OLYMPIC MEDALLISTS RACE BACK INTO POOL

MELBOURNE, September 20: Olympic medallists Hayden Stoeckel and Christian Sprenger have returned to competition for the first time since their heroics in Beijing on the opening morning of heats at the Telstra Australian Short Course Championships at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre.

Swimming in the 100 metres backstroke, Stoeckel  (Norwood, SA), who won silver in the 4x100m medley relay and bronze in the 100m backstroke at the recent Olympic Games, clocked 53.12 to qualify second behind Robert Hurley (Wests Illawarra Aquatic, NSW) who won the final heat in 52.64. Hurley was eighth in the same event at this year's FINA World Short Course Championships in Manchester.

Stoeckel found the going tough over the last part of the race, tiring following his short post Olympic break.

"That was okay but I was really feeling it in the legs over the last 15 metres," the big South Australian said.

"I haven't done a whole lot of training over the last three weeks but I have stayed in touch with the water and hopefully I'll go better tonight."

Sprenger (Commercial, QLD), a silver medallist in Beijing after swimming the heats of the medley relay, went one better than Stoeckel by qualifying fastest in the men's 100m breaststroke in 1:01.01, ahead of Craig Calder (Albury, NSW) in 1:01.53.

Both Stoeckel and Sprenger will swim semi-finals tonight before contesting other events later in the five-day meet.

Stoeckel and Sprenger, along with dual bronze medallist from Beijing, Cate Campbell (Indooroopilly, QLD), are the only members of Australia's 2008 Olympic team swimming at the meet.

The first medals of the Championships were won when Michael Hardy (Bankstown Sports, NSW) clocked 7:55.40 in the men's 800m freestyle to defeat Trent Grimsey (Albany Creek, QLD) (7:55.74) and Cameron Smith (8:04.57) (St Peters Western, QLD).

Hardy, who won bronze at last year's short course championships behind Grant Hackett and Smith, didn't take the lead until the turn with 50m to go.

In other action:

Ryan Napoleon, 18 and a member of Michael Bohl's St Peters Western squad that includes triple Olympic gold medallists Stephanie Rice, was the fastest qualifier in the men's 200m freestyle in 1:45.48. Hurley qualified second in 1:46.19, ahead of Kyle Richardson (Commercial, QLD) in 1:46.71 and Daniel Smith (Pro-Ma Miami, QLD) in 1:46.74.

The race will provide the opportunity for another youngster to make a name for himself, a new Australian champion certain to be crowned with no former winners in this finals field. All eight men that swam in the bronze medal winning 4x200m freestyle or individual 200m freestyle at the Beijing Olympic Games are missing too.

Amy Smith (St Peters Western, QLD) continued her good recent short course form with a solid heat swim of 2:08.98 to top the list of finalists for the women's 200m butterfly. Norwood's Jackie Staples (2:11.39) was second quickest.

In the women's 400m individual medley heats Ellen Fullerton (Pro-Ma Miami, QLD) streeted her opposition, clocking 4:40.19. Fullerton was third in the same event at the Olympic Trials earlier this year before winning silver over the distance at the FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in Monterrey, Mexico. Anastasia Osadchuk (Brisbane Jets, QLD) was second fastest in 4:45.42.

Sarah Katsoulis (CA Tritons, VIC) was the fastest qualifier in the women's 50m breaststroke in 31.36; Bridgette-Rose Taylor (Brothers, QLD) earned top spot in the 100m backstroke with a time of 1:00.42; and Matt Jaukovic (Sydney University, NSW) was quickest in the men's 100m butterfly in 52.66. All three events will feature semi-finals tonight.

Grant Patterson (Central Cairns, QLD) and Chezz Mentesana (Southlake Dolphins, WA) were the top ranked qualifiers for the men's multi-disability 50m breaststroke final.

Places in multi-disability events are calculated on the percentage of the world record in the respective classifications for each individual's performance.

Joining in the action tomorrow will be 13 members of Australia's successful Paralympic swim team, led by five-time gold medallist Matt Cowdrey (Norwood, SA). The Paralympians will fly straight to Melbourne after their charter flight from Beijing arrives in Sydney today.

Tonight's finals session begins at 6.30 with tomorrow's heats due to start at 10am. Tickets can be purchased at the door and start at $3 for children / concession and $5 for adults.