Sullivan Shaves 0.03sec Off For 47.52 100 Free
2008-03-26
Craig Lord
The sprint final was not just about the winner but about the progress being made behind him

Eamon Sullivan shaved 0.03sec off his Commonwealth record to secure a place in the 100m freestyle Battle of Beijing with Alain Bernard (FRA), who held on to his new world record of 47.50 by just 0.02sec.

The Australian champion's 47.52 effort came off a 22.59 split. He came home in 24.93. Second went to Matthew Targett, 22, on 48.36, with Andrew Lauterstein third in 48.57, after a semi of 48.45. And in fourth, years after his previous best time, Ashley Callus, 29, clocked a lifetime best of 48.68. Reserves for the 4x100m free team will include Patrick Murphy, 49.27 and Kirk Palmer, 49.44.

All medal winners in Sydney have now raced inside Ian Thorpe at his best, Sullivan racing in a different pool reserved for a new class of sprinter who can get out in the 22.5 zone, as Bernard did, but come back like Thorpe, Hoogenband and others whose times in the 200m and 400m would not be possible for the likes of Bernard and Sullivan. Something has shifted in the world of sprinting.

Take the following comparisons:


Athens 2004 podium:
Van den Hoogenband: 48.17 - 23.27; 24.90
Schoeman: 48.23 - 22.60; 25.63
Thorpe: 48.56 - 23.57; 24.99
Popov's best championship race, 2003 - 48.42 - 23.05; 25.37
Spring 2008:
Bernard: 47.50 - 22.53; 24.97
Sullivan: 47.52 - 22.59; 24.93

And here's how the shift manifests itself beyond the podium contenders in Australia, where four men had raced below 49sec by end 2007 and where seven men had raced below 49sec by March 2008, with one had half a second inside 48sec:


ALL-TIME AUSTRALIAN TOP 10 END 2007:
48.18 Klim 2000
48.47 Sullivan 2007
48.56 Thorpe 2004
48.85 Fydler 2000
49.06 Lauterstein 2007
49.07 Callus 2003
49.27 Targett 2007
49.34 Monk 2007
49.48 Pearson 2003
49.72 Mewing 2005
ALL-TIME AUSTRALIAN TOP 10 MARCH 2008:
47.52 Sullivan
48.18 Klim
48.36 Targett
48.45 Lauterstein
48.56 Thorpe
48.68 Callus
48.85 Fydler
49.19 Brodie
49.27 Murphy
49.34 Monk