Hackett joining AOC delegation to Beijing

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Olympic swimming champion Grant Hackett leaves for Beijing on Sunday as part of an Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) delegation which will sign a new co-operation agreement with the Chinese Olympic Committee.

It will be Hackett’s first visit to Beijing and he will be a co-signatory to the agreement to work together in the lead-up to the 2008 Beijing Games.

“My total focus for the next four years will to put in the hard training to do all I can to achieve a third consecutive gold medal in the 1500m freestyle,” Hackett said in an AOC statement.

Hackett has enjoyed a break after his gold medal win in Athens but is hoping to do a training swim at the National Training Centre in Beijing on Monday.

AOC president John Coates said he invited Hackett “because he is an outstanding ambassador for his sport and his country”.

“He is very excited about seeing China for the first time and it will give him an opportunity to look at the landscape and the preparations for 2008,” he said.

The co-operation agreement will enable Australian athletes to train and compete in China regularly in the lead-up to the 2008 Olympics, while Chinese athletes will also visit Australia.

In January, China will have the biggest contingent at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival in Sydney out of the 30 countries taking part. It is sending 173 athletes and 55 coaches and officials.

AOC spokesman Mike Tancred said the agreement would benefit Australia’s athletes in the build-up to the 2008 Olympics.

“It will allow our athletes pretty free access to go up there and train and compete, and in effect make it our second home,” he said.

“It will also allow for the exchange of ideas between coaches, trainers, scientists, medical teams and the like.”

The AOC said the agreement also includes a commitment to condemn doping.

The Australian delegation, including Hackett, will be visiting the National Anti-Doping Laboratory in Beijing on Tuesday.

Swim champ eyes off next Olympic venue

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Grant Hackett makes his first visit to Beijing next week as part of his long-term objective to become the first swimmer in history to win three successive Olympic 1500 metre freestyle titles.

Hackett flies to Beijing on Sunday as part of an Australian Olympic Committee delegation.

He will be a co-signatory to a new co-operation agreement between the AOC and the Chinese Olympic Committee in the leadup to the 2008 Games.

“I feel very honoured to be asked by the Australian Olympic Council to accompany them to Beijing to co-sign the Olympic Agreement with the Chinese Olympic Committee. My total focus for the next four years will to put in the hard training to do all I can to achieve a third consecutive Gold Medal in the 1500m Freestyleâ€? Hackett said.

Hackett has enjoyed a break after his gold medal win in Athens but he is hoping to do a training swim at the National Training Centre in Beijing on Monday afternoon.

“I am sure our Chinese hosts will enjoy seeing the dual Olympic champion in action� AOC President John Coates said.

“I invited Grant to join us in Beijing because he is an outstanding ambassador for his sport and his country� Coates said. “And I get the sense he is already thinking ahead to the next Olympics�.

� He is very excited about seeing China for the first time and it will give him an opportunity to look at the landscape and the preparations for 2008�

The co-operation agreement will enable Australian athletes to train and compete in China regularly in the lead up to the 2008 Olympics.

Likewise Chinese athletes will visit Australia. In January 2005 China will have the biggest contingent at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival in Sydney out of the 30 countries taking part. China is sending 173 athletes and 55 coaches and officials.

“Our sports will benefit greatly if they are familiar with the landscape, and the culture in Beijing. And they can go up there and pit themselves against the best because there is no doubt China will be an even bigger, more powerful, force on home soil in 2008� Coates said.

The co-agreement also includes a commitment to condemn doping.

The AOC delegation, including Hackett, will be visiting the National Anti-Doping Laboratory in Beijing on Tuesday. “The AOC and the Chinese Olympic Committee will work together over the next four years as part of the fight against the use of performance enhancing drugs� Coates said.

“To have the opportunity to travel to Beijing now to see the National Training Centre and Anti-Doping Laboratories is fantastic. I am very excited about visiting China and learning all I can about its culture, people, business and athletes with the hope of being a regular visitor in the coming years and hopefully have the chance to form a solid bond with the Chinese Olympic Council and offer any support I can.” Hackett said.

Hackett has also asked if he can do a walk on the Great Wall.

Making a splash

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Athens Olympians Grant Hackett, Alice Mills and Travis Nederpelt were at Belair Public School, Admastown Heights, on Monday as part of an innovative country tour.

The aim of the Uncle Tobys Make A Splash tour is to allow people in regional areas the chance to get up close and personal and experience first hand the stars of the pool and touch an Olympic gold medal.

The students at the school shared a breakfast with the trio after winning a competition on NBN Television.

“If we can inspire any kids out there to jump into the pool to stay fit, have fun and also lead a healthy life by starting the day with a healthy breakfast then that’s the perfect outcome,” Hackett said.

