![\"Jodie](\"\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/media\/Jodie_Henry.JPG\")
<\/p>\nBy Stephen J. Thomas <\/p>\n
SYDNEY, March 27. THE big guns were again out in force on the sixth night of the Australian Championships but this time not against each other. First it was Grant Hackett shooting for the 800 free world record held by Ian Thorpe; then it was the Thorpedo\u2019s turn to show that he could at the very least set a decent PR in the 200 IM. <\/p>\n
Men\u2019s 800m freestyle<\/b>:
\nHackett had been very confident leading into the race that he would go all-out to swim under Thorpe\u2019s WR 7:39.16. Thorpe had skipped this event to concentrate on shorter distances, so it was Hackett against the clock in this race. <\/p>\n
Hackett certainly looked impressive from the first lap, splitting just over one-second under Thorpe\u2019s 2001 world record. The crowd sensed that the record was in jeopardy as the 22-year-old Queenslander maintained his sub-world record pace until he flipped at the 600-meter mark. The turn looked a little sloppy and it was clear that there was not enough gas in the tank — at least on this occasion — to keep pace with Thorpe\u2019s powerful last 200. Hackett touched in 7:44.91, the seventh fastest swim all-time over the distance. <\/p>\n
Splits:
\nThorpe: 55.02, 1:52.93, 2:51.65, 3:50.54,
\n 4:49.43, 5:48.66, 6:45.93, 7:39.16 WR<\/p>\n
Hackett: 53.96, 1:52.00, 2:50.40, 3:49.15,
\n 4:48.29, 5:47.77, 6:47.49, 7:44.91 <\/p>\n
Stephen Penfold, Hackett\u2019s training partner from the Miami club on the Gold Coast was a distant second in a PR 7:58.27, making him the seventh fastest Aussie performer. Grant Cleland from Sydney took the bronze in 8:09.66. <\/p>\n
Hackett said after the race he knew that in order to have a chance at the record he had to go all out from the start to counter Thorpe\u2019s trademark power finish (after all, Hackett clocked his fastest time when Thorpe set the record at the world champs in 2001). <\/p>\n
\u201cAt the 600-mark I was really hurting, the kind of hurt when you know it means you can\u2019t push any harder,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Men\u2019s 200m IM<\/b>:
\nYou can only expect excellence when Ian Thorpe approaches a race and his performance in his \u2018new\u2019 event — the 200 IM — this time matched and perhaps even exceeded his expectations. <\/p>\n
Thorpe was under the world record split after the fly (26.07 to 26.17) and remained there after the dorsal leg (56.53 to 56.61). But breaststroke proved his Achilles heel, as he lost over two seconds before powering home to touch in 2:00.11. <\/p>\n
The time broke the Commonwealth and national record set by Matthew Dunn in 1998 by 0.15. The swim placed Thorpe equal to eighth on the all-time performers list with American Dave Wharton. Defending champion Justin Norris made up ground on Thorpe in the breaststroke to be only 0.16 behind but was never going to catch the 100 gold medalist in the freestyle leg to take silver in 2:01.19 (not far outside his PR 2:00.91) with the bronze going to 19-year-old South Aussie, Mitchell Bacon in PR 2:03.24 (sixth fastest Aussie performer).<\/p>\n
Thorpe said after his race, \u201cI have a little bit of work to do before the World Championships, but I\u2019m really happy with that swim. I didn\u2019t expect to drop quite that much.\u201d <\/p>\n
2000 Olympic champion in this event, Italian visitor Massi Rosolino, who has been training in Melbourne with Ian Pope, swam a fast 1:59.94 in the prelims yesterday. <\/p>\n
Women\u2019s 100m freestyle<\/b>:
\nAustralian record-holder Jodie Henry looked the goods tonight when she turned second in 26.41 just 0.10 behind a fast Libby Lenton, and her training partner Alice Mills (26.85). Henry, the Pan Pac silver medalist behind American superstar Nat Coughlin, has a powerful back end to her 100 and asserted her superiority over the field to touch in a 54.69 just short of her Aussie record 54.55. <\/p>\n
Lenton held on well for the silver and an individual race in Barcelona, in another PR 55.02 (fourth best Aussie performer). Lenton has taken almost one second off her personal best coming into this meet. Sixteen-year-old Mills snatched the bronze in 55.59 (short of her PR 55.15 in the prelims) from dual Olympian, 26-year-old Sarah Ryan (55.73). <\/p>\n
Elka Graham, the winner of the 200-400 free double, finished fifth in 55.95. <\/p>\n
Women\u2019s 200m breaststroke<\/b>:
\nLeisel Jones continued her top form tonight but was still short of the national record 2:24.76, clocking a fast 2:25.74 to take her third consecutive title. As was the case in the semis, the 17-year-old Queenslander was again under world-record pace for the first two laps. Her splits: 32.49, 1:09.29, 1:47.37, 2:25.74. <\/p>\n
Victorian 18-year-old, Sarah Kasoulis, swam a brilliant final lap to take silver in a PR 2:28.42 (seventh best Aussie performer). Brooke Hanson, the 100-meter silver medalist, put up a brave fight to take bronze in 2:29.02 having strained a hamstring muscle earlier in the day. <\/p>\n
Men\u2019s 200m backstroke<\/b>:
\nAustralian record-holder, Matt Welsh, won his third title in this event comfortably taking the race after turning in 57.48 — over a second ahead of his nearest rival, Ray Hass (58.54). <\/p>\n
Welsh pulled further away at the 150 before coasting to his third title in this event in a very solid 1:58.95. Hass, ranked fourth globally in this event last year, kept his form to touch in 1:59.98 from fast-finishing 100 meter silver medallist Josh Watson, 2:00.94. Hass won this title in 2002 while Watson took it out in 1998. <\/p>\n
Semi-finals<\/b>: <\/p>\n
Men\u2019s 50m freestyle<\/b>:
\nAustralian record-holder Brett Hawke was fastest qualifier in 22.62 ahead of David Carter (22.75 PR and eighth all-time Aussie performer) and 100-meter gold medalist Ashley Callus (22.95). <\/p>\n
Todd Pearson 23.19 and Andrew Dyson 23.19 followed.<\/p>\n
Men\u2019s 100m butterfly<\/b>:
\nGeoff Huegill 53.82
\nAdam Pine 53.88
\nJason Cohen 54.20
\nShane Fielding 54.67
\nJosh Taylor 54.84<\/p>\n
Women\u2019s 50m butterfly<\/b>:
\nPetria Thomas 27.04
\nLibby Lenton 27.35
\nNicole Irving 27.37
\nJordana Webb 27.47
\nMelanie Houghton 27.53<\/p>\n
Women\u2019s 200m backstroke<\/b>:
\nFrances Adcock 2:14.73
\nZoe Tonks 2:15.20
\nKarina Leane 2:15.54
\nKelly Tucker 2:17.51
\nTay Zimmer 2:17.55<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"Ian](\"\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/media\/IanThorp.JPG\")
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By Stephen J. Thomas SYDNEY, March 27. THE big guns were again out in force on the sixth night of the Australian Championships but this time not against each other.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":64973,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-zzzzzzzzz"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n