Libby Breaks World Record

[pies4ever]

World's fastest woman
By Nicole Jeffery
April 1, 2004

THE unbelievable became fact for the second time at the Australian Olympic trials last night as Queensland teenager Libby Lenton became the first Australian woman since Shane Gould to break the world 100m freestyle record.

Lenton realises she's snared the world record.
When Dutchwoman Inge de Bruijn set the world record at 53.77sec in this pool at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, it seemed invincible, but last night Lenton demolished it in 53.66sec in a semi-final.

Not to be outdone, world championships silver medallist Jodie Henry then plunged in and equalled de Bruijn's time in the second semi-final, giving Australia the two fastest 100m sprinters in history.

Both Gould and Australia's greatest 100m sprinter Dawn Fraser were in the crowd to witness the revival of Australia's female sprinting tradition.

Lenton, 19, was not ranked in the top 100 18 months ago, but she has burst on to the big stage with all the surprise and fury of a summer storm.

She won the bronze medal in the 50m freestyle at last year's world titles, but nothing had prepared her for last night's performance.

At the 50m turn her pace exactly mirrored de Bruijn's split of 25.81sec but she came home even faster, leaving world-class sprinter Sarah Ryan more than a body-length behind.

When Lenton stopped the clock and turned to the scoreboard, she gasped, then put her hand to her mouth as she realised the enormity of what she had done.

"It was complete and utter disbelief," Lenton said.

As she emerged from the pool she ran into the arms of her Brisbane coach Stephan Widmer.

"I knew I felt good, but I didn't think I felt that good," she said. "I can't even describe it, I'm still in shock."

Henry, who had a virus last week, didn't even realise she had equalled the old world record until she was told.

"It felt really easy. It would have been interesting to see what would have happened if I had been in the same race as Libby," Henry said.

That will happen tonight in what shapes as the fastest 100m freestyle race in history.

Henry's 17-year-old training partner Alice Mills also leaped into the world's top 10 sprinters in history, following Henry closely to the wall in 54.26sec.

Any of the three is capable of winning the gold medal in Athens in August, but only two will be able to swim the race.

But they will combine in a 4x100m relay team which has instantly been installed as a gold medal favourite.

Mills recovered admirably from her disappointment in finishing second in her preferred event, the 200m individual medley, on Tuesday night.

The world championships silver medallist set a Commonwealth record of 2min12.47sec in the semi-finals but was significantly slower in the final as the experienced Brooke Hanson triumphed.

Her coach Shannon Rollason said 17-year-old Mills, attending her first Olympic trials, was too anxious to perform at her best in the medley.

"Sometimes Alice seems like she's 25, but last night she was 17," Rollason said.

"This is the dream, going to the Olympic Games. As I told her, it's like she was hugging a baby chicken too tight and she killed it."

Sensational performances were expected from these three young sprinters after fast heat times yesterday morning.

The top four times were faster than the top four in last year's world championships heats.

Henry (54.58sec), Lenton (54.70s) and Petria Thomas (54.92s) all broke 55sec, yet there were only two sub-55s heat swims at the top competition in the world last year.

Thomas swam the heats only to post a qualifying time for the 4x100m freestyle relay and became the fifth woman in Australian history to break the 55sec barrier.

Even the elite sprint coaches were taken by surprise.

"I think everyone was shocked," Rollason said.

Widmer said it would take a "very fast swim" to clinch one of the two individual places available in the final tonight".

Lenton and Henry join only former world record-holder de Bruijn (53.77sec) and American Natalie Coughlin (53.99s) in swimming under 54s.

The Australian.


cheers bryan..!!

[Donny]

From nowhere to No.1

By Wayne Smith - Fox

FANNY DURACK, Dawn Fraser, Lorraine Crapp and Shane Gould: that was the illustrious company little-known Queenslander Libby Lenton joined last night when she smashed the women's 100m freestyle world record at the Olympic selection trials.

Australian swimming fans might know their Thorpes and Hacketts, Welshes and Joneses, but Lenton, the effervescent 19-year-old from Brisbane, has come in under the radar to emerge as our best hope for a women's gold medal in the pool at the Athens Olympics.

It all happened seemingly in the blink of an eye as Lenton sizzled over the two laps of the blue-ribbon event to stop the clock at 53.66sec - 0.11sec under the old world record set by Dutch ace Inge de Bruijn at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

"I'm still in shock," Lenton said after emerging from the pool and embracing her coach, Stephan Widmer. "I knew I felt good in the water but I didn't know I felt that good. It felt fast. I just didn't know how fast."

Astonishingly, had the order of the semi-finals been reversed, Australia would have had two world record holders in the space of five minutes because fellow Queenslander Jodie Henry came out in the second semi-final and equalled de Bruijn's mark.

Tonight Henry and Lenton will face off in what is shaping as the most dramatic women's 100m freestyle final since Fraser and Crapp in the 1956 Australian championships.

Ian Thorpe brought his tumultuous Olympic trials to a spectacular close, staging one of his trademark come-from-behind finishes to snatch victory from Ashley Callus in the 100m freestyle.

Despite the energy-draining drama of the past week, Thorpe still managed to swim within a tenth of a second of his best, clocking 48.83sec.

[Joel]

Sensational...good work!