Australian team unites to take top spot at BHP Billiton Aquatic Super Series

Swimming Australia
Published: Jan 20, 2013 02:40:17 AM

Night two of the $500,000 BHP Billiton Aquatic Super Series at Challenge Stadium in Perth has seen Australia’s Olympic stars Christian Sprenger and Cate Campbell put in the highlight performances for the second day in a row.

On a night when the EnergyAustralia Swim Team sealed the overall points tally with a powerful and united team performance, Sprenger and Campbell – who both train under Simon Cusack at Indooroopilly in Brisbane – stood above the pack that included plenty of Olympic and world champions.

Sprenger won the male swimmer of the meet title – and with it $15,000 - for his night one 100m breaststroke swim (942 FINA points), while Campbell (921) also won the big cash and was crowned best female after her 100m freestyle yesterday. The FINA point score, a tool used to compare times across all disciplines, was used to decide the best performances across the individual events.

Sprenger, who proved his strength at the meet by posting the three highest men’s FINA scores (only a swimmer’s best performance counts), beat out James Magnussen (911 for 100m freestyle) and South Africa’s Giulio Zorzi (889/50m breaststroke).

Campbell edged out China’s dual Olympic champion Ye Shiwen (920 in both 200 and 400m individual medley) and teammate Emily Seebohm (919/100m backstroke), who won $10,000 and $5,000 respectively.

In the overall point score, Australia amassed 363 points to beat China’s 272 and South Africa 156.

The whole meet was an outstanding success and Campbell, who won the 50 and 100m freestyle double over the two days of racing, said she loved racing in the sunny open air conditions, with the supportive crowd on hand.

“It seems that I love racing outdoors, I’ve done some of my best racing outdoors,” Campbell enthused.

“Both overseas in America and in Rome were my two best meets speed wise. It must be all the vitamin D.

“This is the most fun I’ve had at a swim meet for a long, long time. It’s about getting out supporting the team.”

Campbell had led the FINA point score - and the race to the $15,000, since early on day one of the meet but said she tried not to think about it.

“To be quite honest that’s just been the last thing on my mind,” she said.

“I’d be more than happy to race for nothing and was just excited to come out here and have a good blow out.”

Sprenger, who truly was the star of the meet, preferred to talk about the Australian team’s success.

“This whole experience, this whole meet has been incredible, coming together as a team has been amazing,” Sprenger said.

“A big thank you to BHP Billiton and the WA Government for putting it on, it’s been a really great experience.” 

The BHP Billiton Aquatic Super Series resumes tomorrow morning with the elite and mass participation Open Water swimming events in the iconic Swan River.

In other events…

Mixed 8 x 50m freestyle relay

Australia had middle distance freestyle specialist Thomas Fraser-Holmes swimming an inspired anchor leg in the men’s 8x50m freestyle relay. With the Aussies managing to hold off China in a thrilling finish, hitting the wall in 3:11.28, just 0.16 ahead of China, with South Africa third in 3:17.08.

Women’s 50m freestyle

Sisters Cate Campbell and Bronte Campbell, semi-finalists at last year’s Olympic Games, scored a family quinella with the elder Cate clocking 24.46 to Bronte’s 25.11.

South African Trudi Maree won her second medal of the meet, grabbing bronze in 25.50.

Men’s 50m freestyle

Matt Targett and James Magnussen, winners of the 50m butterfly and 100m freestyle respectively on the first night of action, snared Australia’s second consecutive 1-2 finish.

Targett, a triple Olympic relay medallist, clocked 22.00 to Magnussen’s 22.21. China’s Lu Zhiwu was third in 22.59.

Women’s 200m breaststroke

Last night’s 100m breaststroke victor, Australian team veteran Sarah Katsoulis, made it a winning double by storming over the top of team mate Sally Foster to win in 2:26.52.

Olympic finalist Foster, swimming internationally at a long course meet for the first time under the tutelage of new coach Peter Bishop, clocked 2:26.85, with China’s He Yun next in 2:33.45.

Men’s 200m breaststroke

Australians Christian Sprenger and Brenton Rickard are both at the stages of their swimming careers where they had declared the 200m breaststroke a bridge too far but the experienced pair dug deep for the Australian cause and snared another Aussie quinella in an event they no longer admit to swimming.

Sprenger won in a convincing 2:11.27, to Rickard’s 2:14.30 and Yunkun Huang’s 2:17.64.

Women’s 100m butterfly

China’s 2012 Olympic 100m butterfly silver medallist Ying Lu led from start to finish to just hold off Australia’s bronze medallist from London, Alicia Coutts (58.66).

The five-time Olympic medallist charged at Ying (58.57) late but couldn’t quite overturn the Olympic result. Exciting South African 17-year-old Marne Erasmus was third in 1:00.23.

Men’s 100m butterfly

Australian Olympians Chris Wright (52.69) and Jayden Hadler (52.77) capitalised on the absence of world number two South African Chad le Clos. W right took the race out hard, leading his younger teammate Hadler by 0.18 at the turn before hanging on over the last few metres. Chen Yin of China was well back in third in 54.17.

Women’s 4x100m freestyle relay

Australia’s only swimming gold medallists from the London Olympics - Cate Campbell (53.65), Brittany Elmslie (55.08) and Melanie Schlanger (54.67)

– with Bronte Campbell (55.85) crushed the field to win the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay in 3:39.05.