Paralympics: A golden friendship inspires Olympic glory bid

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GOLDEN boy swimmer David Roberts didn’t have to look very far for inspiration. In fact, his sporting hero is normally in the next lane.

The Welsh quadruple Paralympic gold medallist usually sees his inspiration under his right arm making a splash in the neighbouring lane at Swansea’s new state-of-the-art £11m National Pool.

For Roberts trains alongside Olympic bronze medal hero David Davies.

Teenage sensation Davies gave world No 1 Grant Hackett a run for his money in the Olympic 1,500m freestyle final in Athens.

The Aussie, unbeaten since 1997, had to smash his own world record to fend off the Penarth protege.

“It was immense. I was jumping around like an idiot watching it on TV and my mum was more nervous than when I race,” said Roberts.

“To take on Grant Hackett, who I class as the world’s greatest swimmer, and make him work for his gold medal was awesome.”

Pontypridd prospect Roberts, though, wasn’t to be outdone by his training mate. The 24-year-old freestyle phenomenon surpassed his treble gold winning achievement of Sydney 2000 as he dashed to four gongs in Athens.

He won individual golds in the 50m, 100m and 400m freestyle before securing his fourth in the men’s 4×100m relay.

“I shocked myself,” said Roberts. “But it’s hard not to be inspired by David. I train alongside him, he’s always in the pool with me and is an absolute legend. I’ve seen him since my return from Athens and he said, ‘Well done’. That meant so much.

“I’ve got nothing but respect for him and when you respect someone you find it easy to get on with them. He’s one of my sporting heroes.

“He’s a lovely guy and you can’t help but be positive about him. He trains so hard and he seems like a machine because he just keeps going.”

Roberts is joined daily in the Swansea pool, funded mainly thanks to an £8m grant from the Sports Council for Wales, during practice sessions by fellow Paralympian Welsh swimmers Gareth Duke, Liz Johnson and Rhiannon Henry.

And Cwmbran-based Duke, 18, won 100m breaststroke gold in Athens while Pontypool 18-year-old Johnson won 100m breaststroke silver.

The 17-year-old Henry, from Bridgend won two bronze medals in the 100m butterfly and 400m freestyle.

“The key is simply having a world-class pool in Swansea. We said to the authorities, if you give us the facilities then we’ll prove how good we are.

“The pool has only been open 18 months and it’s already paying dividends.

“They made the commitment to build the 50m pool in Swansea and it’s already become a worthwhile investment.

“All those that train there won medals either at the Olympics or Paralympics and it’s all thanks to having world class facilities in Swansea.

“Before we had to travel around Britain to find a place to train.”

Stevens teams up with Thorpe

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IAN THORPE and Craig Stevens, two names forever bound together in Australian sporting folklore, will be linked even closer following Stevens’ decision to quit the AIS and train alongside his close friend under coach Tracey Menzies in Sydney.

It was Stevens who made it possible for Thorpe to defend his Olympic 400m freestyle title in Athens, surrendering his swim in the event to Thorpe who seemingly had cost himself a near-certain gold medal when he false-started at the Olympic trials in March.

Stevens’ gesture was generously rewarded when the Seven Network paid him an unconfirmed $100,000 for the exclusive announcement of his decision, but it is widely accepted in swimming circles that it was his close friendship with Thorpe that prompted the then 23-year-old to make the sacrifice, not the money.

With an emotional Stevens watching from the grandstand, Thorpe overcame his own turbulent emotions and a determined Grant Hackett to narrowly win the 400m freestyle gold on the opening night of Games competition.

“I just wanted to watch Ian and Grant race for the title and both those guys went at it pretty hard … the outcome was what I’d hoped for,” Stevens said this week, referring to the Australian 1-2 finish in Athens.

While Stevens was delighted that Thorpe was able to deliver everything he had hoped for, he himself might have been so affected by the drawn-out “would he or wouldn’t he give up the swim” saga that he was unable to achieve his own goals in Athens.

He swam below his best in the heats of the 4×200m freestyle and surrendered his place in the quartet that went on to win the silver medal in the final. Then, distressed by the heat, he just scraped into the 1500m freestyle final and swam 12 seconds outside his best time in finishing eighth.

“It was a very emotional time and, looking back, I wonder if it didn’t happen maybe I could have got through my preparation a little better,” Stevens said.

Still physically and emotionally flattened by his Athens experience, Stevens is unsure when he will resume training but, when he does, he might well back off from the 1500m freestyle for a while.

“I wouldn’t mind getting my 400m times down a bit and I’m going to be trying to work my way back into the top four for the 4×200m freestyle relay,” he said.

After training alongside Thorpe under Doug Frost at the Sutherland Pool before joining the AIS in 2001, Stevens said he was looking forward to linking up with an old training partner and a new coach.

