Alicia Coutts not relying on her Commonwealth Games success for Australian trials – Swimming News
Five-time 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist, Alicia Coutts, has claimed that she is not relying on her achievements at the Commonwealth Games as a basis to claim her victory at the Australian Swimming Championships in Sydney.
The Championships will provide a platform to Australian swimmers to book their spots for the 2011 Shanghai World Championships in Rome. Coutts being a multi-stroke gold medallist at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi will surely participate in the events of
the 100m butterfly, 100m freestyle and the 200m Individual Medley.
However, the 23-year-old Coutts claims to have forgotten her latest achievement and said that she does not even remember where she has placed her accolades in the house. After the Commonwealth Games, Coutts has worked a lot on her fitness and has successfully
dropped four kilograms of weight.
Coutts stressed that the right attitude is the key to success and she does not want her mind to be ruled out by what she has achieved so far.
A thing to remember is that during her participation in the Commonwealth Games, Coutts did not face her biggest rival and fellow Australian, Stephanie Rice. Rice won the gold medal in the 200m and 400m IM at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, but was unable
to make her way to Delhi, as she was having a shoulder surgery.
Rice has now recovered from her injury and is training very well. She is also taking part in the Sydney Championships to defend her title and to qualify for the World Championships in Shanghai.
Coutts accepts that she is struggling through a lot of mental pressure with the presence of her rival Rice, as she is likely to face her in the events of the 100m butterfly and 200m IM.
Australian head coach, Leigh Nugent, said that Rice has the potential to regain her titles after two bad years while Coutts can gather her strength from her successive last year. The battle is sure to be an interesting one, as two of the best swimmers will
try to oust each other in the event.
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