Aussie 4x200m Quartets On The Move
2008-03-24
Craig Lord
Australian Olympic trials: Grant Hackett at the helm of seven men between 1:47.03 and 1:47.70; Rice fastest through to 200m final in 1:57.31

The Aussie 4x200m quartets, men and women, are on the move. The final of the 200m freestyle for men at the Australian Olympic trials in Sydney went to Grant Hackett, in 1:47.03. And then look at what follows: six men inside 1:48. How's that for a blanket finish.

Kenrick Monk gets the second Olympic berth in 1:47.10, followed by: Nicholas Sprenger, 1:47.17; Leith Brodie, 1:47.47; the unfortunate Patrick Murphy, who clocked 1:46.67 in the semi but dropped off to a 1:47.50 in the final; Grant Brits, 1:47.56; Nicholas Ffrost, 1:47.70; and then Andrew Mewing, 1:48.13.

And the women are building into a sub 7:50 fight force, with Stephanie Rice, the new 400m medley world record holder leading the way through to the final of the solo 200m with a 1:57.31 blast in the semi-finals.

The medley ace's time is no great surprise: she came home faster than Hoff on the freestyle leg of that world-record swim, and two years ago clocked a best of 1:59.53 before stepping away a touch from that last year, on 1:59.99.

Second through to the final was Bronte Barratt on 1:57.66, ahead of Linda MacKenzie, on 1:58.18, and Melanie Schlanger, on 1:58.24. Take half a second off each of those efforts and you have a sub 7:50. The potential is there.