SYDNEY, Australia, July 4. EAMON Sullivan, the world-record holder in the men's 50 free, provided a scare to spectators at the Telstra Grand Prix stop held in Sydney, Australia.
During the preliminary heats of the 50 free Monaco shootout events, Sullivan clocked a time of 34.99 to finish dead last. His nagging back injury flared up again, and he decided to pull out from the rest of the competition.
According to Sullivan's coach Grant Stoelwinder, by way of Swimming Australia, Sullivan "'popped a rib' training on Monday and received a cortisone injection on Tuesday to try and speed up the healing process.
"He was almost going to test his dive in the warm up but chose to do it under race conditions and we decided if he felt a twinge, he was always going to pull up and just swim through – and that's what happened," Stoelwinder told Swimming Australia. "It was purely a precautionary measure and hopefully he will be back swimming by tomorrow afternoon. We have done some good work lately and the swimming part is fine – it's just the twinge he gets off the dive – it will take a bit more time. He will continue to have his usual treatment and we will obviously monitor him closely."
Ashley Callus wound up setting the meet record with a time of 22.16 in the event, then led qualifying in the men's 100 free with a time of 49.50.
Meanwhile, Hayden Stoeckel shot down another meet record with a time of 25.86 in the men's 50 back of the Monaco prelims.
Additionally, Elizabeth Coster clocked a time of 28.66 in the women's 50 back to crack the meet record in that event as well.
According to Swimming Australia, Stephanie Rice and Leisel Jones both also pulled out of the meet. Rice has a "slight back injury," while Jones is nursing a "minor groin strain."