Roles Reversed As Usriled By Rivals' Talk

The Sunday Age

Sunday March 18, 2007

Stathi Paxinos

NEARLY seven years ago, it was Gary Hall jnr's pre-Olympic Games prediction that the Americans would smash the opposition like guitars that rebounded when the Australians upset the flashy US 4 x 100 freestyle relay team to win gold.

However, while the image of Ian Thorpe and co mocking Hall by playing air guitars after claiming the gold in Sydney has gone into Olympic folklore, American superstar Michael Phelps said yesterday the roles had now been reversed after Australia's fastest man Eamon Sullivan joined the South Africans in saying he would love to spank the favourites on the opening night of swimming next weekend.

"When someone does say something, it motivates us," Phelps said. "It just fuels the fire. It's something that going help us get up and try to swim even faster. You can always count on them (Australia) putting together a good team when it comes to a big meet like this, especially in your home country. You're going to be able to swim faster and that's something that excites us and we're ready for them."

The US has anenviable history in relays and reclaimed the 4 x 100 metres world record at last year's Pan Pacific championships by slicing nearly three-quarters of a second off the old mark set by South Africa at the Athens Olympic Games in 2004.

Even more worryingly for the Australians - and the more powerful South African team that regularly has been baiting the Americans - Phelps said he faced the same sort of questioning in the lead-up to the 2003 world titles in Barcelona, where he broke five world records.

Backstroke champion Aaron Peirsol, a mainstay on the American team since 2000, said yesterday the current team - which has four individual world record-holders, including himself, who hold a range of world marks outside the freestyle events - was the best he had seen.

"No, never been in a better American swim team," he said. "I think we definitely have a very good, strong, deep team and what is so neat is that the team that is here is not really all of it. We have guys back home who very well could be here and could medal, but on that particular day (at the US nationals), it is only top two (that make the team).

However, national head coach Mark Schubert said the 1976 Olympic men's team that won all but one gold medal was the benchmark every American team sought to match.

"That's where we set the bar and I think it's really an honour to be compared to that team but it's going to be a challenge to live up to it," Schubert said.

He said America would support Australia's push to have video footage used in appeals when FINA officials meet in an extraordinary conference during the world championships.

Australia has been an advocate since Jessicah Schipper was robbed of a world record and world title in 2005 when she was beaten to the wall by 0.04 seconds by an illegal one-handed touch by Otylia Jedrzejczak. The Australian's appeal was rejected because video footage was not permissible.

"I would not be surprised that if we do not see a rule change that they don't at least start experimenting to look at it to develop the rule change. It will happen," he said. "When you can stand on the deck and make the call the official can't make because they can't see it because of the glare under the water . . . it's time to get into the 21st century."