SWIMMING: The Australian powerhouse duo of Mitch Larkin and Emily Seebohm were at it again on the final night of competition at the Doha leg of the FINA World Cup with the pair unbeatable in their respective backstroke events picking up three gold medals between them. While freestyle sprinter Melanie Wright also added a gold to Australia’s tally and her own individual haul when she sprinted to the top in the women’s 100m freestyle.
The USA’s David Plummer came close to knocking Larkin off the top spot in the men’s 50m backstroke sprint and spoiling his run of success but Larkin lunged at the wall to hang on and finish equal first in a time of 24.70. The bronze medal went to Liam Tancock from Great Britain in 25.65 with fellow Australian Ashley Delaney sixth overall in 25.83.
In the men’s 200m backstroke, Larkin left nothing to chance as he stormed through the four laps to finish over four seconds clear of his closest competitor in 1:53.80. Japan’s Masaki Kaneko was next to the wall in 1:57.83 with Luke Greenbank from Great Britain rounding out the top three in 1:58.83.
Not one to be outdone by the boys, Emily Seebohm then continued her clean sweep with a clear win in the women’s 100m backstroke. Seebohm clocked a speedy 58.34 to keep Katinka Hosszu (59.35) at bay in second place with Natalie Coughlin third in 59.72.
From the back onto the front, the Aussies then demonstrated their versatility as Melanie Wright took out the women’s 100m freestyle in an impressive time of 53.86. Wright was the only swimmer to dip under the 54-second mark in the event with all-rounder Katinka Hosszu second in 54.40 and Felicia Lee in third place with a 55.22.
Wright also finished fifth in the women’s 50m butterfly.
The women’s 50m breaststroke saw the field fight it out all the way to the wall and as Jamaica’s Alia Atkinson (30.55) grabbed the gold medal, the silver and bronze were decided by just 0.01 of a second. The USA’s Molly Hannis claimed the silver with a 31.12 while Leiston Pickett had to settle for bronze in 31.13.
The Aussies collected their final medal of the evening through Chris Wright in the men’s 100m butterfly. Wright hit the wall in 52.50 to bag the bronze behind Chad Le Clos 51.44 and Tom Shields 52.10.
The men’s 200m individual medley saw Jayden Hadler finish fifth overall with a time of 2:01.98.
The racing will now move to Dubai for the final stop on the FINA World Cup tour.
SWIMMING AUSTRALIA
