Sunday, 10 August 2008

Trickett, Schipper lead Aussie swim charge

Australia's swimming team will be looking to build on the two medals it won yesterday when day two of the swimming finals gets under way at the Beijing Olympics.

Stephanie Rice won gold with a world record in the 400m individual medley, while the women's 4x100m relay team won bronze behind the Netherlands.

Australia has several strong chances to add to its medal tally, starting with Libby Trickett and Jess Schipper in the 100m butterfly.

World champion Trickett will start favourite in the event, with Schipper also a strong medal chance after the two both won their respective semi-finals.

Queenslander Bronte Barratt will swim from lane two in the 400m freestyle final after qualifying fifth-fastest on Sunday evening.

Brenton Rickard qualified third-fastest in the 100m breaststroke, but it will be the men's 4x100m relay that will be the feature race.

The US, France and Australia all went under the world record in the heats last night, catching Australia's Leith Brodie by surprise.

"Personally, I didn't think we could go that quick but it's great to see that time up there," he said.

Brodie and Patrick Murphy will be replaced by Eamon Sullivan and Ashley Callus for the final, and Murphy says the Australians are a big chance.

"I mean we've got two of our most experienced athletes back home and obviously it's looking pretty promising," he said.

Head coach Alan Thompson says the relay team will face a tough battle in its quest for gold.

"It's going to be a tough race though, the French are bringing in two guys, the Americans are bringing in three guys, so it's gonna be tough and the Italians won't be far behind us, so it's going to be a real dogfight in there," he said.

The 100m butterfly final is due to start at 12:21pm AEST.

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