libby lenton
Libby Lenton
Photo: ©Dan Mitchell/pullbuoy
It doesn't take a long search to find the woman whose performances in Melbourne are most eagerly anticipated. With a series of sensational swims in 2005, Australian Libby Lenton has marked herself out as one of the biggest draw cards for the 2006 Commonwealth Games, with more than just the Commonwealth likely to be keeping an eye on what should be her international debut in the individual 200m freestyle.
Lenton has been on the international scene since 2003 when she set an Australian record over 50m freestyle in the inaugural Duel in the Pool, an event in which she went on to take bronze at the World Championships in Barcelona. What really marked her arrival internationally however was a world record in the 100m freestyle completely out of the blue at the 2004 Australian Olympic trials. no doubt the pressure of holding that record affected Lenton in Athens but she still pocketed a brace of medals.
2005 saw a different suite of events for the Queensland flyer. Having failed to qualify for the Australian team in the 100m freestyle, she went on to take three golds and two silver, dominating the 50m freestyle and taking silver behind teammate Jessicah Schipper in the 100m butterfly, while contributing to two relay wins.
It was her lead off leg in the silver medal winning 4x200m freestyle relay, however, that once again caused everyone to stand up and take notice. Lenton stopped the clock at 1:57.06, the third fastest swim of all time, a Commonwealth Record and a time that had only been bettered once in the preceding 11 years, and then only by the current world record from Fanziska van Almsick. It was a time that would have won the individual title in Montreal by a distance and injected some much needed excitement in an event that was starting to stagnate on the international stage.
It is this background which provide most of the excitement ahead of Lenton's participation in Melbourne. Provided she progresses through the Australian Trials in January, which given her current form seems almost certain, the Commonwealth title seemingly beckons.
Certainly her world record over the 200m short course at the Sydney round of the World Cup has given her a boost leading into those trials "It's obviously very different but the short course gives me a huge amount of confidence for the long course" she said shortly after setting that new mark before throwing down the gauntlet to her 200m rivals. "I would really like to become a well established 200m swimmer. It's a huge challenge for me but it's a challenge that I'm really excited about taking on."
That challenge will see her adopting a different approach from the more tactical race plans that have prevailed at major championships in recent years. "My strength is in the first half of the race. If I go out as fast as the rest of the girls do then they're easily going to swim over me at the end so for me its a case of going out as fast as possible and just holding onto it as much as possible." she says, while noting that she still has improvements to make on her race preparation. "I'm going to keep working hard and try to get my back end speed up a bit more."
It's a concept that must make her global rivals nervous; if Lenton can maintain her opening speed and come back stronger the long course 200m world record must be in danger come March next year. A swimming community can hardly wait.