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:
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: