Watch Cate Campbell Race To Near Exhaustion En Route To 200 Free PB

2018 NSW STATE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS

World record holder and all-around freestyle powerhouse Cate Campbell completed a trifecta of wins at the NSW State Open Championships this weekend, taking the 50m, 100m and 200m titles. The first two came with convincingly winning times of 24.15 and 52.37, while the latter took more of a toll on the 25-year-old as her final event of the 3-day meet.

Opening in a wicked-fast 55.93, a split just .33 outside of Italian Federica Pellegrini’s 2009 world record pace, C2 saw the field gain ground coming home, forcing her to give the race her all to finish first in a title-winning time of 1:58.86, a new personal best. Madi Wilson touched in 1:58.95 for silver, while Mikkayla Sheridan was right behind in 1:58.98 for bronze.

It was clear scoring a personal best at the end of the in-season meet took C1 to an exhaustive level, as the 25-year-old needed to be assisted during the medal presentation.

“Two things I never thought I would see next to my name were 200m and State Champion,” she quipped once she caught her breath.

Check out how the race went down in the video below, courtesy of Hanson Media:

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JussiBjoerling
6 years ago

“Opening in a wicked-fast 55.93, a split just .33 outside of Italian Federica Pellegrini’s 2009 world record pace, C2 saw the field gain ground coming home, ” Wasn’t she C1???

dmswim
6 years ago

“It was clear scoring a personal best at the end of the in-season meet took C1 to an exhaustive level, as the 25-year-old needed to be assisted during the medal presentation.” Every distance swimmer rolls their eyes.

Neil
Reply to  dmswim
6 years ago

Let’s see a distance swimmer try and compete with the drop-dead sprint dogs. Maybe they wouldn’t be wheezing at the end of the race, but they’d get absolutely blow out of the water by the lower seeds.

dmswim
Reply to  Neil
6 years ago

They wouldn’t get beat by lower seeds, because they wouldn’t have a high seed in the first place. I just found the tone of the article a bit ridiculous. She did three events over three days, once of which being over 100 meters (gasp), and people are acting as though this is some incredible feat of endurance.

SchoolingFTW
Reply to  dmswim
6 years ago

She did 4 events.

Luigi
6 years ago

I don’t think she TRAINS for the 200 free, she just swims it every now and then, so don’t you worry: they are not going to spoil her sprinting abilities. It could be healthy for her, mentally, knowing that she can survive a grueling 200.

Matt Biondi used to have a very smooth and long stroke too, but in the end he was a much better sprinter than a 200 freestyler. Same with Popov, who if I recall correctly swam the 4×200 relays. Of course today there is much more specialization.

Yozhik
Reply to  Luigi
6 years ago

If she isn’t going to get trained for 200m distance then what all these 800 relay talks are about. If she trains for this relay she can be a 1:57 or even sub 1:57 contributor. But to say: Hey guys I can be faster but I don’t want to and if your relay is really in trouble then I will help with whatever I have. Take it or leave it. It doesn’t sound like Cate Campbell.
200 racing. For more than 8 years of her successful swimming career Cate Campbell competed only once at 200, swimming first half as 100 race and finishing the rest of the race in warm-down mode. For the last 10 months she did 6… Read more »

straightblackline
Reply to  Luigi
6 years ago

I could be wrong but I can’t recall Alexander Popov ever swimming the 4X200. When he made a real splash at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics winning the 50 and 100 I’m certain he didn’t swim for the CIS gold-medal winning team in the 4X200 in either the heats or the final.

Josh Davis
6 years ago

Probably one of the smoothest prettiest freestyles on the planet. She may not have 200 or mid-distance muscle fibers but she has a 200 stroke. I think she could go out in 55 and back in double 0 on a relay if she had to.

Aussie crawl
Reply to  Josh Davis
6 years ago

Thorpey would be next.
I still watch that 400 free from Perth in 1998…
Amazing.

nuotofan
Reply to  Josh Davis
6 years ago

Agree.
Above all, she has never trained for the 200 free, but her powerful, long, smooth stroke is typical of an outstanding 200 freer.
I remind Britta Steffen swim, in 2006, a great leg in the last European win of Germany in the 800 free relay. Then Steffen focused on 50 and 100 free (becoming double Olympic Champion at Beijing2008), but no doubt she could have been a great 200 freer with the right training.
But, like Cate Campbell, why working a lot to train the 200 free when you may be a successful 50-100 freer?

Dee
Reply to  nuotofan
6 years ago

Not to forget Libby Trickett – Perhaps not similar in her stroke, she was all power, but she was once one of the best 200 freestylers in the world and went close to breaking Van Almsick’s WR.

ALEXANDER POP-OFF
Reply to  Dee
6 years ago

And to add– Natalie Coughlin! Never one to swim an open 200 free in major champs, but she was often a mainstay on 800 free relays. If I’m not mistaken, in Athens her flat start time would have won the gold in the open event.

Yozhik
6 years ago

Cate Campbell’s personal best at 200 free is 1:58.21 shown at the beginning of last season.
It is interesting why she is including this race in her program. Last year Sarah Sjostrom moved other way excluding everything that is longer than 100m. On the other hand I noticed that Abbey Weitzeil swam consistently 200 race at any meets last year. Is this some kind of therapy for sprinters who have some stability issues with their main disciplines? 😀

Admin
Reply to  Yozhik
6 years ago

She said her coach made her do it so that she’d “have a healthy appreciation for the 100”.

“I was hoping if I do enough bad ones he would stop me doing them but the competitive edge in me just couldn’t let me bomb out on every race that I do.

“I won’t be doing one again in a hurry, they hurt a lot but I’m pleased with all my swims this week.

And what if there is a spot open for the 4x200m freestyle relay?

“Look, if my country need me, if it’s in dire straits, then I will come to its aid. If I’m called upon, then I will step up but I’m really hoping that the young… Read more »

Yozhik
Reply to  Braden Keith
6 years ago

If to continue citations of Cate Campbell then she told once that if the distance to race is 101m then she will die. I hope that her coach knows what he is doing, but for the bystander like me this rough treatment reminds the medieval doctor’s practice of bloodletting. I made this comparison before and am ready to repeat it again: Cate Campbell is like high performance high speed sport car. To get from her most she needs perfect racing conditions. To push her to run a cross-country is a killing the essence of her talent.

SwimGeek
Reply to  Yozhik
6 years ago

Let’s not get too dramatic. She swam a 200.

Yozhik
Reply to  SwimGeek
6 years ago

Before 2017 season when as I understand the 200m treatment began she competed in this event only ONCE in 2015 with the time 2:03.23

marklewis
6 years ago

She was 32.0 for the final 50. She’s not used to the pacing of a 200, so she was brave to give it a shot.

IM FAN
6 years ago

It’s only january and she’s going 24.15 and 52.37 in long course. Insane. I think she wants her WR back. It may be an off year, but I think we’re going to see some fast swimming this year

Joa
Reply to  IM FAN
6 years ago

Well, it’s not another off year for her, probably very excited to race for real again!

Both C1 and SS are so fast in season that it’s hard to say how much they drop later.

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Retta Race

Former Masters swimmer and coach Loretta (Retta) thrives on a non-stop but productive schedule. Nowadays, that includes having just earned her MBA while working full-time in IT while owning French 75 Boutique while also providing swimming insight for BBC.

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