Marieke Guehrer captures ten gold medals at the 2011 Australian University Games - Part 7
With the succession of seven gold medals in the earlier days of the championship, Marieke Guehrer was listed to take part in three events on the final day of the 2011 Australian University Games.
The event was being organised at the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre, while the crowd whole heartedly admired the stupendous efforts of their national swimmers in their respective events.
Guehrer was set to take part in the Women’s 100m freestyle, 4*50m freestyle relay and 4*50m medley relay on the closing day of the championship. Her astounding efforts in five individual events and two relay disciplines were stunning, as she dominated in
all of the respective meets.
The 25-year-old Guehrer looked quite fresh and energetic on the third day of the competition. She was entirely focused towards her first event of the session, 100m freestyle, where she earned sixth position in the preliminary rounds. Guehrer was slightly
slower than Mel Houghton, Jade Neilsen, Jessica Morrison Karina Leane and Ashleigh McCleery, who emerged as the top finishers in first round of the event.
Melbourne’s scholar confirmed her berth into the final by clocking a 1 minute and 00.43 seconds effort, while Houghton was the fastest swimmer of the event, who secured top qualification spot with a timing of 58.76 seconds.
Nevertheless, Guehrer, being a record holder in the event was the crowd’s favourite athlete to pocket the title, while her preceding swimmers stayed way behind her previous mark of 56.62 seconds. Guehrer posted this fabulous time while representing her University
in the 100m freestyle at the 2009 University Games.
At the start of the race, she was the first one to kick-off from the starting blocks. Her magnificent strokes and aggressive swim destroyed the hopes of all remaining finalists and she completed her double-lap freestyle event in just 56.87 seconds for gold
medal.
She was just 0.25 seconds slower from improving her own championship mark, but her irresistible effort in the freestyle discipline placed her on the victory stand for the event’s title.
She failed to produce a negative split in the event, but was 0.48 seconds ahead of her strongest challenger and team-member, Morrison. Unlike the remaining swimmers who remained considerably away, Morrison remained just a stroke away from the gold medallist
on the finishing end.
She put in her best effort to get over the overwhelmingly strong Guehrer, but the champion defended her freestyle title with great audacity. Guehrer’s fastest flutter kicks in the event played a crucial role in keeping her out of the reach of her competitors.
Finally, Morrison reached the podium for silver medal as she hit the wall in a strong time of 57.35 seconds. She was trailed by University of Sydney’s Houghton, who remained 0.89 seconds slower from overcoming the efforts of her former finisher. Houghton
appeared on the concluding wall with a timing of 58.24 seconds and stepped on the victory stand for bronze medal.
With the completion of the freestyle swim, Guehrer became the most evident swimmer for the title of best swimmer of the championship, as her gold winning tally was significantly more than other medal winners.
Continued in Part 8.
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