Melbourne, Australia March 17- April 1, 2007 - Hanson Media Group

Australian Aquatics Media Guide - XII FINA World Swimming Championships – Melbourne March 17 – April 1, 2007 © HSM
THE WORLD OF SWIMMING COMES DOWN UNDER TO MELBOURNE
THE SWIMMING COMPONENT of the 12th FINA World Championships will be the most watched
aquatic event held anywhere on the planet between now and the Beijing Olympics – and with good
reason.
The eight-day program will feature current world record holders for both men and women in every
stroke, amongst them all-time greats including Australian icons Grant Hackett and Leisel Jones,
American wonderboy Michael Phelps and Dutch sprinter Pieter van den Hoogenband.
Adding to the appeal of the 40 event program will be the atmosphere created by the more than 12,500
fans that will pack into Rod Laver Arena and sit virtually on top of a pre-fabricated pool that began
arriving in Melbourne in 40 shipping containers last December.
Last year there were 20 long course world records broken all over the globe leaving story lines aplenty
and intrigue surrounding every event at what could be the fastest swim meet in history.
Australians and indeed the world will watch on each day as question after question is answered by
established stars broadening their legend and new heroes announcing their athletic arrival.
For Australians one of the many highlights will be Hackett’s bid to defend the 400, 800 and 1500 metre
titles he won at the last World Championships in Montreal two years ago.
With 17 medals, including ten gold, Hackett is the most decorated swimmer in World Championship
history and a win in the 1500m on the final night will give the Telstra Dolphins Team Captain an
astonishing and unprecedented fifth consecutive world title in the event (in fact no other swimmer has
claimed gold in four straight championships).
Supporting Hackett will be Australia’s ‘Golden Girls” who between them won ten events in Montreal to
rule the world.
But Leisel Jones, Libby Lenton, Jodie Henry, Jessicah Schipper and Danni Miatke mightn’t have it all
their own way this time around after the German’s, the USA, Great Britain, Italy, Japan and France all
made giant strides forward in 2006.
Overseas invaders like Britta Steffen, Laure Manaudou, Natalie Coughlin, Katie Hoff, Otylia Jedrzejczak
and Annika Lurz may be names that don’t mean too much to most Australians now but could well be
household names by the end of this meet.
On the men’s side of things, rising young Australian stars Brenton Rickard, Eamon Sullivan, Kenrick
Monk and Leith Brodie will lead a youthful Telstra Dolphins squad as the try to mix it with experienced
American world record holders Phelps, Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen and Ian Crocker.
Throw in Europeans van den Hoogenband, Filippo Magnini and Laszlo Cseh, South African glamour
boys Roland Schoeman and Ryk Neethling and teenage South Korean Tae Hwan Park and the water in
Rod Laver Arena could reach boiling point. – DAVID LYALL.