Manchester 2002 Preview – Women’s events

Freestyle

The women’s freestyle had been in a state of flux since the last games in Kuala Lumpur. With no Sue Rolph to defend the sprints and no Joanne Malar for the distance events, several new commonwealth champions will most probably be crowned.

In the shorter events, Australia’s Sarah Ryan and Scotland’s Alison Sheppard will start as favourites for the 100 and 50 respectively, although Aussie teenager Jodie Henry should be expected to give them both a run for their money for the golds, and should pick up some of the minor medals if not. It would me a major shock if Sheppard were not to leave with a 50m gold however. Ros Brett of England will be in with a medal shout in the 50 event and don’t discount her Loughborough team-mate Melanie Marshall for a bronze perhaps in the 100m. Karen Pickering, 100m champion form 1994 is also well ranked in the 100m and could be a surprise champion on a good day. IUn the longer event, Sheppard is lower ranked but improving and is again in with a medal chance.

The 800m should see England’s Rebecca Cooke pick up a gold but she faces a fierce battle with Australia’s Amanda Pascoe, with less than 3s separating them on the rankings. Cooke already holds the short course British record of this event and will want to take the long course version form Sarah Hardcastle. She may need to be sure of gold. England’s other re competitors Nathalie Brown and Caroline Saxby are conceivable medal winners, although they face their own antipodean rival in the shape of Jennifer Reilly.

The intermediate events are perhaps the hardest to call. The 200 will probably go back down under, with Elka Graham the leading contender. English Veteran Karen Pickering is in the form of her life at the present time though and a swim at the British record time could see her medal. Helen Muller of South Africa as second ranked in the 200 at the moment and will challenge strongly for gold as well.

In the 400 Cooke is ranked top, but there is more to come from the other contenders. Graham again will challenge as will Canada’s Jessica Deglau. Jamaica will have hopes of a surpise gold from Janelle Atkinson, who performed really well at last years worlds in Fukuoka. Scotland’s Karen Nisbet will hold outside hopes of Bronze, but she sill have to beat Pascoe to achieve that. Also look out for South African Nathalie du Toit, who also competes in the EAD events

Backstroke

Much like men’s butterfly, in recent years, women’s backstroke has been something of a strength in domestic swimming, with Britain’s three top women featuring near the top of the world rankings on a regular basis. Of course the name that stands out, both in British and world terms is Sarah Price, who is a red hot favourite for medals in the pool in Manchester.

one to watch: sarah price
  • country: England
  • ranking: 50:4th, 100:1st, 200:1st
  • Sydney: 100:21st , 200: –
  • Fukuoka: 50: 16th 100: 6th, 200:4th
  • Moscow: –

Price is ranked number one in the 200 and 100m events and is almost a whole second clear of her nearest challenger in both, leaving her a the women the others must beat if they want the gold. Sarah is relishing the prospect of competing as top seed. “I enjoy going in as number one ” she says “it does put pressure on but I like that and I want to keep my number one position.” Since rediscovering her form over the longer event at the tail end of 2001, setting a world record in the short course pool, she has gone from strength to strength, breaking no fewer than fifteen British, five Commonwealth and two European records. She currently holds all of the British record for backstroke, both long and short course, and must be England’s best bet for a gold medal in the pool.

But Price is nothing if not realistic, and appreciates that she will not have it all her own way. When pullbuoy spoke to her, she singled out her own England team mates, the Canadians and of course the Australians as those likely to challenge for the medals. England have a strong line up with defending 200m champion Katy Sexton back in the team after injury and world bronze medallist Jo Fargus the third of the English trio. both girls will expect to make finals, and Fargus in particular will have hers eyes on medals in the 100 and 200, being ranked 4th in both. The 50m is the weakest for the home challenge, in pure ranking terms, but expect at least one English girl on the podium for all of the backstroke events.

one to watch: Dyana Calub
  • country: Australia
  • ranking: 50:2nd, 100:2nd, 200:-
  • Sydney: 100:16th, 200:24th
  • Fukuoka: 50:6th, 100:9th, 200:-
  • Moscow: –

The Canadians have sent possibly their strongest team to contest the backstroke events. World short course champion and number one ranked Jennifer Carroll lines up in the 50m sprint and if she can translate her short course form to the 50m pool as well as she has done so far this season, will be a strong contender for gold. Medley specialist Liz Warden is also a contender, currently being ranked 3rd in the 200m. Elsewhere the Canadians will be looking for finals placings, but must be considered outsiders for medals, with Michelle Lischinksy, Erin Gammel and Jennifer Fratesi all ranked 5th in the 50, 100 and 200 respectively.

Which brings us to the Australians, who will as usual be looking to take every gold in this category. Dyana Calub, Giann Rooney and Clementine Stoney represent a very strong line up and all of them are certainties to make their respective finals. Once there anything could happen, but their best hope would seem to be in the 50m, where Calub and Rooney are 2nd and 3rd ranked, with less than 0.2s covering the top 3.

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Breaststroke

Women’s Breastroke is one of the strongest areas of Commonwealth swimming at the current time. The field will boast the Olympic silver medallist Liesel Jones of Australia, former world champion Sarah Poewe of South Africa, and the 50m European record holder Zoë Baker of England.

