Travis Nederpelt wins Men’s 400m IM heats: Day one – 2012 EnergyAustralia Swimming Championships
City of Perth’s Travis Nederpelt won the top qualification spot of Men’s 400m Individual Medley (IM) on initial day of the 2012 EnergyAustralia Swimming Championships at the South Australia Aquatic and Leisure Centre in Adelaide on Thursday, March 15.
The Australian Championship acts as the Olympic trials for their national swimmers, who want to represent their nation at the 2012 London Olympic Games.
The 26-year-old Nederpelt dominated the opening swim of the eight-day event and upset his rivals. He experienced strong resistance from Thomas Fraser-Holmes of Miami in the first three rounds of the race but with his unrelenting efforts, he served notice
of his talent in the final lap and ended first.
With his unmatchable sprint in the opening round of the race, Fraser-Holmes remained the most fastest swimmer and completed his round with an effort of 57.41 seconds. He was followed by Nederpelt, who was 0.50 seconds slower and covered the same distance
with a timing of 57.91 seconds.
The same continued in second round, where 20-year-old Fraser-Holmes gained a lead of almost two body lengths from his strongest competitor and concluded his first half of the race in a time of 2 minutes and 03.13 seconds. With his immaculate effort, he stayed
almost five seconds ahead of Nederpelt, who clocked an effort of 2 minutes and 08.45 seconds.
Nederpelt elevated his efforts in the third lap but failed to surpass his strongest rival, Fraser-Holmes as he continued his ascendancy by posting a time of 3 minutes and 18.53 seconds. In contrast, Nederpelt stayed just 0.85 seconds behind and produced
a timing of 3 minutes and 19.38 seconds.
With his smothering efforts in the second half, Nederpelt stunned the aquatic crowd as he out-touched his challenger on the finishing end and earned the finest qualification spot with an effort of 4 minutes and 20.57 seconds.
Fraser-Holmes settled on the finishing end as second and reported 4 minutes and 20.73 seconds while Stephen Parkes of Sydney University ended third with the timing of 4 minutes and 22.62 seconds.
Furthermore, these participants will face each other in the 400m IM playoff in evening session.
Tags: