A cakewalk at Goodwill

Swimming World and Junior Swimmer, Oct 2001 by Thomas, Steve

With numerous top-name international swimmers electing not to compete in Brisbane, the Australians-at full strength--easily won both the men's and women's competitions at the Goodwill Games in Brisbane.

BRISBANE, Australia-There was plenty of dancing both in the stands and on pool deck at the Brisbane Goodwill Games, fuelled by capacity crowds one has come to expect from an Aussie swim meet.

In fact, the carnival-type atmosphere must have had several of the older officials in attendance shaking their collective heads. One wellknown U.S.-based coach who was acting as a team official for the World All-Stars did a good impression of Chubby Checker on the Lane 2 blocks, "twisting" with a man in a shark costume during a break.

However, despite all the fun and frivolity at the meet, Aug. 29 - Sept. 3, there were many doubts being expressed about the future of the Goodwill Games. This was certainly reflected in the pool with uneven match-ups created by many lastminute no-shows as well as athletes deciding in advance to skip the long trip Down Under. The lack of many elite international competitors left the expectant public feeling short-- changed.

Olympic champions Pieter van den Hoogenband and soon-to-retire Lars Frolander competed, but they avoided any head-to-head competition against their Aussie arch rivals, Ian Thorpe, Michael Klim and Geoff Huegill. Frolander hardly got his suit wet during the preliminary rounds, while Hoogie at least went to great pains to sign autographs for hundreds of adoring fans.

Clearly, many of the world's best-- the Americans included-decided they had had enough after the World Championships, either to recover from an injury or get back to school. By contrast, the Aussies had an almost complete World Championships lineup along with a few rising stars thrown in for good measure. Competing in front of their adoring fans plus the formal announcement of the retirement of the irrepressible Aussie head coach, Don Talbot, during the meet gave the Aussies added impetus for a win.

And, as expected, the Aussies won. Both their men and women easily captured the team gold medals-as well as $200,000 (U.S.)-by beating the World All-Stars and Team USA, respectively.

Men's Events

Australia 104, World All-Stars 45

In the team goldmedal round, the Aussie men won 14 of the 17 events against the World All-Stars with Ian Thorpe, Michael Klim, Grant Hackett, Geoff Huegill and Matt Welsh doing the dam age.

The Aussies started with a decisive victory in the medley relay and finished the night in the same way in the freestyle relay. Thorpe clocked his second fastest 100 free split of 48.08 in the medley relay after Klim split 51.60 in the fly leg.

Rising star Jim Piper swam a meet best 2:12.58 to take the 200 breast. World Championship gold medalists, Hackett, Welsh and Huegill, each scored two individual victories. Canadian Morgan Knabe grabbed a double in the 50-100 breast, and Kiwi Dean Kent won the 400 IM for the World All-Stars.

USA 87, European All-Stars 62

The U.S. men salvaged some pride by winning the team bronze medal over an undermanned European All-Star squad. The margin on the scoreboard looked convincing, but the USA was only leading by four points with three races to go. The plight of the Europeans was highlighted when team manager, former Dutch Olympic Mer, Marcel Wouda, was forced to swim the 50 breast.

Since most athletes had several swims in each match, the chance to pick up an extra $50,000 for a world record was no easy task. However, U.S. Olympic 200 fly gold medalist, Tom Malchow, seemed fresh for the challenge. Only competing in the 200 fly during the meet, he swam four straight 1:55s, clocking 1:55.20 in this match to lower his own Games record, but short of the 1:54.58 set bv compatriot Michael Phelps in July.

In the end, winning this meet was more about depth and strategy than times.

Women's Events Australia 89, USA 60

The Aussie women beat the USA for the second time in the meet to take the team gold. Their first clash in the prelims was a crowd-pleasing, all-theway battle with only ten points separating the two teams at the finish. In the final match, the Aussies got off to a crushing start with five straight wins to lead 31-12 and leave the U.S. women shell-shocked.

Californian 16-year-old, Kristen Caverly, who had been having an excellent meet, suffered cramps at the end of the 400 IM, and the sight of her being helped from the pool in the second race of the night seemed to unsettle the visitors.

Sure, the Americans sent a relatively inexperienced team to Australia, led by a courageous team captain, Lindsay Benko, but in the end, the much-improved Aussie women gained an invaluable psychological victory over their rivals-a win is a win, as they say.

The Aussie momentum has been building since the World Championships, starting with the way they came through their disqualification in the 800 freestyle relay. In particular, butterfly world champ, Petria Thomas, the main culprit in the relay, led with experience and courage throughout this meet, not to mention her three individual victories.