BUSY GUEHRER RETURNS TO WINNERS CIRCLE

Melbourne, September 22: Marieke Guehrer, an Olympic teenager in Athens four years ago who had slipped into a swimming abyss in the years since, claimed two gold medals in the space of 30 minutes to highlight night three at the Telstra Australian Short Course Championships at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre.

Guehrer moved from Brisbane to Melbourne and the astute coaching of Ian Pope a little over 12 months ago and that decision proved a master stroke tonight when she took out both the 100m freestyle and 50m butterfly in impressive times.

Fellow Olympians Frances Adcock (Norwood, SA), Christian Sprenger (Commercial, QLD) also won finals, as did Robert Hurley (Wests Illawarra Aquatic), Blair Evans (City of Perth, WA), Ellen Fullerton (Pro-Ma Miami, QLD), Tom Miller (Cranbrook Eastern Edge, NSW) and Chris Wright (Commercial, QLD).   

In the other major highlight, Matt Jaukovic (Sydney University, NSW) edged closer to the 50m butterfly world and Commonwealth records with a sizzling 22.75 Australian all-comers record (the fastest time ever swum in Australia) in his semi-final.

The 22-year-old, who has come from relative obscurity in the last 24 hours, will have another shot at Brazilian Kaio Almeida's world mark of 22.60 and Adam Pine's Commonwealth standard of 22.70, in tomorrow night's final.

But the night belonged to Guehrer who used her powerful underwater kick to gain a huge advantage off the dive in the 100m freestyle and was never headed, stopping the clock in 53.41 and making her the seventh fastest Australian of all time. Haileybury Waterlions (VIC) swimmer Kelly Stubbins came home well over the last 50m and grabbed second in 53.56, good enough for eighth on the Australian all-time list. Olivia Halicek (Forster Aquatic, NSW) was third from lane seven in 54.44, just ahead of 14-year-old prodigy Brittany Elmslie (Coolum Peregian, QLD) in 54.69.

In the 50m butterfly the 22-year-old university student was again dynamite off the blocks and turn to street the field and win in 25.86 - moving her past Olympic gold medallist Petria Thomas and into third on the Australian all time list behind Felicity Galvez and Libby Trickett. Second was Amy Smith (St Peters Western, QLD) in 27.00 and third was Caitlin Fletcher (Chandler, QLD) in 27.31.

Guehrer is in the best form of her career - aside from an amazing 100m backstroke swim that won her a berth at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games - something she puts down to a busier more balanced lifestyle.

"It's good to get back, I am happy in training, balanced throughout my life and I'm just loving it again," Guehrer said.

"I am doing two subjects at university, I am swimming, I work 20 hours a week and I have my own swimwear business online so I'm busy and I work best when I am under that sort of pressure.

"At times in the past I have concentrated solely on swimming and put all my eggs in one basket and I have found that doesn't work for me."

The sprinter now has her heart set on a return to the national team for next year's FINA World Championships in Rome.

"I take it day by day now but I'd like to be there [Rome]," Guehrer said.

"I don't know exactly what events I'll target because it could be different tomorrow than today but it will definitely be the 50 metre butterfly because I do pretty well in that long course."

Women's 200m backstroke final

Another Athens Olympian, 24-year-old Frances Adcock, took out her pet 200m backstroke for the third year in a row with a time of 2:06.26 from 16-year-old surprise packet Jenni O'Neil (Norwood, SA) (2:09.54) and experienced 19-year-old Amy Lucas (West Coast, WA) (2:10.85). It was both O'Neil and Lucas' first ever Australian open medals.

Adcock narrowly missed qualifying for the Beijing Olympic Games and will relocate to Brisbane next month to further both her swimming and budding media career.

Men's 400m freestyle final

Robert Hurley, perhaps the busiest male swimmer at these Championships with medal chances in all the backstroke and most of the freestyle events, took out his second gold in three nights with a slick 3:42.50. The time elevated the versatile 19-year-old into seventh on the Australian all time list. Ryan Napoleon (St Peters Western, QLD), 18, won the silver in 3:44.65, for 11th on the all time list, while British Development Squad member Chris Alderton (3:45.43) won bronze. Theodore Pasialis (SOPAC, NSW) was the third Australian in 3:46.37.

