Alicia Coutts defeats Stephanie Rice twice at the 2011 Telstra Australian Swimming Championship
Australian swimmer Alicia Coutts ousted Stephanie Rice in the 100m butterfly and 200m individual medley, in the final session on the 2nd day of the Telstra Australian Swimming Championship 2011, being held in Sydney. The championship is being
conducted with the aim to select swimmers for the Australian swimming team, for the Shanghai World Championships 2011 in July.
The session started with the women’s 100m butterfly, where Alicia Coutts earned the gold medal over the great Stephanie Rice in a time of 1:00.12 minutes. Rice, who just recovered from her shoulder surgery, posted a time of 1:00.37 minutes for the silver
medal.
James Stacey secured the third spot on the podium in 1:02.43 minutes, but failed to qualify for the Shanghai Championship.
In the men’s 100m backstroke semi-final, Benjamin Treffers, was the fastest swimmer to qualify for the finals in a time of 54.18 seconds. He was followed by Ashley Delaney and Hayden Stoeckel, in a time of 54.32 and 54.56 seconds respectively.
Leiston Pickett dominated the women’s 100m breast-stroke semi-final in a time of 1:06.92 minutes, ahead of the Leisel Jones who clocked a time of 1:07.82 minutes. Both Australian swimmers were comfortably under the FINA time qualification standards, for
the World Championships 2011. In the meantime, Sarah Katsoulis qualified into the finals as the third fastest swimmer in a time of 1:08.47 minutes.
In the men’s 50m butterfly, Matt Targett won the title over the defending champion Geoff Huegill, in a time of 23.27 seconds, while Huegill clocked 23.48 seconds. Joseph Carty secured the third spot on the podium, by touching the wall in a time of 23.95
seconds.
The next was the women’s 100m backstroke semi-final, where Emily Seebohm was sighted as the fastest swimmer in a time of 1:00.49 minutes. Belinda Hocking and Meagen Nay followed Seebohm into the finals, as the second and third fastest swimmers.
The men’s 200m freestyle semi-final faced a draw between Ryan Napoleon and Tomm D’ Orsogna, who touched the wall in a time of 1:48.24 minutes to qualify for the final.
Moments later, Alicia Coutts once again out touched the crowd’s favourite Stephanie Rice in the 200m IM, by clocking a time of 2:10.06 minutes against Rice’s 2:10.41 minutes. They both posted a time under the qualification standards and were selected to
represent Australia in China. Tessa Wallace covered the third spot by touching the wall in 2:13.35 minutes.
The last event of the session was the men’s 100m breast-stroke final, where Brenton Rickard won the gold medal in 1:00.12 minutes, ahead of the Chris Sprenger who clocked a 1:00.37 minutes. James Stacey secured the bronze medal in a time of 1:02.43 minutes.