Aussies finish in a short course flurry with 10 medals

 

Swimming Australia, Dember 8, 2014: The Australian Swim Team has finished its campaign at the 12^th Fina World Short Course Championships in Doha overnight with a medal flurry – winning three silvers and a bronze, on the final day, taking their overall total to ten.

The small but select team of 20 swimmers, finished with one gold, five silver and four bronze medals.

Australia’s most successful all-round swimmer of the meet Emily Seebohm added two more silver medals in the 50 metres backstroke and the 4x100m medley relay in the uncharacteristic butterfly leg.

 

She leaves Doha for a holiday in Dubai with four silver medals and one bronze before returning home to Brisbane next week.

 

Seebohm added her fourth medal and her third silver in the 50m backstroke, clockinganother new Commonwealth and Australian record time of 25.83.

 

She re-wrote the Commonwealth and Australian records in all three backstroke finals.

 

It was a fitting finale with a stirring silver medal to the women's medley relay of Madi Wilson, Sally Foster, Seebohm and Bronte Campbell to finish second to a classy Denmark outfit.In a makeshift team, Seebohm, who has swum backstroke in so many of Australia's Olympic, World and Commonwealth Games successes lined up in the butterfly leg, with Australia's second ranked backstroker Wilson giving Australia a great start.

 

Campbell chimed in for her first medal of the week, a well deserved silver in a star-studded 50 metres freestyle final, clocking a personal best of 23.62 – just a touch outside sister Cate’s Australian record of 23.47 - in a final won by Olympic gold medallist from The Netherlands Ranomi Kromowidjojo.

 

Earlier newly crowned 100m backstroke world champion Larkin won his second medal, this time a bronze in 200m backstroke in 1:48.35.

 

Larkin added his name to a who’s who of Australian Swimmers who have won World Short Course titles since the first Championships in Majorca in 1993.

 

Male swimmers that include the likes Ian Thorpe, Grant Hackett, Daniel Kowalski, Geoff Huegill and Matt Welsh have all won world short course gold.

 

“Matt Welsh is someone I’ve looked up to since I was a young kid and to be put in the same sentence as him is pretty cool,” said Larkin.

 

“I didn’t think I would be going home as a world champion that’s for sure and I knew I had to try and match the times from the Australian Trials and I did enough to get away with the gold so I couldn’t be happier.”

 

Campbell said she couldn’t be happier either with her brace of silver medals.

 

“I was really pleased with this whole entire week. Short Course swimming is not really my thing, I’m not very good at it, people beat me off the walls but to win my first individual world championship medal was great and in a top class field.”

 

Australian head coach Jacco Verhaeren was satisfied with the team’s overall performance, both in and out of the water.

 

“The team did very well; it’s very exciting, with a good team culture, great atmosphere and it’s important for us to perform well at these championships,” said Verhaeren.

 

“It’s been five days of very fast racing and over 20 world records and that means tough competition and we handled it well and with a mixture of youth and experience in a pretty young team, for us it was a very positive outcome.

 

“In particular Mitch Larkin’s gold medal is special for Swimming Australia and for Mitch himself because he shows great level and continuous improvement.

 

“It’s impressive what he did during the Commonwealth Games and the Pan Pacs and now to become a world champion short course is very special indeed. It’s really exciting for him.

 

“We all know Emily Seebohm is world class and to win that many medals is amazing.

 

“To win Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacs and then to back up here and win these medals is very impressive and for her to improve her times.

 

“Bronte Campbell achieved great personal best times and that’s what I believe you come for.  You qualify at the Trials and you step up at the major meet.

 

“To see her so aggressive and moving forward the future is very bright.”

 

Meanwhile the men's 100m freestyle saw Aussie boys Tommaso D'Orsogna (46.13) miss bronze by 0.04 to finish fourth with team mate Cameron McEvoy (46.66) sixth in a red-hot final won by Olympic champion from Brazil Cesar Cielo from Frenchman Lorent Manaudou and Russian Izotov Danila third.In other events Grant Irvine was a disappointed eighth in the 200m butterfly final in 1:52.69 while Jordan Harrison finished sixth in the 1500m freestyle in 14:33.10.

 

The men's 4x100m medley relay team of Larkin, Jake Packard, D'Orsogna and McEvoy also gave Australia a great shot, finishing sixth, with Brazil winning the gold.

 

AUSTRALIA’S MEDALLISTS

 

2014 World Short Course Swimming Championships, Doha (December 4-8)

 

GOLD (1)

Mitch Larkin: 100m backstroke (49.57)

 

SILVER (5) 

Emily Seebohm: 50m backstroke (25.83, Commonwealth, Australian record); 100m backstroke (55.31, Commonwealth, Australian record); 200m backstroke ( 2:00.13, Commonwealth, Australian record)

Bronte Campbell: 50m butterfly (23.62)

4x100m medley relay (Madi Wilson, Sally Hunter, Emily Seebohm, Bronte Campbell) 3:50.31

 

BRONZE (4)

4x200m freestyle relay (Madi Wilson, Leah Neale, Brianna Throssell, Kylie Palmer) 7:38.59

Emily Seebohm: 100m Individual Medley (58.19)

Tommaso D’Orsogna: 100m butterfly (49.60)

Mitch Larkin: 200m backstroke (1:48.35)

 

Issued on behalf of Swimming Australia by
Ian Hanson| Media Manager 2014 Australian Swim Team, World Short Course Championships, Doha

Deputy Media Manager 2016 Australian Olympic Team, Rio
Media Manager, Surf Sports, SLSA
Media Manager Triathlon Australia
Media Manager 2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships
Media Manager, 2014 Australian Commonwealth Games Team