50m Breaststroke
1. Cameron Van Der Burgh - Hard to bet against the World Champion and World Record holder.
2. Brenton Rickard - Fastest in the Commonwealth this year. Having a great 2010.
3. Scott Dickens - Got the better of Rickard at Pan Pacs
Wildcard
Glenn Snyders - The top three look pretty set, but this is a 50m where anything can happen. Snyders won the B final at Pan Pacs in 27.83 and could sneak a medal.
100m Breaststroke
1. Brenton Rickard - Rickard was in superb early season form. If his taper has gone well I expect 59 low.
2. Christian Sprenger - Sprenger took silver at Pan Pacs in this event beating Rickard.
3. Cameron Van Der Burgh - Yet to hit top form this year, took bronze in Rome last year. Bronze here may be setting expectations too low.
Wildcard
Daniel Sliwinski - A long way off his 59.55 from last year in 2010. Sliwinski still looks the home nations' best hope in the 100m.
200m Breaststroke
1. Brenton Rickard - If Van Der Burgh is off form we might be looking at clean sweep of the Breaststroke events by Rickard. 2:08 looks on the cards.
2. Michael Jamieson - Looked superb at the GBR vs GER Duel in February. Best of 2:11.14 this year. This could be the meet that vaults him to the next level.
3. Christian Sprenger - Has struggled in the 200m this year after breaking the world record last year. If he is on top form he could win the event, however if he repeats his Pan Pacs performance of 2:15, he's in trouble.
Wildcards
Kris Gilchrist & Neil Versfeld - Both men were semi finalists at World's last year. Both men have swum 2:11s this year. Both men have medal chances.
Sprenger is a big wildcard for the 200. He says his focus is the 100, especially after Pan Pacs. At this point, I don't even see him as the second best Aussie. I could see Craig Calder slipping into the medals, before Sprenger for sure. I put down Rickard 1st, Jamieson 2nd, Versfeld 3rd.
ReplyDeleteSprenger is tough to figure out. 1:00 in the 100m and 2:15 in the 200m at Pan Pacs. If he gets it right though the guy could challenge Rickard.
ReplyDeleteKitajima leads the world on 2:08.36. I think Rickard will go close to that.
At Pan Pacs, Sprenger only made the B final in the 200 and as he was swimming the A final of the medley relay not long after it, he just cruised along for the 2.15. Definitely don't write him off in the 200. Rickard always talks himself up but he will struggle to beat Sprenger in both the 100 & 200.
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