NEW SOUTH WALES STATE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Friday, March 13th – Sunday, March 15th
- Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Center (SOPAC)
- 50m (LCM)
- SwimSwam Meet Preview
- Start Lists
- Live Results
Update:
After appealing to the Jury of Appeals, Cate Campbell was reinstated in the 100 free with a time of 53.05, giving her a silver medal behind Emma McKeon.
Original Reporting:
The New South Wales State Open Championships is one of a handful of swimming meets still taking place amidst the coronavirus (COVID-19) worldwide outbreak. You can read our comprehensive day 1 recap of the 3-day meet here.
One event which took place today was the women’s 100m freestyle, with the likes of Cate Campbell, Bronte Campbell, Madi Wilson, Brianna Throssell, Emma McKeon, Holly Barratt, Leah Neale and more in the water at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Center.
Campbell (C1) posted the 3rd fastest time of the morning with a casual heats swim of 54.06 to comfortably make into the final behind leaders Wilson (53.67) and McKeon (53.88).
Come the final, however, C1 was called for flinching on the blocks and disqualified for a false start. In her stead, it was McKeon who surged to the meet title in a time of 53.00, just .25 behind the 52.75 that garnered her the 4th place finish in the event at last year’s World Championships.
Wilson posted a new lifetime best of 53.50 for silver, while Bronte (C2) cleared bronze in 55.02.
Going back to C1, the 27-year-old recently identified her thought of being DQ’d as a reason for her non-medal result in Rio at the 2016 Olympic Games, despite entering that women’s final as a medal favorite.
As we reported last month, at the time, Campbell herself called the her 6th place finish in Rio “possibly the greatest choke in Olympic history.” But almost four years later, Campbell says she believed she moved on the block and would be disqualified at the end of the race.
“I moved,” Campbell said. “But I might have been still enough to move again when the starting signal went.
“I was about 90 percent sure that I would be disqualified,” she continued. “Maybe it would have been a preferable option.”
She’ll need to shake these DQ thoughts out of her mind to make things happen this time around, especially with the Australian National Championships being cancelled. That’s one less meet to rid herself of on-the-block doubt.
She wàs reinstated following an appeal so was awarded the silver in 53.05
Should practice some meditation/mindfulness techniques, and of course lots of starts. Sounds like she’s mentally scattered behind the block. Jumping after a 1/10 second advantage in a 100m race takes your mind out of the rest of the race. Even a perfect start is unlikely to make the difference 52 seconds later.
But she nails the relay take overs, where she usually anchors?
So is it the stress of the quiet and the gun that sets off the anxiety on the blocks?
C1 doesn’t appear to be anywhere near as mentally tough as Simone.
Not many people on this planet are… especially when the pressure is at its highest.
Simone has that Novak Djokovic mentality
What about those relay anchors where she looked almost in tears after losing a lead?
Win or lose, she has no excuses
But, Cate nails the relays…and they are stressful too…it is like the riddle of the sphynx.
In relay a swimmer controls the moment of start, makes estimate of it and is in a movement already which she can adjust if a finisher behaves slightly different than expected. Starting from the uncomfortable static position having no idea when the start signal happens is completely different situation.
what was cates time before she got DQ?
53.05
I’ve never liked the flinch rule but I think shes just making excuses at this point…never mentioned it till almost 4 years later
here we go again
Maybe she’s also trying to improve her reaction time but with Rio lingering it is a double edged sword
she’s not losing races because of a tenth of a second from her start though…seems like a silly place to be investing time instead of say, getting mentally ready
% gains? Most likely is doing whatever she can to get faster, and good on her
sounds like it’s time for someone to put some work in on their start…