In the 100m it is hard to see which way the battle between Jones and Poewe will go, despite the apparent gap between them in the rankings. The latter’s recent car crash in South Africa may have an impact on her performance, but one hopes she is fully fit as we will be in for a cracking final. The English challenge is headed by British record holder Jaime King, a perennial underachiever at major championships, compared to trials. Maybe Manchester will mark a turning point in her quest for medals – a time around her record may possibly be enough for a bronze on the day. Heidi Earp and 15 year old Kate Haywood complete the trio. Haywood recently went under 1.10 at the European Juniors to push her to 7th in the rankings, and with her training likely to have been geared more towards this meet it will be interesting to see what she can achieve. It is not beyond possibility that she will end up as top Briton. She’ll have to beat Scotland’s Kirsty Balfour as well however – she’s currently British Champion and will be looking to dip under 1:10 as well.

Baker is a huge favourite to take the sprint title, and she will have her eyes on Penny Heyns’ Commonwealth and world record. Jones will challenge most likely along with compatriot Brooke Hanson and Poewe, but baker is the class act, with a time this season nearly 1 whole second ahead of Jones in second. Any result other than a Baker god will be a major shock. Earp and Haywood are well ranked and a continued improvement could see them snatch a medal. King is better suited to the longer events.

In the longer 200 event, it’s again between Jones and Poewe, but this time the gap is marked, with the Australian almost 2 s clear at the top of the rankings. JOnes should tkae the title form Poewe with some ease. Canada’s Christin Petelski will challenge with King and Earp for the bronze in all probability.

Butterfly

With Susie O’Neill, the dominant force in Commonwealth women’s butterfly for so long, no longer competing, the stage is set for another swimmer to step up to the mark. Inevitably another Australian Petria Thomas has emerged form O’Neill’s shadow to become one of the premier women’s fly swimmers in the world at this current time. The reigning world 200m champion will be the swimmer to beat in all of the events, including the 50m, where she is ranked behind England’s Ros Brett. It is hard to see her not leaving Manchester with at least 2 individual gold medals, as she is over a second clear in the rankings form her nearest challengers over 100 and 200m

one to watch: georgina lee
  • country: Canada
  • ranking: 50:23rd, 100:2nd, 200:2nd
  • Sydney: 100:-, 200:10th
  • Fukuoka: 50:-, 100:-, 200:10th
  • Moscow: –

That said, English swimmers lead the queue of swimmers behind Thomas, and should she slip up, it is altogether possible that England could pick up a gold medal. Georgina Lee, the British Record holder over 100 and 200m, will aim to dip under both the 60s and 2:10 barriers and if she does so will surely gain medals in both events. Team-mate Marge Pedder is ranked third behind Thomas and Lee in the 200m, well clear of 4th place and should complete an English medal double in that event. England’s third contender is Brett in the 50m. She leads the rankings and will definitely be amongst the favourites, but anything can happen on the day in the shorter events.

Beyond those four swimmers, however it is not as clear where the medal challenges are going to come from. Second string Aussie Nicole Irving will be looking for final placings and may sneak a medal in the 50m, but the Australian challenge does not seem to extend much further. Canada’s Jennifer Button is in with a medal shout in the 100m and team-mate Audrey Lacroix should final, but the Canadians do not appear to have a representation any of the other events.

Meanwhile, South Africa has high hopes for Mandy Loots who is ranked highly in both the 100 and 200m events and New Zealand’s only final hope would seem to be medley specialist Liz Van Welie in the 200, if she competes in that event.

IM

Although it may not be the most glamorous of events in terms of the Commonwealth games, Commonwealth swimmers make up 3 or 4 of the top 10 in the current rankings, and as such should provide some excellent racing in both medley events. As usual, of those visiting swimmers the Australians and Canadians will be the main contenders, and they have been helped by some other top swimmers not competing. South Africa’s Mandy Loots is one prime example, being ranked 5th in the Commonwealth this year for the 400IM, but not being swimming that event

one to watch: liz warden
  • country: Canada
  • ranking: 200: 1st 400: 2nd
  • Sydney: 200: – 400: –
  • Fukuoka: 200: – 400: –
  • Moscow: 200: – 400: –

Of the leading contenders, Jennifer Reilly will renew her 1998 rivalry with Canadian Liz Warden. Only 14 in Kuala Lumpur, Reilly won the bronze in the 400 IM behind Warden who took silver and anther Canadian, Joanne Malar, who will not be defending her title. Reilly has definitely built on that experience since, with an Olympic final appearance in front of a home crowd in 2000 and a strong showing at this years world short course championships.

By comparison, since the 1998 games, Warden has been conspicuous by her absence from international competition, having not been competed at that level since the 1999 pan pacific championships. She has however burst back onto the scene, recording some impressive times this year to leave her top of the Commonwealth rankings in the 200IM and second only to Reilly in the longer event.

one to watch: jennifer reilly
  • country: Australia
  • ranking: 200: 2nd 400:1st
  • Sydney: 200: – 400:8th
  • Fukuoka: 200:11th 400:9th
  • Moscow: 200:8th 400:4th

Those two swimmers will definitely be the ones to beat, but don’t count out another Canadian Marianne Limpert. She’s been around on the international stage for 12 years but is till in fine form, being ranked 6th and finishing 9th in the 200IM at last years worlds. In the 400IM New Zealand’s Elizabeth Van Welie is ranked 3rd in that event and in the absence of the experienced Helen Norfolk will be a be a big hope for a kiwi medal. She is however almost 3 seconds down on Warden’s 2nd ranked time and only marginally ahead of 4th, so will therefore need to swim to her best form to take a podium finish

In domestic terms, Holly Fox remains England’s best hope of a final spot in the 400IM, currently being ranked 6th, but she will need to threaten Sharron Davies 22 year old British record to get amongst the medals. The 200IM provides Nova Centurion’s Kathryn Evans with a chance to build on her previous international experienced. She’s ranked 7th and should be looking for a final place.