intrigue builds for melbourne
With a little over 100 days until the swimming events commence in Melbourne, the 2006 instalment of the Commonwealth Games is already shaping up into an intriguing competition. As well as the usual excitement surrounding any major championships, a host of withdrawals, changes in nationality and various revivals in form have combined to add an extra spice to the build up.
Chief amongst the factors that brings an added cachet to the meet is the return to international competition of Ian Thorpe, the 23-year-old having completed his self imposed exile from the pool and ready to make his much awaited return in the sprint freestyle events. He will of course have to progress through the Australian Trials in January, something that is fraught with its own difficulties as witnessed in the 2004 version, but given his form in his only competitive outing to date, a 47.86 short course 100m freestyle at the Sydney round of the World Cup, he looks well on track to secure a place on the Australian team.
Ryk Neethling: Focussed on Melbourne
Photo: ©Dan Mitchell/pullbuoy
Thorpe will not defend the 400m title he won in a World Record time in Manchester instead deciding to concentrate on the shorter events, which sets up a potential blockbuster in the 100m freestyle. While the Australian was a comfortable victor four years ago, Commonwealth sprinting has come on apace recently with numerous swimmers producing sub 49-second times. Should Roland Schoemann decide to remain a South African for these games, he will start a firm favourite following his World silver this year, but his team-mate Ryk Neethling, Canada’s Brent Hayden and England’s Simon Burnett have all demonstrated sufficient form over recent months to mark themselves out as medal hopefuls. It will certainly be one of the most anticipated races of the 6 days of competition.
Hayden himself is symptomatic of the resurgence in Canadian swimming since their dismal performance in Manchester, where the Maple Leaf squad failed to win a single gold medal. Buoyed no doubt by a vociferous home crowd in the Montreal World Championships this year, and with a new head coach in the shape of Pierre Lafontaine the Canadian team appears to have rediscovered some self-belief, with their men’s relays particularly impressive in taking two silver medals behind the all conquering US foursomes, but importantly ahead of the Australian teams. Mike Brown in the 200m breaststroke and Brittany Reimer in the 800m freestyle are both world silver medallists who will start as genuine title contenders down under, having been pipped by non-Commonwealth opposition this year, although they will still have to overcome tough Australian challenges.
Hometown advantage is always a major factor; the Canadians had it in Montreal, but the Australian contingent will receive the benefits this time around. Given their usual domination of the pool, any additional boost could potentially see them taking a huge proportion of the medals on offer, but there are chinks in their armour that other countries would do well to exploit. On the women’s side, the Aussies have looked unbeatable in many events over the past year; Australian women won all four 50m events and 3 of the four 100m events in Montreal as well as 2 of the three relays. They weren’t so dominating in the 200m events, although Libby Lenton’s first serious crack at the 200m freestyle is another seeming shoe-in for gold, but they will be hard to beat in all but the backstroke and medleys. It is in the longer freestyle events where the best chances for other countries arise; Reimer, Becky Cooke and Caitlin McClatchey will be taking note.
On the men’s side the absence of Grant Hackett leaves a big hole in the Australian Squad. By far the standout antipodean performer in Montreal, the big Queenslander virtually carried the men’s squad single-handedly, wining three golds and a sliver and contributing to a relay bronze; all but two of the male medals in those championships. While David Davies will now rightly be installed as a strong favourite in the 1500m, it is the 400m which raises the most questions with Ian Thorpe also having confirmed he will take no part in the eight lap event. Last year’s Commonwealth number one ranked swimmer behind Hackett was Scotland’s David Carry, whose 3:48.96 at the Stage 3 meet puts him over half a second ahead of Australian Nick Sprenger, while Canada’s Andrew Hurd was a further second behind. With the vagaries of form for this trio over recent months it makes the race a very open one and we may yet see a new swimmer make a name for themselves.
Of the home nations, Scotland will have high hopes of improving on a great performance in Manchester, with McClatchey over 400m freestyle seemingly their best opportunity for a title. The Scots have a young team, and the progress of the likes of Hannah Miley will be interesting to watch, but their realistic medal chances come from the old heads in the shape of Carry, Gregor Tait, Todd Cooper and Kirsty Balfour.
Meanwhile Wales will have most of their hopes riding on Davies, but are also taking a young team based on their first set of selections. Medley swimmers Tom Haffield and Julie Gould, a medallist at European Youth Olympic level, both look set to make finals, but medals remain only an outside possibility.
Zoe Baker: Swimming for New Zealand this time round. Photo: © Dan Mitchell/pullbuoy
Which brings us, finally, to England. With only five swimmers selected from the first round of qualification trials it is hard to ascertain the final make up of the team, particularly given the usual tough selection criteria. It seems very unlikely that a full complement of swimmers will be making the trip down under, but much will depend on the work that has been done since the World Championships, with many swimmers likely to have taken a break after their trials exertions. Of the 5 currently confirmed swimmers Simon Burnett is the standout medal hope, but will find the big black suit of Ian Thorpe between him and the gold medals in at least two of his events. Chris Cook faces a more manageable chance in the breaststroke events with Commonwealth countries not well represented overall in the world rankings; indeed the City of Newcastle swimmer was the joint leading Commonwealth male over 100m last year with Australian Brenton Rickard, following his breakthrough performance in Montreal. Elsewhere Jo Jackson will be another swimmer looking to shine in the middle distance events while Liam Tancock will be a medal threat in the 50m backstroke, although Matt Welsh will once again start as the favourite.
There will also be much interest in those swimmers who have opted out of the England system for these games. Zoe Baker will represent New Zealand in Melbourne, while Robin Francis and Jo Fargus will be attempting to gain selection for South Africa and Australia respectively. The performances of this trio are likely to be watched very closely in the UK
There’s no doubt that the competition will be the richer for a series of close fought battles involving different countries rather than between domestic Australian rivals but the evidence points once again to Australian dominance come March. There are signs that the other Commonwealth nations will be able to put up a stern fight in many areas, but expect to see the Southern Cross well represented on most medal podiums.