Sullivan finishes 8th in 50m dash

Swimming Victoria
Published: Aug 3, 2012 10:39:47 AM Updated: Sep 2, 2012 12:05:38 PM

Eamon Sullivan (21.98) finished eighth in a thrilling men’s 50 metres freestyle won by Frenchman Florent Manaudou in 21.34.

Manaudou is the younger brother of 2004 Athens Olympic Games 400m freestyle champion Laure Manaudou.

American Cullen Jones (21.54) was second, with the Brazil’s defending champion Cesar Cielo (21.59).

Once again Sullivan was left lamenting his start but said he could be proud of what he achieved – especially when one considers the myriad of injuries he has had to overcome – and manage - to get to London.

“Once again my swimming part was good. It was just the start that let me down,” Sullivan said.

“I was behind the others from the start and that’s the way the 50m (freestyle) is. You can’t give a start away and hope to be in contention at the end.

“My starts have been letting me down. I let myself down in the first 15m and that’s where I lost my time.

“I couldn’t be happier just to be in the final with the calibre of swimmers at the moment. To be a part of that I’m extremely happy.”

Women’s 50m freestyle semi-finals

Malawi born Australian sisters Bronte and Cate Campbell have finished 10th and 13th in the women’s 50m freestyle.

Bronte, at 18 and attending her first senior international meet, clocked 24.94, while Cate swam a 25.01. Last night’s 100m freestyle victor Ranomi Kromowidjojo (Netherlands) qualified first in the quickest time of the year – 24.07.

It was a cruel end to an up and down week for Cate, the bronze medal winner in Beijing. She won gold in the 4x100m freestyle on the opening night but was struck down with a gastro bug later in the week and forced out of the individual 100m. It was clear she had not fully recovered.

“What little I had left (after the sickness) I gave,” Cate said.

“It was a race against the clock in more ways than one. Unfortunately I ran out of time.

“It’s disappointing but I walk away from this meet as an Olympic gold medallist and not many people can say that.

“It’s a shame I missed out on the final in my pet event considering I was in good form earlier in the week.”

Bronte said she had mixed feelings about her end result.

“It was a close thing. The times were so quick,” she said.

“It was great to have my first Olympic experience. I have never felt anything like this before. I had the weight of the nation on my shoulders but the support of the nation holding me up.

“I’m disappointed I’m not in the final but I have got to be happy with that.

“It’s a whole new experience for me at this level.”

Women's 200m backstroke

Meagan Nay (2:07.43) has finished fifth in the women’s 200m backstroke behind 17 year-old American superstar Missy Franklin who shattered the world record with a stunning 2:04.06 for her third gold medal of these Olympic Games.

Nay, who finished seventh in the same event at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, was eighth after the first lap before moving to sixth at the halfway mark and fifth at the final turn.

Russian Anastasia Zueva was second in 2:05.92, with another teenage American, Elizabeth Beisel, third in 2:06.55.

Nay has had a roller coaster few years since Beijing - her brother Amos died in a car accident while she was in Rome for the 2009 FINA World Championships. In a cruel twist of fate her father Robbie had also died behind the wheel 17 years earlier. She channelled the emotion from that loss to win gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games before finishing sixth at last year’s world championships.

After the race Nay said she had given her all and had nothing but admiration for Franklin.

“I’m proud that I got out of the pool and I had nothing left,” Nay said.

“That was really fast. For her (Missy Franklin) to swim a world record after all the events she’s done this week is amazing. It was good to be part of the race.”

Men’s 100m butterfly

Michael Phelps (51.21) came from seventh at the turn to win his third gold medal of the meet and 17th of his Olympic career when he took out the men’s 100m butterfly from South African Chad le Clos and Russian Evgeny Korotyshkin who dead-heated for silver on 51.44. Le Clos was the only swimmer behind Phelps at the 50m mark.

The victory was Phelps’ second in as many nights in an event he had won at the last two Olympic Games – Athens and Beijing. He is the only male swimmer in history to achieve the feat and now has a total of 21 Olympic medals.

There were no Australians in the final.

Women’s 800m freestyle

It was the race that stopped a nation. The women’s 800m freestyle was supposed to be defending champion Rebecca Adlington’s party and the whole country was invited.

Unfortunately for Adlington someone forget to stop 15 year-old American Katie Ledecky at the door and she crashed, no smashed, her way in.

Ledecky swam 8:14.63, the second fastest 800m of all time behind only Adlington’s 8:14.10 to win gold in Beijing.

Spain’s Mireia Belmonte Garcia won silver in 8:18.76, with Adlington in third on 8:20.32.

Dave Lyall at the Aquatic Centre Olympics.com.au