Flash! Commonwealth Games Day Six Finals: Aussie Women Set World Record in Medley Relay; Aussie Men Take Their First Gold in Final Event

By Stephen J. Thomas

MELBOURNE, Australia, March 21. THE enthusiastic home crowd of more than 9,000 spectators got plenty to cheer about on the final night of competition when both the Aussie medley relay teams, together with Jessicah Schipper in the 200 fly and rising star Stephanie Rice in the 400 IM, added four more gold medals to their final tally. However, it was the star studded women’s medley that was simply superb, slicing just over one second off their previous global standard set on that balmy night in Athens in 2004.

Tonight it was the team of Sophie Edington (1:01.06), Leisel Jones (1:05.51), Jessicah Schipper (56.86) and Libby Lenton (52.87), all but Jones an entirely different team from Athens, that powered away to win by over eight second in 3:56.30. So strong is Australian women swimming at the moment, that watching in the stands were two of the team members who had held the previous record in Giaan Rooney and Jodie Henry. Add Alice Mills and Jade Edmistone and they have another team that would challenge for second place on the world stage.

As was the case last evening, Leisel Jones and Libby Lenton continued on their golden ride by posting the fastest breaststroke and freestyle legs in history while Jess Schipper splashed the second fastest fly in history behind that sensational effort of 56.67 from Petria Thomas in Athens. Trailing the Aussies, England took silver in 4:04.61 with Canada the bronze in 4:05.95.

At the other end of the spectrum, the downtrodden Aussie men’s team, in the eyes of the local media and the British press at least, had good reason to celebrate winning their first gold medal in the last event of the meet. Earlier in the evening the odds on this men’s team becoming the first in Commonwealth Games history to finish without a gold medal looked to be shortening when first Brett Hawke (bronze) in the 50 free and then Brenton Richard (silver) and Jim Piper (bronze) in the 200 breaststroke just missed the top medal. However, it was a sterling effort by the medley relay, a mix of youth and experience that ridded the demons that have plagued the men here without star players Grant Hackett and Ian Thorpe.

It was the experienced duo of backstroker Matt Welsh and Michael Klim (fly), together with Brenton Rickard (breast) and Eamon Sullivan (free) that took the Aussies to a two-second win in a new National and Games record. Welsh (54.84) did a very solid first leg but it was Brenton Rickard (59.51) that splashed the third fastest all-time breaststroke split to get the team in front. Klim (51.87) produced a quality swim, then the 20-year-old Sullivan (48.15) came home fastest in the final leg to stop the clock at 3:34.37. England was in the hunt early after a 54.42 lead by Liam Tancock but fell behind the Aussies and remained in second place throughout to record 3:36.40 while giant killers Scotland edged out Canada 3:39.75 to 3:39.87 for bronze.

Jessicah Schipper was unchallenged in taking the first of her two gold medals tonight in the 200 butterfly in producing her second fastest swim over the gruelling race. She was under world record pace for the first 150, eventually recording an impressive 2:06.09. Her teammate Felicity Galvez, an Athens finalist in this event, produced a PR of 2:08.16 for the silver with England’s Terri Dunning (2:09.87) winning a tight battle for bronze over Canada’s Audrey Lacroix.

Yet another rising star among the Aussie women is Stephanie Rice. The 18-year-old added the 400IM to her surprise win in the 200IM earlier in the program, and in doing so broke the 16-year-old Games record held by Hayley Lewis. Rice led from start to finish clocking a five second PR of 4:41.91 to easily defeat England’s Rebecca Cooke (NR, 4:44.60) and defending champ Aussie Jennifer Reilly (4:45.13). The third Aussie scheduled for this event, world champs finalist Lara Carroll, had an unlucky meet having been struck down by a gastric flu and confined to bed since the 200 IM earlier in the meet, she struggled in the prelims and was unable to progress to the final.

In the closest race of the night Canada’s Mike Brown took that nation's first gold medal at the Games in eight years. Brown, the bronze medalist in Manchester, came from fourth place at the 150 to edge up to the two Aussie leaders in defending champ Jim Piper and Brenton Rickard under the flags to win by a fingernail in 2:12.23. Rickard went a PR of 2:12.24 and Piper clocked 2:12.26. Piper, was particularly disappointed with his swim having won the Aussie nationals in this pool six weeks ago in a Commonwealth record of 2:10.51. However, he admitted that the DQ he received for an illegal dolphin kick in the 100 semifinals earlier in meet had affected his confidence going into the final.

World champ Roland Schoeman took his second individual gold of the meet with a convincing win in the 50 freestyle in a Games record 22.03 to defeat Canadian Brent Hayden who clocked a National record 22.19 and veteran Aussie Brett Hawke 22.31. The real veteran of the field, 36-year-old Mark Foster was next in 22.49, ahead of Aussie 20-year-old Eamon Sullivan (22.61). Hawke will now retire from swimming while Foster will take the same path after the World Short Course Champs in Shanghai in two weeks. Schoeman and Sullivan will race him again in Shanghai.

As expected Welsh distance star David Davies had an easy win in the 1,500 freestyle clocking 14:57.63. Davis had put on the pace early to flip at the 400 in 3:55.39 but by the 800 mark he was eight seconds ahead of the next competitors, South Africans Hercules Prinsloo and Mark Randall. With 400 to swim Canada’s Andrew Hurd moved into the frame for the minor medals and eventually took second place and touched in a national record of 15:09.44, ahead of Prinsloo (15:11.88).

Australia finished on top of the final medal tally with 19 gold, 18 silver and 17 bronze, 31 medals more than England who were next best.

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