Australian swimmers shine at the 2012 EnergyAustralia Swimming Championships – Part 7
The Australian swimmers continued their scintillating form on sixth day of the championship, which was subject to conclude the Australian team to the 2012 London Olympic Games.
The sixth day of the event included 100m butterfly, 100m freestyle, 50m freestyle, 200m backstroke, 200m Individual Medley (IM), 200m breaststroke, 50m breaststroke, and 50m butterfly.
The first session of the event was Men’s 100m butterfly semi-final, where Christopher Wright devastated his opponents to qualify into the final as top contender for first position.
Wright faced fierce battle from the controversial Australian swimmer, Nick D’Arcy, who just recovered from his injuries. Wright remained prominently ahead of his challengers and clocked a time of 51.83 seconds to enter the final round.
His effort remained comfortably under the Federation Internationale de Natation Amateur’s (FINA) A-Time Qualification Standard of 52.36 seconds. He was followed by D’Arcy, who remained almost half body length away from his preceding swimmer and ended his
swim in a time of 52.21 seconds to qualify for the final as second best swimmer.
D’Arcy was followed by Matt Targett, who proved his eligibility for the third finest spot of the event by touching the wall in a time of 52.31 seconds.
Next was the Women’s 100m freestyle playoff, where Melanie Schlanger smothered her competitors by reaching the podium for gold medal. The 25-year-old Schlanger stayed prominently ahead of her challengers and hit the wall with the timing of 53.85 seconds.
Her effort remained 0.42 seconds under the Olympic A-Time Standard of 54.27 seconds. She remained almost two strokes ahead of Cate Campbell, who ended her swim in second place by posting a time of 54.01 seconds. Campbell was followed by Brittany Elmslie,
who proved her eligibility for third position by clocking a time of 54.08 seconds.
In the meantime, James Magnussen, who won gold medal of the 100m freestyle earlier at the championship, went full throttle in the Men’s 50m freestyle semi-final and clocked 21.87 seconds. Magnussen’s effort remained 0.24 seconds faster from the Olympic A-Time
Qualification Standard of 22.11 seconds while Magnussen remained just one-step away from clinching gold medal and confirming his place to London in the 50m event.
He was followed by his strongest challenger, Eamon Sullivan, who was just a touch behind him and qualified into the final round as second best swimmer with the timing of 21.88 seconds. Sullivan remained just a nail ahead of his subsequent rival, Matthew
Abood, who qualified into the playoff as third fastest swimmer by posting a time of 21.92 seconds.
Subsequently, Mitch Larkin stayed considerably faster from his challengers in the Men’s 200m backstroke final, where he clocked an effort of 1 minute and 57.90 seconds to capture gold medal of the event.
His effort remained 0.58 seconds below the Olympic A-Time Qualification Standard of 1 minute and 58.48 seconds. He was followed by Matson Lawson, who remained nearly three strokes behind his preceding swimmer and hit the finishing end with the timing of
1 minute and 58.32 seconds for silver medal of the discipline. With his second best finish in the event, Lawson also confirmed his place in the Australian squad to London.
The silver medallist was chased by Joshua Beaver, who stayed marginally slower from him and settled on the finishing wall as third position holder by submitting a time of 1 minute and 58.58 seconds.
To be continued in Part 8.
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