By John Lohn
MELBOURNE, Australia, March 28. KEEPING himself in solid position throughout the 16-lap event, Tunisia's Ous Mellouli broke through for gold in the 800 freestyle. A frequent silver and bronze medalist in international long-course competition, it was a matter of time before Mellouli grabbed the top spot on the podium. That day has arrived.
With Sebastien Rouault of France setting a quick pace at the start, Mellouli sat in a comfortable spot and waited for his chance to make a move. That turn of events occurred around the 700-meter mark, when Mellouli took the lead on the way to a winning time of 7:46.95. He had earlier overtaken Rouault and then bolted ahead of Poland's Przemyslaw Stanczyk with two laps left.
Training under Dave Salo at Trojan Swim Club, the University of Southern California product won the silver medal earlier in the week in the 400 freestyle and was the bronze medalist in the 400 free two years ago in Montreal. He can now call himself a world champ. Mellouli still has the 400 I.M. on his schedule and should contend for a medal.
"It's great," he said "This year we've done a lot of work and (Salo) has me racing fast. It's great to be swimming in Australia. I've been shown great support. I wouldn't be here without the support of my country."
Stanczyk earned the silver medal in 7:47.91 and Aussie Crag Stevens was the bronze medalist in 7:48.67, thanks to a late surge. Italian Federico Colbertaldo was fourth (7:49.98) and Rouault faded to fifth (7:52.04). The sixth through eighth positions went to the Ukraine's Sergiy Fesenko (7:53.43), Aussie Grant Hackett (7:55.39) and Canada's Ryan Cochrane (7:56.56). Hackett, the bronze medalist in the 400 free, is obviously off form. That scenario, though, is not too big of a surprise considering his recent coaching change from Denis Cotterell to Ian Pope and his focus on his personal life.
To listen to Mellouli's coach, Dave Salo, discuss race strategy for the 800 freestyle, visit Swimming World Radio
Click Here to view event results PDF file.