China, who were fourth in London, were second to the finish some eight seconds back but were disqualified, elevating South Africa (3:49.75) into the silver medal position.

Men’s 4x100m freestyle relay

The Australian men’s relay team of James Roberts (50.06), Matt Targett (49.08), Kenrick Monk (50.81) and James Magnussen (48.38) easily accounted for China clocked 3:22.02 and South Africa 3:25.41.

For Monk it was his fourth relay gold medal of the meet, showing him to be the ultimate team man.

Women’s and men’s mixed 800m freestyle

Only one swimmer from each nation contested the male and female 800m freestyle that was swum as a mixed heat. The times of each national combination were then added together to score points for the overall tally to decide the champion country.

China’s Yiwen Shao claimed the women’s half of the event in 8:34.45, from Australian backstroker Meagan Nay, who was swimming the uncustomary event to help her team fill a gap and win valuable points.

Nay clocked 8:45.24, with South African Michelle Weber, 16, third in 8:49.98.

Rising South African star Myles Brown, who trains under Chad le Clos’ coach Graham Hill in Durban, scored his country’s first win of the meet.

Brown (7:59.12) made his move at the 500m mark and then held off the advances of Australia’s Olympic 400m finalist Ryan Napoleon (7:59.58) to win a thriller. The pair finished well ahead of China’s Jun Dai (8:14.46).

Overall, Australia won the gold from China and South Africa.

Women’s 50m breaststroke

London Olympic debutant Leiston Pickett stormed to the wall in the women’s 50m breaststroke, touching in 31.07 to just hold off teammate Sarah Katsoulis (31.26) from snaring a breaststroke treble.

China’s Olympic 100m semi-finalist Jin Zhao finished next in 32.29.

Men’s 50m breaststroke

Christian Sprenger continued his stunning form and ensured a breaststroke treble with a win in a slick 27.37.

The Australian, who won silver in the 100m breaststroke at the London Olympics, held off plucky South African Giulio Zorzi (27.73), with Aussie Brenton Rickard finishing back in 28.05.

Women’s 100m backstroke

Australia’s Emily Seebohm, silver medallist at the London Olympics in this event, was outstanding in clocking a swift 59.77 to easily account for China’s Fu Yuanhui, a surprise winner of last night’s 50m backstroke.

Fu hit the wall in 1:00.50 to just edge out Aussie Olympic finalist Belinda Hocking (1:00.87).

Men’s 100m backstroke

China’s Olympic finalist Cheng Feiyi (54.42) won gold from Australians Daniel Arnamnart (54.70) and Ash Delaney (55.11).

Cheng led South African Charl Crous at the turn and held on despite the strong second laps from the Australian duo.

Women’s 200m freestyle

London Olympic 200m freestyle bronze medallist Bronte Barratt showed her undoubted class to dismantle the claims of 18-year-old teammate Brittany Elmslie and China’s Guo Jun Jun.

Barratt took the lead not long after the first turn and slowly but surely put distance into the field to win in 1:58.12 from Elmslie’s 1:58.72 and Guo’s 1:59.59.

Men’s 200m freestyle

Olympic finalist for Australia, Thomas Fraser-Holmes has declared he will focus on middle distance freestyle rather than spreading his energies across freestyle and medley events this year and that looks to have paid off after he easily won the 200m freestyle in 1:46.62.

Fraser-Holmes beat teammate David McKeon (1:48.50) and 17-year-old Chinese talent Hao Yun (1:50.00).

Women’s 400m individual medley

Predictably, China’s Olympic champion and world record holder Ye Shiwen won her pet event; the 400m individual medley, stopping the clock in 4:37.04 to win by more than seven seconds ahead of Australian Samantha Hamill (4:42.73).

Aussie Olympic golden girl Alicia Coutts, swimming the event for the first time since 2006, was third in 4:44.90.

Men’s 400m individual medley

Wang Shun (China) proved too strong for Australians Mitch Larkin (4:19.98) and Olympic 200m medley semi-finalist Daniel Tranter (4:23.53) in the men’s 400m individual medley.

Wang, 18, who was 23^rd in the 200m individual medley in London, clocked 4:17.85.

Women’s 4 x 100m medley relay

Belinda Hocking (1:00.77), Sarah Katsoulis (1:07.30), Emily Seebohm (59.62) and Melanie Schlanger (54.41) combined for a time of 4:02.10, to an apparent victory over China (4:11.02) and South Africa (4:13.80).

However, after officials conferred, both Australia and China were disqualified for – the Aussies a break in the breaststroke to butterfly changeover and China for a breach of the 15m mark in the backstroke leg.

Despite the false start in her leg, Seebohm, who swam the uncustomary butterfly position, showed her versatility and value to the team. She has now represented Australia in relays in three strokes.

Men’s 4 x 100m medley relay

In the meet’s final event, Daniel Arnamnart – 54.81, Christian Sprenger – 1:00.42, Chris Wright – 52.59 and James Magnussen – 48.54, ensured Australia finished the meet with a clean sweep of all eight relays at this competition.

They swam a time of 3:36.36 in beating China (3:41.39) and South Africa (3:42.37).