SYDNEY, Australia, April 2. THE Australian Long Course Championships has certainly begun to rewrite the world rankings this year, especially with Alicia Coutts taking dead aim at a pair of titles this evening.
Alicia Coutts dominated the women's 100 fly with a winning time of 57.25. That swim pushed her to the top of the world in the event, far surpassing the previous pacesetter of 57.62 clocked by Inge Dekker in Amsterdam in March. Stephanie Rice finished second in 58.18, while Jessicah Schipper wound up third in 58.45. Rice and Schipper took eighth and ninth in the rankings.
Coutts followed up with a winning 2:10.06 in the women's 200 IM, while Rice took second in 2:10.41. Full results of the finale have not been made available. Both times crushed the previous world best of 2:12.01 set by Hannah Miley last month in Great Britain.
Matt Targett knocked off Geoff Huegill, 23.27 to 23.48, for the men's 50 fly victory. Targett also edged Huegill for the top spot in the world rankings, as Huegill previously held the world best mark with a 23.28 from February. Joseph Carty completed the top three in 23.95 after posting a 23.76 in prelims to take fifth in the world rankings.
Brenton Rickard and Christian Sprenger put on a shot in the men's 100 breast with Rickard winning, 1:00.12 to 1:00.37. The swimmers moved to second and third, respectively, in the world rankings behind only Yuta Suenaga's 59.93 from Tokyo in February. James Stacey placed third in 1:02.43.
In semifinal action, Ben Treffers led the way in the men's 100 back with a ninth-ranked 54.18, while Leiston Pickett jumped to third in the world in the women's100 breast with a 1:06.92. Only Rebecca Soni (1:05.89) and Leisel Jones (1:06.68) have been faster. Jones cruised to second in 1:07.82.
Emily Seebohm paced the women's 100 back semis with a 1:00.49, while Belinda Hocking earned the second seed with a 1:00.52. Tommaso D'Orsogna and Ryan Napoleon tied for the top seed out of the men's 200 free with matching seventh-ranked 1:48.24s.
In multi-disability events, Kayle Clarke was listed first in the women's 50 free with a 29.33, while Mitch Kilduff was listed first in the men's 50 free with a 25.27.