“Tracey has proven herself a very good coach,” he said. “Everyone can get off her back now after what she did with Ian at the Olympics. She did an outstanding job. I’m just looking forward to enjoying swimming a little more and doing a few things differently in training. Tracey sets more out-of-the-water training than most coaches.”

Menzies said yesterday that having two swimmers of the calibre of Thorpe and Stevens training together could only lift them both and she was keen to help Stevens improve in the 400m freestyle.

The Menzies squad also has been boosted by the arrival of Sydney Olympic middle distance swimmer Kirsten Thomson, who underwent a series of tests to determine what was wrong with her after she missed out on the Athens team and amazingly discovered she is allergic to chlorine.

Trojan Newsletter - USC Trojans

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The following are some highlights of the performances of our Trojans (past, present, & future) during this exciting Olympic year.

USC swimmers & divers were hard to miss this summer.

If you followed the Olympics or Olympic Trials, you couldn’t turn on NBC, pick up a newspaper or check a sports web site without seeing coverage of the Trojans.

There were 18 swimmers and divers from USC representing seven countries at the Olympics in Athens and they won a combined 12 medals (five gold, three silver and four bronze). Additionally, there was Trojan head coach and U.S. women’s head coach Mark Schubert, his wife Joke, the Americans’ head team manager, and USC head diving coach and U.S. assistant diving coach Hongping Li. Former USC All-American Teri McKeever was also a U.S. women’s assistant coach.

Among the group of medalists, Kaitlin Sandeno stood out with a gold on the world-record breaking 4×200 freestyle relay, a silver in the 400 IM, a bronze in the 400 free and a fourth-place finish in the 200 fly.

Sandeno’s anchor swim in the relay helped the U.S. break the oldest record on the books and the last of the East Germans oft-questioned times from the late 1980s.

A few days earlier, she came within 0.12 of Ukrainian winner Yana Klochkova in the 400 IM, but her time of 4:34.95 was by far a personal best and shattered Summer Sanders’ 12-year old American record. It was the third-fastest swim ever in the race.

She then took third in the 400 free in 4:06.19, less than a second off Laure Manaudou’s winning mark. Sandenoâ€(tm)s time made her the third-fastest American ever and the sixth fastest ever.

Sandeno almost won a second bronze in the 200 fly, but touched just 0.14 out of third place. She was one of five female USC swimmers and divers at the Games and all either returned home with a medal or made at least one final.

Both former All-American Lindsay Benko and current freshman Rhi Jeffrey earned gold medals after swimming the prelims of the 4×200 free relay. Benko also earned a silver after swimming on the 4×100 free relay in prelims.

Diver Blythe Hartley won bronze on 10-meter synchronized diving and she was fifth on 3-meter springboard. She also competed in 3-meter synchro.

Sophomore Kalyn Keller barely missed a medal in the 800 free, taking fourth in 4:09.83 (less than a half second behind American teammate Diana Munz). Keller was also 10th in the 400 free.

Kalyn’s brother, Klete Keller, provided perhaps the most dramatic moment of the swimming competition.

Klete anchored the Americans’ 4×200 relay against the favored Australians. His teammates gave him a 1.48 second lead, a cushion he needed against the fastest 200 swimmer of all time, Ian Thorpe.

No slouch himself, Keller established himself as the fourth-fastest person all time in the 200 free when he took fourth behind Thorpe, Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband and teammate Michael Phelps, the only swimmers ever to go faster than him.

But not long after Keller began his final leg, Thorpe pulled right up to his shoulder and looked poised to pass him. But Keller held firm after Thorpe’s speedy first 50 and actually out-timed Thorpe over the next 100 meters. In a sprint to the wall, Keller and Thorpe were virtually deadlocked but Keller held him off and out-touched the Aussie to set off a delirious celebration among the Americans.

Klete’s relay swim overshadowed his individual medal, a bronze in the 400 free in which he lowered his own American record to 3:44.11, finishing behind only Australians Thorpe and Grant Hackett.

Like Sandeno, sophomore Larsen Jensen and former All-American Erik Vendt turned in spectacular silver-medal performances.

In the 1500 free, Jensen squared off against world record holder Hackett, who, with compatriot Kieren Perkins, have dominated the event.

Jensen, however, remained in striking distance of Hackett throughout the race and began reducing what was at one point almost a four-second deficit about halfway through the race. Jensen eventually pulled to within 0.16 with 100 meters to go before Hackett sprinted home for the win.

Jensen’s time of 14:45.29 obliterated his own U.S. record, was the sixth-fastest ever and made him the third-fastest person in the event behind only Hackett and Perkins.

Vendt repeated his silver medal performance in the 400 IM from Sydney. While Michael Phelps reset his world record, the battle was for second between Vendt, Hungarian Laszlo Cseh and Italian Alessio Boggiatto.

