Poetry in motion on water, that’s Cate Campbell for you when she is in the pool during her freestyle swims. Born in Africa, Cate moved over to Australia, a country with a rich swimming history and took to the water like fish. Rising through the national ranks, she qualified for the Beijing Olympics at the tender age of 16 and won a bronze in the 50 free.
The medal rush had only just begun.
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2009 World Championships
Campbell finished third in the 50m freestyle at the 2009 Championships held in Rome. She suffered from injuries and was taken off the 400m freestyle relay.
London Olympics – 2012
After taking time off during 2010/11, due to hip and shoulder surgeries and bouts of fatigue, Campbell bounced back to be part of the Gold Medal winning 400 free relay team. This was Australia’s only Gold in the swimming pool.
Campbell era gets into motion
She qualified for the 2013 Worlds, with wins in the 50 and 100 metres free at her National Championships and there was no looking back after that. Teaming up with sister Bronte, Alicia Coutts and Emma Mckeon she won silver in the 400m free relay behind the USA.
But, in the 100 free, Campbell clocked 52.34 seconds to win gold. Significantly she simply annihilated the best sprinters of the modern generation including her sister Bronte, Sarah Sjostrom and the defending Olympic champion Ranomi Kromowidjojo.
The 2014 Commonwealth Games and the Pan Pacific championships saw her swim and triumph in all the sprint events and the two relays too.
2015 - Bronte overshadows Cate
Approaching the Kazan Worlds in prime form, she started off the meet with a Gold in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay with help from her sister’s massive anchor leg. But the individual shorter sprints fell to her fast improving younger sibling Bronte Campbell. History was created at Kazan when for the first time, siblings stood on the podium, not once, but twice.
Run-up to Rio Olympics – Aussie Olympic trials
Campbell got her individual events off to a great start, winning the 100m free with a time of 52.38, just five one-hundredths of a second off her World Record. Sister Bronte was not far behind, finishing second. Campbell swam a blistering fast 50 free to win the event with a time of 23.84, touching ahead of her sister, Bronte Campbell’s 24.24. Kazan results reversed, in no uncertain terms!
Seemingly not satisfied, Cate smashed her own world record at the Brisbane Grand Prix just a month back..whopping 52.06 seconds.
Wide array of sprinting talent awaits her at the Olympic finals
Campbell’s lowered the Olympic records twice, during the on the same day. While the heats were a no contest she was surprisingly pushed in the last few meters her semis by a very young Penny Oleksiak from Canada.
Almost at the other end of the age spectrum, Penny at just 15 years of age created a new World Junior Record in the 100m freestyle event, stopping the clock at a remarkable time of 53.31 this past April. That time broke China’s Shen Duo’s world junior record of 53.84 and took down Chantal Landeghem‘s Canadian record of 53.83.
Oleksiak is certainly one to watch in Rio and beyond. Do we see similarities with the Australian 100 m Olympic Champion Kyle Chalmers here?
Her qualifying time of 52.72 seconds was just one-hundredth of a second slower than Cate Campbell’s.
Double world Champion Bronte Campbell, has looked slightly below par in the heats and the semis. But it was her third leg in the 400 free relay earlier in the week that offered the cushion that elder sister Cate built on especially with Ledecky in the US ranks.
Let’s not forget the defending Olympic champion at the both the sprints, flying Dutchwoman Ranomi Kromowidjojo who at 25 years is the grand old lady in the finals.
She has equaled the short course world record in the ‘Dual in the Pool’ last December, proving her sprint credentials. Of course she has that big stage experience, of two Olympic finals and a podium finishes.
One of the stars of the Rio Olympics has to be the tall Swede Sarah Sjostrom. Current world record holder in the 50m and 100m butterfly events, she has proven on multiple occasions that she is a force when it comes to sprint freestyle as well. Claiming the silver in Kazan in a time of 52.70, the Swede has registered 52-point times on 10 separate occasions throughout her career.
Her quickest of the Rio-qualifying period 52.70 from Kazan sits just 2nd to her personal best of 52.67 scored in 2014.
But, fatigue could be a factor, when competing against fresh swimmers in the lanes next to her, as Sjostrom has already competed in the 100m butterfly and 200m freestyle events albeit with astounding success.
Coming into the finals as the fastest qualifier, Cate Campbell has looked so smooth it seems she is just gliding high above the water quite unlike anyone else. With a fairly light program, she should have plenty left in the tank for the final.
Lest we forget she swam 51.8 and 51.9 splits on Australia’s 4×100 free relay early in the meet.
Trouble ahead for the rest!!
