jones, Jessicah Schipper, Stephanie Rice, Bronte Barratt, Kylie Palmer, Linda MacKenzie and Emily Seebohm carving their names into the record books at the last two Olympics and FINA World Championships.

All eyes will be on Seebohm this week as she continues her rise in the backstroke and individual medley events and is looming as a name to watch over the next three years on the road to London.

The Aussie girls always deliver….it's a matter of who will stand up when the pressure is on….Ian Hanson, who has followed the fortunes of Australia's swimmers for the last four decades casts his eyes over the women's fields for this year's major long course event.

FREESTYLE

Since 2004 Australian freestyle sprinting has been blessed with Jodie Henry and Libby Trickett but now it's Cate Campbell's turn to take over the mantle and step up to the plate. It was a shame to hear of Libby's retirement but what a career – the winner of 23 gold medals in major international competitions. But the time is perfect for Campbell to step up to the plate.

The Olympic and World Championship bronze medallist in the 50m freestyle is the obvious choice to take over as the next Aussie sprint queen now that she has overcome some injury issues with her hip.

World 50m butterfly gold medallist Marieke Guehrer is also very much in the mix in both the 50 and 100m events and will add a wealth of experience to the fields, despite recent back problems. The likes of NSW champion Emily Seebohm, Alicia Coutts, Sally Foster, Alice Mills, Felicity Galvez, Meagen Nay and Merindah Dingjan (in the 100m) who will be chasing relay spots in the 100 with the X factor in the 50 and 100m events coming in the shape of Yolane Kukla – the 14-year-old Brisbane whizkid who has taken Age group swimming by storm over the last 12 months – and the open door awaits her.

Moving on to the 200m and World Championship team members Ellen Fullerton, Nay, Steph Rice and Bronte Barratt lead the way with Galvez, Dingjan and Blair Evans. Australian champion Nay, will be the one to watch after showing just how tough she is during last year's World Championships when she lost her brother Amos and returned home after swimming the heats of the 400m freestyle relay. Rice and Barratt were members of the 800m freestyle relay team that won gold in Beijing and at their best will be tough to beat.

Barratt is at home over 400 metres and her move to the AIS has brought some stability to her life after the departure of long-time coach John Rodgers to Canada. Throw in another former "JR" Olympic golden girl Kylie Palmer, who is finally returning from her shoulder reconstruction and it serves up the possibility of even further depth on the road to London, with some encouraging early season swims at the Queensland Championships.

Evans has really been one to watch this season, clocking pbs across the board from 100 through to 800 and could well be one of the real improvers in 2010. She will be accompanied over 400 by Fullerton, her Pro-Ma Miami team mate Katie Goldman, Nay and 5km world champion Melissa Gorman.

Gorman will match it with Evans over the 800 although it remains to be seen who else will have a serious crack over the premier Olympic distance event. Commonwealth record holder (sixth in Beijing) Palmer, Barratt and Goldman will be there along with Fullerton, Jessica Ashwood and Miami pair, 13-year-old hot shot Bonnie McDonald and Kelly Marquenie. All apart from Palmer, Barratt and Fullerton, will line up in the 1500m which will also include Belinda Bennett.

BACKSTROKE

Olympic and World championship foursome Emily Seebohm, Sophie Edington, Meagen Nay and Belinda Hocking will again head up the backstroking assault over 50, 100 and 200m – with Seebohm probably the one to watch over the 50 and 100m and Nay and Hocking over the 200m. Seebohm's 59.25 to win the NSW title was the swim of the season.

Nay will be desperate to show her wares after missing the World Championships. Hocking looked great at NSW and is always consistent. Edington has moved from the Stephan Widmer squad to link up with Simon Cusack at Indooroopilly and will concentrate on all three events – with the 50 and 100m her preference.

Unless one of these girls is off her game it will be hard ton see any of the new brigade breaking their stranglehold on the podium. But keep watch on the likes of Grace Loh, Bridgette-Rose Taylor and Siobhan Keane.

BREASTSTROKE

The 2009 FINA World Championships was certainly a break through year for Sarah Katsoulis and she will carry that confidence into a new season. The only difference will be that her Nunawading training partner Leisel Jones will now be racing and not just training.

Katsoulis enjoyed her time in the sun – winning world championship bronze in the 50m and fourth in the 100m in Rome and together they will propel the Aussie breaststroke hopes towards London. Jones, at her best, will be a sight for sore eyes for Aussies swimming fans, desperate to see the golden girl back in action.

And if her form to win the NSW title in 1:05.85 is any indication then she is well and truly on her way. It will be interesting to see how close she gets to "suit" times with pure ability. In the 50m it could well be the time to shine for Southport's Leiston Pickett who will be joined in the 100m hunt by Sally Foster, Samantha Marshall and Tessa Wallace. The 200m will see specialists Foster, Wallace and Marshall challenge Katsoulis – Jones, on her day is in a world of her own.

BUTTERFLY

World champions Marieke Guehrer (50m) and Jessicah Schipper (200m) give the butterfly events that instant midas touch. Add in dual World Short Course gold medallist Felicity Galvez (50,100,200m), Olympic individual medley gold medallist Stephanie Rice (100, 200)and Olympic and World Championship finalist Sam Hamill (200m) and all three races will be red hot.

Guehrer has battled a niggling back injury but at her bubbling best can be hard to beat over 50 and 100m and one of the most promotable girls in the pool. Schipper will start favourite to win the 100 and 200m titles – with Rice and Hamill hot on her hammer. Her performance to win her second world title in Rome showed why she will be remembered as one of the world's greatest butterflyers.

No excuses and no dodging hard work, Schipper was the name on everyone's lips at the end of 2009 – and for all the right reasons as she walked away with the Australian Swimmer of the Year, Swimmer's Swimmer and People's Choice Awards at the Telstra Dinner in Canberra. She will once again be a leading light in the world of swimming in 2010 and onwards to 2012.

INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY

Stephanie Rice is the name synonymous with IM swimming in Australia since her golden double at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. On times over the past two years she is head and shoulders above the fields and at her best will waltz into the Australian team for the Pan Pacs and her duels with the US girls. She will be glad to get back to textile suits, forget about 2009 and get on with 2010.

Determined to join Rice on the Australian team for the Pan Pacs and the Commonwealth Games will be the improving NSW champ Emily Seebohm, Olympian Alicia Coutts and Ellen Fullerton in the 200m IM and Sam Hamill, Fullerton, Blair Evans and Katie Goldman over 400m.

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