Vendt was seventh after 100 meters of butterfly and third at the halfway point after the backstroke. He closed the overall gap after the breaststroke, but actually dropped to fourth. Vendt motored on the freestyle, pulling into third at the 350 mark before he reeled in Cseh and erased a 0.51 deficit in an underrated come-from-behind performance. It was the ninth-fastest swim of all-time.

Former Trojan star Lenny Krayzelburg, a three-time gold winner in Sydney, barely missed winning another medal in the 100 back, touching 0.03 out of second and 0.02 out of third. But he did earn his fourth career gold after swimming the prelim leg of the 4×100 medley relay that eventually won gold.

Another former USC All-American who won a medal was Gabe Woodward, who qualified for the U.S. team on the 4×100 free relay. He swam the leadoff leg in the prelims and earned bronze when the Americans were third in the final.

Junior All-American Ous Mellouli (Tunisia) was a finalist in the 400 IM, taking fifth in 4:14.49. He also swam the mile. Second-year Trojan Viktor Bodrogi (Hungary) swam the 200 back and teammate Gergeley Meszaros also made the team as a relay swimmer, but did not race.

Other former USC swimmers that competed included Ahmad Al-Kudmani (Saudi Arabia), Rodrigo Castro (Brazil), diver Justin Dumais, Josh Ilika (Mexico) and Tamas Kerekjarto (Hungary).

Olympic Trial Highlights

Kaitlin Sandeno also dominated the U.S. Olympic Trials, winning the 400 m free, taking second in the 400 m IM and the 200 fly and taking third in the 200 m free. She was also sixth in the 800 m free.

Kayln Keller was second in both the 400 and 800 free while Jeffrey was fourth in the 200 m free.

Larsen Jensen won the 1500 m free and was second in the 400 free while Vendt was second in both the 400 IM and 1500 free. Lenny Krayzelburg was second in the 100 back while Klete Keller won the 400 free and was second in the 200 free. Lindsay Benko was second in the 200 free.

Senior Paul Fahey was a 400 IM finalist while former swimmer J.D. Abercrombie was a two-time fly finalist. Gabe Woodward was sixth in the 100 free.

Event courts respected athletes

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Swimmers must wait until Thursday to see if the pool at Conseco Fieldhouse is fast enough to produce records. But already the World Swimming Championships is record-breaking.

More than 600 athletes from nearly 100 countries will be entered in the seventh short-course meet, Indianapolis organizers announced Friday. Those figures will break the highs of 599 swimmers and 92 countries at Moscow in 2002.

Dale Neuburger, president of the Indiana Sports Corp., said the field will be the best in the history of the event, which debuted in 1993.

It could also be viewed as a preview of the 2008 Beijing Olympics rather than a curtain call for 2004 Athens Olympians.

The best example of that, he said, is China. Only the United States’ team of 48 swimmers exceeds China’s contingent.

“I will guarantee that of the 41 athletes China is bringing, they will be the bulk of their (2008) Olympic team,” Neuburger said. “They have made a conscious choice of bringing their future rather than their past.”

Although the October date capitalizes on momentum from the Olympics, the strain of continuing to train has contributed to some absences. Yet the short-course worlds have never been universal in an Olympic year.

Notable absentees from this meet — Australia’s Ian Thorpe and Grant Hackett, and the Netherlands’ Pieter van den Hoogenband and Inge Bruijn — did not compete in 2000, either.

Neuburger said FINA, the world governing body for aquatic sports, initially was opposed to a post-Olympic world championship. But now, he said, swimmers try to stay in the limelight to enhance endorsement opportunities. Neuburger said the timing has been “a huge success” because of the Olympics.

“We could have talked about Michael Phelps for a long time without coming anywhere close to the name recognition he has by being on the cover of every major magazine in the United States,” Neuburger said.

Gold medals will be anything but certain for Phelps, who won eight Olympic medals.

He is better at long-course swimming — 50-meter pool — than in a 25-meter pool like the one assembled at the fieldhouse. Turns are especially important in a smaller pool.

“In my opinion, my turns aren’t very strong,” Phelps said in a phone interview during a pause in a Disney-sponsored tour of U.S. cities. “I wouldn’t say it puts me at a disadvantage. It’s something I could work on more and improve on in the future.”

Phelps’ opponents include Olympic bronze medalist Stephen Parry of Great Britain in the 200 butterfly and relay silver medalist Nicholas Sprenger of Australia in the 200 freestyle. In the 100 and 200 individual medley, Phelps meets U.S. teammate Ryan Lochte, who won silver in the 200 IM at Athens.

Most prominent among non-U.S. entries are the women.

They feature Ukraine’s Yana Klochkova, who won gold medals in the 200- and 400-meter individual medleys at both the Athens and Sydney Olympics.

Another star from Athens is Australia’s Libby Lenton, a triple medalist. She will be opposed in the 50 and 100 freestyles by Sweden’s Therese Alshammar, who owns world records at both distances.