Jones On A Jet To China With 1:05.75
2008-03-24
Craig Lord
The world record holder will take to her blocks in Beijing in the 100m breaststroke after keeping the pack at bay and securing her place on the Aussie team at trials in Sydney

By her standards, Leisel Jones was sluggish in the semi-final of the 100m breaststroke at Australian trials in Sydney but in the final she put doubt behind her with a 1:05.75 victory that kept Tarnee White at bay by 0.71sec.

White, who clocked a best of 1:06.04 in the semi-final, lost the battle down the first lap, Jones turning in a blistering 30.93 (faster than any swimmer has raced in the individual 50m here in Eindhoven at the European Championships so far).

White's 1:06.46 was comfortably ahead of the pack, Sara Katsoulis taking bronze in 1:07.58 with Jade Edminstone seemingly affected by nerves, a 1:07.10 semi converting to a 1:08.09 in the final.


Jones now has the top six fastest times ever and eight of the top 10:
1:05.09 (2006)
1:05.60 (2006)
1:05.71 (2006)
1:05.72 (2007)
1:05.75 (2008)
1:05.79 (2006)
7th: 1:06.04 White (AUS)
10th: 1:06.20 Hardy (USA)

The semis of the 200m butterfly saw Nick D'Arcy take down the Australian record in 1:56.16, ahead of Travis Nederpelt, on 1:57.71. D'Arcy's time shaved 0.01sec off the standard that had stood to Justin Norris since he won the Olympic bronze medal at Sydney 2000.

The semis of the 200m medley saw Alicia Coutts step forward to be counted, with a 2:13.98 effort, ahead of 2:14.10 for Stephanie Rice and 2:14.41 for Shayne Reese.