Swimmers stun crowd by daunting preliminary rounds: Day one – NSW State Open Championships – Part 2
The intensity of the event, New South Wales (NSW) State Open Championships continued to magnify as the events passed and the crowd enjoyed the scintillating efforts of all participants in their respective disciplines.
After the 200m butterfly, the crowd was thrilled with the splendid performance of New Zealand’s Glenn Snyders in Men’s 50m breaststroke, where he improved the NSW mark of 28.23 seconds by clocking 27.68 seconds.
He remained significantly ahead of his following swimmers, Max Ireland and Luke Westgaard, who completed their single-lap breaststroke swim in a time of 28.54 and 28.81 seconds respectively.
The 24-year-old Snyder, who is the national record holder of the event and represented his country at various international levels, has earned crowd’s respect by upsetting his challengers with a considerable distance. His vast experience of international meets and thrashing performance in the qualifying round guarantees his top finish in the breaststroke playoff.
Next was the Men’s 50m backstroke, where Daniel Arnamnart proved his mettle by occupying top position of the event with an effort of 25.30 seconds. He stayed marginally ahead of Joshua Beaver and Gareth Kean, who followed him on the concluding wall and clocked 25.63 and 25.75 seconds, respectively.
Unlike any other event, where top finishers remained prominently away, the arena will see a very close combat between Arnamnart and Beaver for gold medal. Nevertheless, the 22-year-old Arnamnart would have a psychological edge over his challenger as he ended first in the qualification rounds.
In the meantime, Olympic gold medallist, Australia’s Melanie Schlanger dictated terms to her competitors in the Women’s 100m freestyle. The 25-year-old Melanie, who was part of the Australian 4*200m freestyle relay team that won gold at the Beijing Olympics, entered the final as fastest swimmer by clocking a time of 54.60 seconds.
She was trailed by three-time Olympic gold medallist, Libby Trickett and Merindah Dingjan, who earned second and third best qualification spots with timings of 54.87 and 54.96 seconds, respectively.
Both Schlanger and Trickett were part of the Australian 4*100m freestyle relay team that seized bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, therefore, a tough combat is expected in the final. Nevertheless, having greater international experience, Trickett is expected to surpass Schlanger in the final round.
After a while, the audience witnessed commendable efforts of Natasha Hind, Natalie Wiegersma and Stephanie Rice in the Women’s 400m IM. Rice, who just returned to competitive swimming after a shoulder surgery last December, went full throttle in the event but failed to sustain her pace in the final round.
Hind completed her swim in first place by producing 4 minutes and 48.57 seconds. She was chased by Wiegersma and Rice, who hit the wall with an effort of 4:49.26 and 4:49.93 minutes, respectively.
Hind’s prominent lead over her fellow swimmers depicts her victory in the final round, but it would not be wise to underestimate triple Olympic champion, Rice, who would try harder to defend the title of her pet event.
Finally, Belinda Hocking excelled in the Women’s 200m backstroke as she ended her race in a time of 2 minutes and 10.82 seconds. She suppressed efforts of her following swimmers, Meagen Nay and Melissa Ingram, who appeared second and third fastest with timings of 2:11.17 and 2:12.67 minutes, respectively.
Hocking is the silver medallist of 200m discipline at the 2011 world titles and there is no way that she could be beaten in her main event. She is unquestionably, the top most contender for gold medal of the event. Furthermore, the crowd is eager to see how their beloved swimmers perform in today’s second session.
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