Illness reduces Australian chances for worlds

Sydney: A bout of the sniffles and an "energy-zapping virus" could reduce the Australia team`s chances of winning the usual assortment of titles at the world swimming championships starting on Sunday in Rome.Triple Olympic champion Stephanie Rice arrived at the team`s training base in Manchester, England, suffering from a head cold, while men`s sprint freestyler Eamon Sullivan was earlier sent home from Europe after suffering from the virus.

Head coach Alan Thompson however made light of the cold suffered by Rice, who won the 200 and 400 metres individual medley at Beijing, and expected her to front up in her events. The 21-year-old, also a member of the victorious 4x200 Olympic freestyle relay team, will contest the medleys in Rome as well as the 200 freestyle and the 4x200 team. However her preparations for the world championships have been chequered, with an extended holiday after Beijing and a shoulder injury which put her training behind schedule. Rice and Beijing 100 butterfly champion Libby Trickett will headline the Australian women`s team, with world and Olympic breaststroke champion Leisel Jones withdrawing so she could complete a beauty school course. Trickett enters the Rome competition as the world champion in the women`s 50 and 100 freestyle and 100 butterfly though faces an uphill battle to repeat that. While she has shown good form in the buildup to the championships she admitted she had underestimated the impact of the controversial new polyurethane swimsuits many of her rivals are now using. "I trialled that suit and I was fatigued and I went faster than I have all year," she told The Australian newspaper after she swam 24 seconds in a training session for the 50 freestyle -- just 0.04 seconds off Marleen Veldhuis`s world record. "I wish I could continue to be naive because it`s nice to believe that it`s your own ability that counts the most in the race." "In the wake of what I have now experienced with the new suits, and what my training partners have found, I can`t do that." Trickett said she was contracted to a rival swimsuit company, undoubtedly putting her at a disadvantage to Germany`s Britta Steffen who broke Trickett`s 100 freestyle world record in June in one of the new polyurethane suits. Australia`s chances have been further weakened by naming 10 rookies in their squad, as several big names either opted to take a break or are not even in training to produce personal best times three years out from the London Olympics in 2012. Sullivan was joined on the sidelines by Olympic 100 backstroke bronze medallist Hayden Stoeckel after his hip injury had not improved during training. Olympic silver medallist Brenton Rickard may prove to be the saviour of the men`s team in the 200 breaststroke, with Japan`s Kosuke Kitajima opting to take the year off. "Obviously the 200 has been successful for me over the last couple of years and that`s one of the events that I would like to stamp my authority on now that Kitajima won`t be here this year," Rickard told Swimming Australia`s website. Twice double Olympic champion Kitajima`s absence from the Japanese team will place added pressure on Ryosuke Irie, though the teenage backstroker has been producing blistering times during his preparations. He broke the 200 backstroke record in May, only for world governing body FINA to refuse to ratify the mark as his bodysuit was not on the approved list. Bureau Report