Brisbane schoolgirl Cate Campbell continued her charge for the Beijing Olympics with another prized scalp at the Telstra Grand Prix meet in Brisbane.

Campbell, the find of this year’s Australian Youth Olympic Festival in Sydney, is quickly earning her senior stripes and she claimed a prized scalp when she lowered triple Olympic champion Jodie Henry’s colours in the 50m freestyle final.

It’s not every day you get to celebrate your 15th birthday with a win over an Olympic champion. The birthday girl proved too fast off the blocks and too fast in the pool for Henry in the innovative head-to-head 'Monaco 50m freestyle' shoot-out.

She overcame the flu and a disrupted training week to clock the fifth fastest time of her career, 25.16 to Henry’s 25.40. And maybe…just maybe….she is following an Olympic destiny.

Campbell is coached by Simon Cusack – son of 1968 Olympian Robert Cusack and the nephew of legendary coach Arthur Cusack - and she has certainly thrown her Indooroopilly swim cap into the Olympic ring.

The likeable, lanky teen burst onto the scene when she finished fourth to world champion Libby Lenton, Henry and Commonwealth record holder Alice Mills in the National 50m freestyle final last December – only a finger nail out of the placings.

And in January she swam her way into a select group of swimmers who have swum under 25 seconds when she clocked 24.89 at the AYOF before her third place to world champion Libby Lenton and US champion Kara-Lynn Joyce in April’s Duel In The Pool.

“To swim a time just outside my personal best time after I’ve been a bit sick this week and without a taper is pretty exciting,” said the youngster, who will spend the next week training with Australia’s premier sprinters at a National camp on the Gold Coast.

“The competition in the 50m is really hot and I still have a long way to go – but it’s always a nice surprise when you do well.”

In a meet where Australian head coach Alan Thompson was keen to stage the finals in the morning to mirror the Beijing Olympic schedule, there were certainly some shining lights.

Breakthrough swims from Andrew Lauterstein and Christian Sprenger; a rare freestyle-breaststroke double for Sally Foster; some stand-out swims from Felicity Galvez; the return of Sophie Edington and the never-say-die attitude of Linda MacKenzie were the stand-outs.

Lauterstein added the 50m butterfly (24.62) title to his win in the 100m freestyle yesterday (49.76) and finished second to Commonwealth Games gold medallist Andrew Pini (Papua-New Guinea) in the 100m butterfly final.

Christian Sprenger showed why he will be a force to be reckoned with in the men’s breaststroke events at next year’s Olympic Trials – winning the 50,100 and 200m breaststroke treble –  100m final in 1:01.34 – just outside his PB.

AIS-based Western Australian, Sally Foster started her day rolling when she pushed Leisel Jones all the way to the wall before finishing second to the five-time world champion in the 50m breaststroke – 31.63 to 31.90 before she won the 100m freestyle in 56.09 – nudging out Olympic champion Jodie Henry (56.14) and Linda MacKenzie(56.31). But her day was not done – she then showed why she will be a force in the 200m breaststroke at next year’s Trials – winning that event in 2:31.94.

Felicity Galvez, who is now training under John Fowlie in the AIS structure in Canberra, claimed Jessicah Schipper’s scalp not once but twice – winning the 50m butterfly in 26.85 before relegating Schipper to third in the 200m in 2:09.39 but Schipper had already claimed the Swimmer of the Meet award for her 100m butterfly time of 58.66.

Commonwealth Games golden girl Sophie Edington confirmed her Olympic intentions after missing the World Championship team – claiming the women’s backstroke double – adding the 50m in 28.69 and the 100m in 1:02.19, ensuring that she intends keeping the new brigade on their toes.

Linda Mackenzie stole a last gasp win over Bronte Barratt to win the 400m freestyle – 4:12.97 to 4:13.09 – in a powerful final 100m, which has become somewhat of her trademark in recent years and also after her third place in the 100m freestyle behind Foster and Henry.

Ian Hanson
Swimming Australia