Rice completes golden finish as Lenton falls short

Australia’s queen of the pool, Libby Lenton, was forced to take a backseat as the unheralded Stephanie Rice stole the show with a thrilling win in the women’s 200m individual medley at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre tonight.

Rice (2:12.90) found that little bit extra in the last 10 metres, pulling away from countrywoman Brooke Hanson (2:13.62) to capture a stunning gold medal that seemed to surprise even her. Lara Carroll (2:13.86) wasn’t far behind in third place, completing an Australian trifecta that had the packed crowd in raptures.

However, Rice’s triumph was to be the host nation’s sole success on the night, after favourites Libby Lenton and Travis Nederpelt were both outgunned down the stretch of their respective events.

In the women’s 200m freestyle, Lenton led for virtually the whole race, before Scotland’s Caitlin McClatchey produced a dramatic comeback, finally catching her inside the final 20 metres. The Scotswoman surged ahead and touched her out at the wall to win in a Games record time of 1:57.25, 0.26 ahead of Lenton.

Brooke Barrett (1.59.33) swam well to finish in fourth place, while Linda McKenzie (1.59.49) struggled to fifth position.

Fastest qualifier Nederpelt was expected to bring home gold in the men’s 200m butterfly, but in the first three laps, he struggled to keep up with New Zealand’s Moss Burmester.

The New Zealander was well in front at the final turn, however, with his home crowd urging him on, Nederpelt attacked in the closing stages, seemingly catching the tiring Kiwi. He couldn’t sustain the challenge though and had to settle for silver, as Burmester’s teammates celebrated with a fearsome version of the ‘haka’ on the pool deck following the medal ceremony.

There was also disappointment for Craig Stevens in the men’s 400m freestyle, finishing well back in fourth despite recording the fastest time for the final. The late-call up to the Games swim team fell behind by the 200m mark and was never in the hunt, with Scotland’s David Carry giving his country more reason to rejoice.

In the last event on the evening’s schedule, the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay, Australia almost upset hot favourites South Africa. Michael Klim, Eamon Sullivan and Brett Hawke presented Ashley Callus with a tremendous platform to launch a sprint for gold, but experienced speedster Ryk Neethling held on, keeping the Aussie at arm’s length in the tight swim to the wall.

In heats also held on the night, world record holder Jade Edminstone and Leisel Jones recorded the fastest times for the women’s 50m breaststroke, while Matt Welsh and Andrew Lauterstein both safely made it through to the men’s 50m backstroke finale. And in the women’s 50m butterfly semi-finals, Australians Jessica Schipper, Diane Miatke and Alice Mills head the qualifiers going into tomorrow’s final.

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