Women's 400m freestyle final

Last night's 800m winner Blair Evans ensured a golden double with a strong third 100m and a gutsy finish to clock 4:05 26 and moved to eighth on the Australian all-time list. Evans battled the entire race with Ellen Fullerton who charged home over the last lap but ran out of pool, clocking 4:05.43 for tenth on the all time list. Fullerton's club mate Amy Levings (4:07.70) won bronze.  

Men's 200m breaststroke final

Silver medal winning Olympic medley relay heat swimmer Christian Sprenger bounced back from the disappointment of being disqualified after winning the 100m breaststroke last night to claim the 200m tonight in a personal best 2:05.94. Craig Calder (Albury, NSW), the lucky benefactor from Sprenger's disqualification, won silver in 2:08.78 (PB) and Craig Tucker (City of Perth, WA) won bronze in 2:10.88.

Women's 100m individual medley final

Fullerton was back in the water for her third final of the night and it was a case of third time lucky. The plucky 15-year-old again powered home over the last lap to clock 1:01.46 (ninth Australian all time) to snatch victory in a tight finish from Olivia Halicek (1:01.60) and another 15-year-old, Jessica Legge (Novocastrian, NSW) (1:01.80). For Fullerton to win under pressure just five minutes after her 400m freestyle was a sign of mental strength and maturity belying her tender years.

Men's 50m freestyle final

Rising sprint star Tom Miller claimed a helter skelter two lap splash in a blanket finish with a time of 21.89 - tenth on the Australian all time list. Another on the rise, Kingscliff (NSW) speedster Matthew Abood was second in 21.95, with AIS-based Cameron Prosser (Melbourne Vicentre, VIC) third in 21.96.

Men's 200m individual medley final

Chris Wright, much better known as a butterflyer and improving freestyler, showed his ability across all four strokes and stole the 200m medley in 1:58.27 - good enough for eighth on the Australian all time list. Incredibly Wright came into the meet with a personal best of 2:07! Shane Cross (SOPAC, NSW) won silver in 1:59.43, with Ryde Carlile (NSW) trained Korean John Goo third in 2:00.25. Another visitor, Great Britain's Roberto Pavoni (2:00.37) was next, meaning fifth placed finisher Sam Ashby (CA Tritons, VIC) also won bronze for being the third placed Australian.

Women's multi-disability 100m backstroke final

Beijing Paralympian Hannah MacDougall (CA Tritons, VIC) won gold in 1:15.15 from Shelley Rogers (Norwood, SA) in 1:28.17 and Teneale Houghton (Revesby Workers, NSW) in 1:10.59.

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

Women's multi-disability 100m freestyle final

Triple Paralympic medallist Jacqueline Freney (Aqua Z, NSW) set a world record of 1:08.57 to claim the gold from Nerice Holland (Chandler, QLD) in 1:02.85 and Prue Watt (Nunawading, VIC) in 1:02.67.

Men's multi-disability 100m backstroke final

Grant Patterson (Central Cairns, QLD) claimed gold and his second world record of the week in a time of 2:05.14. Craig Morgan (Kinross Walaroi, NSW) (1:00.76, provisional world record) was second and Sean Russo (Revesby Workers, NSW) (1:05.92) was third.

Men's multi-disability 100m freestyle final

Patrick Donachie (Campbelltown, NSW) grabbed the win in 57.48 from Craig Morgan (54.14) and Sean Russo (59.68).

Women's 4x100m medley relay final

The Norwood (SA) squad of Whitney Ireland, Tiffany Papaemanouil, Jackie Staples and Jessica Ash took the gold from the slowest seeded heat with a time of 4:10.21. Melbourne Vicentre (VIC) were second in 4:11.25, with Nunawading (VIC) third in 4:12.16.

In semi-finals action with finals set down for tomorrow night:

• AIS trained 19-year-old all-rounder Robert Hurley was the top qualifier in the men's 50m backstroke with a time of 24.49, just ahead of Beijing 100m backstroke bronze medallist Hayden Stoeckel (Norwood, SA) in 24.63
• Samantha Marshall (Cook & Phillip NSW), 16 and the grand daughter of former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser, led the qualifiers in the women's 100m breaststroke in 1:07.27

Tomorrow's heats start at 10am. Tickets can be purchased at the door and start at $3 for children / concession and $5 for adults.