The Australian Short Course Championships began today with an attempt on the WR SC for the Men's 800m Freestyle Relay.
Two teams, Australia Gold and Australia Green were chosen by the Australian selectors.
The result for the Australia Gold team was:
| Michael Klim | 01:43.81 | 01:43.81 |
|---|---|---|
| Matthew Dunn | 03:30.34 | 01:46.53 |
| Todd Pearson | 05:15.40 | 01:45.06 |
| William Kirby | 07:01.60 | 01:46.20 |
The Australia Green team which finished second was led by Ray Hass, Steven Goudie second leg, Grant Mcgregor third leg and Zane King anchored.
The previous WR 7:02.74 was set at the World Short Course Championships at Goteborg, Sweden, 18 April 1997, by the Australian team of Michael Klim, Grant Hackett, William Kirby and Matthew Dunn.
Following the trial Klim was asked how the team had recovered from the 1999 Pan Pacific championships which finished just three days ago: "We're doing it from memory - muscle memory and what our muscles remember is to swim fast."
A large crowd witnessed the advertised attempt on the record; with the federation being given due notice of the request by the selectors, agreement was reached to start the meet with the record attempt.There was full coverage of the event by electronic and print media, ensuring the full house signs will be up and Australia wide coverage for the SC championships.
Buoyed up by their successes, particularly tieing the USA team for number of gold medals at the QANTAS 1999 Pan Pacs in Sydney, the scene has been set for some fast swimming in Canberra over these five days.