Evening session of the 2011 Telstra Australian Swimming Championship – Day one
Evening session on day one of the 2011 Telstra Australian Swimming Championship has concluded with the semi-finals of some events in the Men’s and Women’s category. The championship is important for the selection of the Australian team to compete at the
2011 World Championships in Shanghai, this July.
The first event of the session was the Women’s 100m butterfly, where Australia’s most dynamic swimmer, Alicia Coutts, conquered her way to the finals in a fastest time of 58.32 seconds. Coutts was only a touch away from her following swimmers, Jessicah Schipper
and Yolane Kukla, who reported in a time of 58.62 and 58.63 seconds, respectively.
The event saw the 2008 Beijing Olympics triple gold medallist, Stephanie Rice, appearing on the fourth spot in a well-improved time of 58.76 seconds. This is Rice’s first major meet after a shoulder surgery in 2010 and she has considerably improved her position
to the fourth spot, from the eighth place in the preliminary rounds of the 100m butterfly.
Next was the final of the Men’s 400m freestyle, where Ryan Napoleon secured the top spot on the podium with a FINA qualification time of 3:45.16 minutes. His time placed him comfortably ahead of Fraser Holmes and Robert Hurley, who reached the podium for
the second and third spot in a time of 3:46.54 and 3:49.66 minutes, respectively. Napoleon, with his tremendous victory in the event booked his spot to represent Australia at the world stage in Shanghai.
The Women’s 200m Individual Medley semi-final emerged as the hottest event of the championship, as it saw the top four Australian swimmers facing each other for the fastest qualification into the finals. Alicia Coutts once again touched the wall first in
a time of 2:13.35 minutes and was slightly ahead of Elle Fullerton, who touched the wall in a time of 2:13.66 minutes. Tessa Wallace and Stephanie Rice were tied at the third spot in 2:13.90 minutes.
In the Men’s 50m butterfly semi-final, Matt Targett dominated the event in a wonderful time of 23.34 seconds to defeat the former titleholder, Geoff Huegill, who finished second in a time of 23.63 seconds. Joseph Carty claimed the third spot on the podium
in a time of 23.76 seconds.
In the Men’s 100m breast-stroke semi-final, Chris Sprenger appeared as the fastest swimmer into the finals in a time of 1:00.67 minutes and was comfortably ahead of Brenton Rickard and Nikolas Pregelj, who touched the wall in 1:01.96 and 1:02.45 minutes,
respectively.
The championship will continue for eight days with the aim to finalise the Australian team to compete in the Shanghai Aquatic Centre, this July.
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