Australian Championships - Day 4 Finals

Women's 100 LC Meter Butterfly Final

Stephanie Rice beat a high-class field to come away with victory in the 100 Fly. Rice used a strong final 50 to win in a world leading 57.71. Felicity Galvez was second in 58.20 with World Silver Medallist from Rome Jessicah Schipper finishing a surprising third in 58.41. All three women took the top three spots in this year's world rankings.

This victory shouldn't come as such a surprise given the 27.85 split Rice had in the Fly leg of the 200 IM final.

Men's 50 LC Meter Breaststroke Semi-Finals

Brenton Rickard continued his strong meet with yet another world leading time. His 28.02 clears the effort of Frenchman Hugues Dubosq set last weekend. Christian Sprenger is once again the man in pursuit of Rickard with a time of 28.28. Despite missing out on the final, 16-year-old Buster Sykes had a good showing in 11th with 29.39.

Women's 50 LC Meter Backstroke Semi-Finals

Emily Seebohm came within 0.02 seconds of breaking another textile best time in the 50m Back. The 17-year-old qualified fastest for the final in 28.11. China's Li Yang held the world record before non-textile swimsuits were introduced in February 2008 with a time of 28.09. Seebohm has already beaten the 100m mark and is on the verge of doing it again in the 50m tomorrow night. Grace Loh (28.67) and Belinda Hocking (28.71) qualified 2nd and 3rd fastest.


Men's 100 LC Meter Freestyle Final

Eamon Sullivan showed the rest of the world that he is still a force to be reckoned with in sprint freestyle. Sullivan turned on the burners in tonight's final winning in a time of 48.52. The time takes him to the top of the world rankings, a full 0.61 seconds clear of second ranked Cesar Cielo. Sullivan's time was set up with a blazing fast 23.02 first 50m and a solid 25.50 coming home. Tommaso D'Orsagna, 19, took second in 49.35 and James Magnussen, 18, took third in 49.43. Last year's representative in Rome Matthew Abood had to settle for seventh in 49.73. His chances of a relay spot will now have to rely on making the team in the 50m Free and forcing his way onto the team.

For some context on Sullivan's time, the textile best time was set by Pieter van den Hoogenband at 47.84. However, in 2006 Sullivan's time would have ranked him at the top of the world lists.


Women's 100 LC Meter Breaststroke Semi-Finals

Leisel Jones heads into another national final ranked fastest as she cruised through her semi-final in a time of 1:07.76. Samantha Marshall (1:07.85) and Sarah Katsoulis(1:08.22) qualified 2nd and 3rd fastest for tomorrow night.

At the NSW Champs where Jones set her world leading mark of 1:05.85 she went out in 31.11 before coming back in 34.74. Tonight Jones went out in 31.66 and came back in 36.10. Expect the second 50 to improve drastically tomorrow night in the final.



Men's 100 LC Meter Backstroke Semi-Finals

Hayden Stoeckel (54.09) and Ash Delaney (54.11) hold almost a second lead over the rest of the competition heading into tomorrow night's final. Delaney will be trying to spoil Stoeckel's attempt at a backstroke clean sweep after winning the 50 and 200 Back previously.


Women's 50 LC Meter Freestyle Semi-Finals

Cate Campbell made sure there were no mistakes in qualifying for the 50m Free final tonight taking top spot in a time of 25.13. Campbell was heavily tipped for the 100 Free crown but missed out on a final spot. Sally Foster, 24, was second in 25.21 with Yolane Kukla, 14, qualifying third in 25.26. Tomorrow's final promises to be an exciting race.

Men's 100 LC Meter Butterfly Semi-Finals

Nick D'Arcy continued his strong meet by taking top spot in the 100m Fly Semis. His time of 52.72 just missed Ryan Pini's world leading time of 52.66 set in the heats earlier in the day (Pini is ineligible to swim in semis/finals as he represents Papua New Guinea). Mitch Patterson (52.85) and Chris Wright (52.90) are second and third fastest respectively for the final with comeback king Geoff Huegill qualifying 4th in 52.94.

Men's 400 LC Meter IM Final

Thomas Fraser-Holmes, 18, took victory in a quick 400 IM final dominated by a new crop of Australian youngsters. Fraser-Holmes time of 4:16.81 missed Justin Norris' Aussie record by just 1.61 seconds and put him at the head of the world rankings this year. Second and third went to a pair of 16-year-olds with Jayden Hadler taking second in 4:20.79 and Mitch Larkin third in 4:21.54. With three world class distance Medley swimmers at 18 or under the future looks bright for Australia at this event.

Women's 800 LC Meter Freestyle Final

Katie Goldman, 17, announced herself to the rest of the swimming world with a superb 8:22.83 victory in the 800 Free. The time just missed Kylie Palmer's Australian record by 0.02 seconds. The time would have been good enough for 7th in the world in both of the last two years. Blair Evans took second in 8:25.74 and Kylie Palmer third in 8:29.57.

The Commonwealth Games should provide a stern test for the Australian contingent with a likely race with World Record holder and Olympic Champion Rebecca Adlington, World Champs Bronze medallist Joanne Jackson and new star of British Swimming Jaz Carlin.