SWIMMING: Already a gold medallist and world champion at this meet, Christian Sprenger has won Australia’s sixth medal in Barcelona.
SWIMMING: Already a gold medallist and world champion at this meet, Christian Sprenger has won Australia’s sixth medal of the 2013 FINA World Championships taking silver in the men’s 50m breaststroke on night four of finals action at Palau Sant Jordi.
Missing out on gold by just 0.01 of a second to South Africa’s Cameron Van Der Burgh, Sprenger finished in 26.78 to win Australia’s fifth silver medal in Barcelona, and further establish himself as one of the best breaststroke swimmers in the world.
“It was close. Coming into tonight I felt pretty good. I knew I was feeling good in the warm-up, I still struggled on that start a bit, they were sort of getting ahead and I had to work to catch up a bit,” said Sprenger.
“It was a great time and I had great speed, and now I’m really looking forward to the relay (on Sunday). To get another medal at this level in the 50 especially, I’m really happy with that.”
Sprenger’s rivalry with Van Der Burgh continues to build, with the duo next scheduled to race each other at the 2014 BHP Billiton Aquatic Super Series in Perth in January.
“For a non-Olympic event, it’s very competitive this 50, and just to make the semi-finals and finals you have to post good times. I think just to get in that final I knew I had a shot at getting a medal and I was going to be happy with bronze.”
“I really can’t escape him (Van Der Burgh), we’re likely to race against each other in Perth, at the Commonwealth Games and the Pan Pacs, and it’s always good to test yourself against the best and he is the Olympic champion.”
Gold Coast teenager Jordan Harrison finished fifth in his second final of the meet, swimming an impressive 800m freestyle to hit the wall in 7:47.38. Dropping five seconds from the personal best time he swam in the heat to make the final, Harrison will now focus on the 1500m freestyle starting on Saturday.
A silver medallist in Shanghai two years ago, Queenslander Kylie Palmer fought til the end to finish sixth in the final of the women’s 200m freestyle in a time of 1:57.14. Palmer will now spearhead Australia’s 4x200m freestyle relay team which kicks off their campaign tomorrow morning.
World champion and Olympic silver medallist James Magnussen qualified fourth for the final of the men’s 100m freestyle with teammate Cameron McEvoy also progressing to the deciding swim in the men’s blue riband event.
Swimming another controlled and composed race, Magnussen went out in 23.32 to finish with a time of 48.20, a quarter of a second behind Olympic champion Nathan Adrian from the USA, who was the fastest through in 47.95.
“That was all right, I saw the first semi and it wasn’t very fast so I thought I’d just try and go out a bit easier in the first 50 and I felt like it was reasonably controlled and it felt pretty good, said Magnussen.
“I just really want to control my own race tomorrow night and I’m looking forward to racing on the big stage again in the 100m final.”
McEvoy qualified seventh in 48.43 and said he’s looking forward to another final swim, having competed in the 200m freestyle final last night where he finished seventh.
“I always used to watch the 100, 200 and 400m freestyle as a kid growing up and to be here at the world championships swimming in finals of these events is just awesome. I now get a bit more time to recover, and don’t have to swim tomorrow morning so I’m looking forward to the rest and just seeing what I can do tomorrow night.”
Daniel Tranter will swim in his first international final in the men’s 200m IM after qualifying seventh in a time of 1:58.10. Fellow NSWIS swimmer Kenneth To finished 13th overall in 1:59.54.
In the women’s 50m backstroke semi –finals Emily Seebohm finished 12th in 28.29 and will now switch her attention towards swimming the backstroke leg of the women’s medley relay on the last day.
2013 FINA World Championships – Australian Swim Team - Medallists
Gold – Christian Sprenger – 100m Breaststroke
Silver – Cate Campbell, Bronte Campbell, Emma McKeon, Alicia Coutts – 4x100m Freestyle Relay
Silver – Alicia Coutts – 100m Butterfly
Silver – Alicia Coutts – 200m Individual Medley
Silver – Emily Seebohm – 100m Backstroke
Silver – Christian Sprenger – 50m Breaststroke (non-Olympic event)
Swimming Australia
