Brenton Rickard wins Men’s 100m breaststroke semi-final – EnergyAustralia Swimming Championships
Brenton Rickard of Southport Olympic Swimming Club won the semi-final of Men’s 100m breaststroke on primary day of the 2012 EnergyAustralia Swimming Championships at the South Australia Aquatic and Leisure Centre in Adelaide on Thursday, March 15.
The 28-year-old Rickard, who finished second behind Christian Sprenger in the preliminary round of the discipline, geared up his efforts in the second round to qualify into the playoff as the top contender for gold medal.
Sprenger tried hard to prove his mettle in the semi-final, but he only succeeded in dominating the first lap of the race and failed to manage Rickard’s ruthless aggression in the final lap.
The 26-year-old Sprenger was the foremost swimmer to dive into the water. With his powerful strokes, he managed to dictate terms to his competitors in the initial half of the race, where he posted a time of 28.13 seconds.
His effort was chased by Rickard, who earned second best spot by ending his first lap with the timing of 28.16 seconds. Nikola Pregelj remained 0.82 seconds slower and transpired on the other end of the pool with the timing of 28.98 seconds.
In the meantime, Rickard went on a rampage in the second lap and outperformed his challengers by clinching top position of the discipline. He went full throttle in the final 50 metres of the race and surfaced on the finishing end for first position by submitting
a wonderful time of 1 minute and 00.36 seconds.
His fascinating effort remained only 0.20 seconds ahead of Indooroopilly’s Sprenger, who followed him on the finishing blockade for second position by reporting a time of 1 minute and 00.56 seconds.
He was chased by 20-year-old Pregelj, who suffered a deficit of 1.14 seconds from his preceding swimmer and settled on the finishing end for third position by producing a nice time of 1 minute and 01.70 seconds.
In addition, Rickard’s immaculate effort was comfortably under the Federation Internationale de Natation Amateur (FINA) A-Time Qualification standard of 1 minute and 00.79 seconds and he is now just one-step away from confirming his place in the Australian
team to the 2012 London Olympic Games,
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