Now that the calendar has turned over to June 1st in Australia, Libby Trickett is officially back and eligible for FINA sanctioned competition again, after the mandated 9-month FINA waiting period. Following her brief retirement, Trickett exited the drug-testing pool, and FINA has this waiting period in place to ensure that athletes don’t retire to circumnavigate doping rules.
It will still be another 4 weeks until Trickett makes her official debut at the Australian World Championship Relay Trials, a meet that is presumed to have been created specifically with the idea of finding relay spots for Trickett. The 6th member of each of the Australian relay squads will be decided at this meet.
Trickett will be a welcome sight back poolside for the Aussies, as much for her infectious smile as for her 6-Olympic-medal talent. The Shanghai World Championships, should she nab a relay spot, will be a good mile-marker, but her real focal point is next summers Olympics in London. Still, the Australian relays, threatened by increasing world talent and parity, will need this meet for Trickett to rebuild confidence this summer if they want to pull off 3 relay medals in London. Her most important contribution would be in the 400 free relay, where Australia has won two straight medals (after a 40-year drought).
Trickett relayed her excitement over the anniversary with the following tweet:
