Olympic and Paralympic stars to hit the pool in Brisbane
Swimming Australia
Published: Dec 14, 2012 02:51:41 PM Updated: Jun 4, 2013 09:29:52 AM
A host of Olympic and Paralympic stars will line up in the 2012 McDonald’s Queensland Championships at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre this weekend, with open competition starting on Sunday 16 December.
London gold medallists Melanie Schlanger, Cate Campbell, Brittany Elmslie, Brenden Hall and Blake Cochrane will be amongst the 1,700 competitors in action at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre, with the long course meet signalling the start of the run into next year’s EnergyAustralia Swimming Championships in Adelaide in April.
Gold medallists in the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay, Schlanger and Elmslie will square off in the 100m freestyle, alongside Olympic silver medallist Emily Seebohm, while Bronte and Cate Campbell will line up in the 50m freestyle.
A backstroke silver medallist in London and the current Olympic record holder, 20-year-old Seebohm from Nudgee Brothers, will swim a big program including the 100m butterfly, backstroke and freestyle as well as the 200m IM and 50m free.
London Olympic breaststroke silver medallist Christian Sprenger will be keen to finish 2012 on a further high, having recently set an Australian short course record for the 100m breast at the FINA World Cup.
Having swum personal best times both long and short course this year, Sprenger will only swim the 100m breast at this meet, and has a seed time more than two seconds quicker than the rest of the field.
With seven days of competition for both age group and open swimmers, the meet will also see Paralympic gold medallists Hall and Cochrane return to the water for the first time since their triumphs in London, as well as fellow multi class athletes Daniel Fox and Kayla Clarke.
The 2012 McDonald’s Queensland Championships start with relay events on Saturday, before Olympic finalist Thomas Fraser-Holmes gets his chance in the first open event of the meet, the men’s 200m freestyle on Sunday morning, alongside London bronze medallist Bronte Barratt in the corresponding women’s event.
For further information go to www.qld.swimming.org.au and for media accreditation please contact Trudee Stafford on 0408 459 465 or email trudee.stafford@swimming.org.au
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