Campbell rises to the challenge
If ever Bronte Campbell was going to step out of her sister Cate’s shadow, this was the moment.
And when the competitors left the pool after the national 100m freestyle final in Sydney, world champion Cate did look broken.
But she was still triumphant.
Cate (52.69 seconds) defied a disrupted preparation and her spirited sister (53.04) to seal a third straight 100m title on Wednesday night, equalling the world’s fastest time of 2015.
Then it got interesting.
An exhausted Cate had to be assisted by officials amid fears she may collapse pool-side after pulling off her stunning win.
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She needed minutes to regain her composure after being offered a chair before agreeing to talk to the media, albeit amid a few dry reaches.
“I thought I better sit down for a while because I didn’t think you guys wanted to be vomited on,” she said after her body was gripped by lactic acid.
But in the end the 22-year-old stood tall.
And it’s a habit Bronte does not expect to end any time soon despite missing out on what seemed a golden chance to end her sibling’s remarkable 100m unbeaten streak since late 2012.
Cate appeared at her most vulnerable after just a three month national titles preparation due to shoulder surgery.
And she didn’t have to look far to assess her national titles competition.
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Her flatmate and sister Bronte had been training an extra three months before the 2015 world titles trials.
And it appeared to pay off when Bronte topped 100m final qualifying ahead of her big name sibling.
Indeed, world No.3 Bronte had only fallen short of downing her sister by just 0.01 of a second at January’s Aquatic Super Series in Perth after giving her sibling scares at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacs last year.
But instead of ruing a missed chance to upstage her sibling, Bronte saluted her sister’s gutsy comeback.
“I’m so unbelievably thrilled for Cate because she has had a really, really tough year,” Bronte said.
“She has been racing with injury for over a year and had to come back from surgery so I’m so glad she could get up and do that.
“That’s as vulnerable as she ever gets (but) she never seems to have an off day.
“Obviously it’s hard coming back from injury and she would be seen as vulnerable but I think she showed that she is not.”
Remarkably, despite being underdone, the national titles winning time would have claimed 2012 London Olympic gold.
– AAP
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