Poort seals selection in sprint finish

Swimming Australia
Published: Feb 10, 2013 04:07:25 PM Updated: Mar 19, 2013 09:24:30 AM

The final day of the Australian Open Water Championships on Lake Macquarie saw three more swimmers reach qualifying standards for the 2013 FINA World Championships in July this year including 18-year-old Jarrod Poort.

After recording a B qualifying time to gain late selection onto the Australian Olympic Team last year, Poort proved he can make the cut after finishing first in the open men’s 5km race this morning and sealing his selection for Barcelona.

As the first event of the day came to a close, the lead pack of the men’s open 5km race put on a spectacle for the excited early risers on the shoreline.

As the competitors approached the final buoy, eight swimmers turned together and stormed towards the finish gate.

With less than 50m to go there was still no clear leader and the swimmers were desperately scrambling for prime position to get the best touch.

Eventually,Poort (56:48.96) made his move hitting the finish gate solidly to edge out yesterday’s 10km Champion Rhys Mainstone (56:49.81) by 0.85 of a second to narrowly take the title.

The race was anyone’s for the taking with the top eight finishers all recording times within five seconds of each other.

After settling for bronze in the 10km race yesterday, Poort proved too strong in the shorter distance today, with the 1500m freestyle Olympic representative using his back-end speed to his advantage.

“I guess I was able to draw on that little bit of speed I have from my pool swimming to help with the sprint at the end and helped me win the 5km!

“Because no one had broken away I spent the last lap planning, getting in to a good position, I stuck to Rhys [Mainstone] and Sam [Sheppard] was there too, and we just turned it on at the end,” Poort said.

Poort said he was thrilled with his open water success but he is still eager to continue his pool swimming.

“I’ll definitely be doing the 1500 as well because it works so well with the 5km and 10km events and I think my performance today has proven that I can do both,” Poort said.

Coming in just 0.07 of a second behind Mainstone and picking up the bronze medal, was 22-year-old Sam Sheppard (56:49.88) from Surrey Park in Victoria.

In the women’s open 5km event, 17-year-old Bonnie Macdonald (59:31.58), along with Danielle De Francesco (59:37.82) and Leah Cutting (1:00.34.17), broke away early from the main pack to hold the lead for the majority of the race.

As they turned into the final lap Macdonald got the better of her older rival De Francesco, with the 17-year-old breaking away on the home stretch to take the title while Cutting held on for third.

In the men’s Multi Class open 5km race Paralympian Brenden Hall was too strong for the rest of the field, finishing first in an impressive time of 1:01.19.90.

Second place went to Rowan Crothers who touched in 1:09:22.68 with Cameron Schefman taking third in 1:09:28.42.

Hall said he was happy with the swim and was looking forward to his good form continuing into the EnergyAustralia Swimming Championships beginning in April.

“I wanted to stick to the lead pack for as long as possible and then when they broke away, I just stuck to my pace and hoped for the best…I’ll definitely be going to trials later this year to try and earn my spot on the World’s team,” Hall said.

Paralympian Kayla Clarke (1:11:00.71) won the women’s Multi Class open 5km event with fellow Yeronga Park teammate Rakiya Thomas (1:20:50.32) picking up the silver.

For a full list of results go to swimming.org.au

Age group results:

Boy’s 17/18 years 5km

1 Oscar Breakwell, 18, Yeronga Park QLD 59:50.10

2 (Visitor) Harry Smith, 17, TSS Aquatics QLD 59:50.20

2 Chris Deegan, 17, Burnside SA 59:52.72

3 Sam Warrick, 17, Surrey Park VIC 59:58.99

Boy’s 16 years 5km

1 Lachlan Colquhoun, 16, Unattached

2 Thomas Wood, 16, Surrey Park VIC

3 Ollie Signorini, 16, Sea Eagles NSW 1:00.10.86

Girl’s 17/18 years 5km