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Water baby Mckeon ready to make a splash in Rio
Australian swimmer Emma Mckeon, 22, was virtually born in the water. Both of her parents represented their country in swimming – her father Ron competed at the Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984 - so the sport was part of her life from an early age.
“I grew up around the water, at the beach, the backyard pool, etc. so my love of swimming started at a very young age,” explains the freestyle and butterfly specialist. “My brother and sister and I were always active doing some form of sport around the water - swimming, surfing, waterskiing - and my parents also run a swim school, so I learned early.
Emma started swimming competitively at the age of 13, but her first taste of international competition was at the2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore, which she says, provided her with a wealth of experience, and plenty of cherished memories.
Emma getting ready to race in Kazan 2015 ©Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia
“As someone who grew up dreaming of competing for my country at the Olympics, being selected for the Youth Olympic team was pretty exciting. I didn't really know what to expect because it was my first international competition, but it gave me the opportunity to get an idea of what competing at the Olympics would be like, but obviously on a smaller scale.
“I love the social side of swimming and the fact that I have made so many lifelong friends through my sport. The opportunities I have gotten through swimming are amazing, getting to see the world and meet so many different people. The YOG was great in that respect.
“Competing in the mixed relays with the boys was a real highlight; it's not something we get to do very often so it was a lot of fun.”
She is also convinced that her Singapore experience provided her with a platform for senior success and put her in good stead for what lies ahead in Rio.
“The YOG was a fun introduction to international racing for me and it probably inspired me to want to keep competing through to an older age and make the Olympic team. There was a fun, energetic and relaxed atmosphere, which meant it wasn’t too daunting, so it was a really great thing to be a part of. I think having experienced the YOG will help me prepare for certain aspects of the Games, particularly the Olympic Village set-up, and the fact that so many different countries will be involved. But obviously everything in Rio will be on a much bigger scale.”
4x100 Medley relay women: Team Australia clinched bronze in Kazan 2015 ©Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia
Emma says that competing in the Olympic pool in Rio will be the fulfilment of a lifelong dream, and the result of a lot of personal sacrifice. “Making the Olympic team is my proudest achievement so far,” she reflects. “It's been something I’ve dreamt of from a very young age; ever since I used to watch my heroes compete for their country on the television at home. Since then it's been something I have wanted to do. And I have worked hard to make it happen so it feels special knowing I have earned it.
“I moved away from home in order to further my swimming career. That has come with a lot of personal challenges and I'm proud of how far I’ve come and how much I’ve grown to get to where I am today.”
In 2014 she made her mark at the Commonwealth Games, winning no less than four gold medals and two bronzes, suggesting that she will be a force to be reckoned with in Rio.
Emma’s participation at the 2016 Games will be very much a family affair. She is coached by dad Ron, while her brother, David, who made his Olympic debut at London 2012 in the 400m freestyle, has also been selected for the Australian team. “My dad always has valuable advice to give me in many areas of my life, including swimming. I'm lucky I get to learn from him every day and have that amazing support in my life,” she enthuses.
“Making the Olympics has been an overwhelming experience. I knew I could do it if I worked hard enough for. The fact that my brother is going to be competing in Rio too makes it even more special. It's definitely not something that happens very often and to be able to share the experience of going to the biggest sporting event in the world together, I'm sure will be amazing.
“I'm trying to stay relaxed about it, but without losing my excitement. That's what is helping me work hard every day in training. I’m not getting too stressed about competing at that level. I'm just super excited to get on the plane and head over to Rio now.”
Due to compete in five events – the 200m freestyle, the 100m butterfly, the 4x100m freestyle relay, the 4x200m freestyle relay and the 4x100m medley relay – Emma has set herself some very clear targets.
“My objective in Rio is to swim faster than I did at the trials, and not think too much about the outcome. Everyone I have spoken to about the Olympics says it is one of the best experiences of their life, so I want to make sure I don't get too overwhelmed and that I really just enjoy it all.”
Article and interview written by the International Olympic Committee
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Pellegrini: first month with Lucas
Pellegrini moved to Paris to train with new coach Philippe Lucas, former coach of the Italian’s rival Laure Manaudou. Pellegrini has been training since the beginning of February at the Largardère Centre where Lucas also coaches Amaury Leveaux and Benjamin Stasiulis. Pellegrini said she would return to Verona to make the final refinements to her preparations for the FINA World Championships on Shanghai. The Italian national team are in training camps: the pool swimmers in Fort Lauderdale, Flagstaff and Coral Springs in the United States and the open water swimmers in Perth, Australia.
Federations NewsCenturions Hungary and Australia battle out draw in second-place decider
However, by coincidence, it was also Australia’s 100th match at World Championship level and a draw with the country that has won more Olympic gold medals than anyone else (9), would have been unheard of some years ago.
Under the coaching of Croatia Olympic champion assistant coach Elvis Fatovic, the Aussie Sharks took the lead at 3-2, 4-3 and 5-4 and then later levelled at 7-7, 8-8 and 9-9. Campbell featured with five of those goals, including his fifth from the 10m line!
Hungarian head coach Tibor Benedek was happy with the draw that needed delving into the rule book and shovel down to the fourth tie-break rule to find out who gains second place. Serbia won the group with a 16-9 defeat of China.
In Group A, the main match was the group decider between Spain and Greece — the last match of the day. Spain disappointed the near-capacity crowd when bowing 8-7 after playing catch-up water polo for three-quarters of the match. Montenegro had earlier beaten New Zealand for four points and what turned out to be second place.
In Group B action, Croatia topped the quartet with an 18-0 romp over South Africa who had a goal disallowed in the final six seconds. United States of America had the better of Canada for second place, winning 8-7.
Italy swam away with Group D in defeating Kazakhstan 12-6 and Germany battled to a 9-8 thriller over winless Romania.
Final points:
Group A: GRE 6, MNE 4, ESP 2, NZL 0.
Group B: CRO 6, USA 4, CAN 2, RSA 0.
Group C: SRB 6, HUN 3, AUS 3, CHN 0.
Group D: ITA 6, GER 4, KAZ 2, ROU 0.
Quarterfinal qualifiers:
Sunday, July 28 (times to be decided):
GRE vs RSA
MNE vs CAN
CRO vs NZL
USA vs ESP
SRB vs ROU
HUN vs KAZ
ITA vs CHN
GER vs AUS
BCN2013 - Water PoloWater Polo Men: Day 3: GRE 8 ESP 7
Molina scored on extra to open the second half. Christos Afroudakis and Ioannis Fountoulis stretched the margin 5-2. Balasz
Siranyi scored from centre forward for Spain but Fountoulis scored on
the next attack, which proved to be the final score of the third period.
Marc
Minguell lifted hearts of the Spanish crowd, receiving the shortest of
passes (30cm) on extra in front of goal when Delakis gained his third
foul, to score for 6-4.
Mylonakis scored from deep right, catching with his right hand, turning and shooting for 7-4 at 7:11.
Molina nailed his third goal on extra from close in at 6:31 for 7-5 and the game was wide open.
Huge
defensive doors were erected in front of each goal until Minguell broke
through with a shot down the line into the bottom right for 7-6 at
3:32.
Greece called a timeout at 3:05 and the shot came after the
excluded player returned but Angelos Vlachopoulos had time to turn at
deep right and score for 8-6.
Minguell scored his third on the next
Spanish attack on extra for 8-7 at 1:23 and Greece went to a timeout but
the game entered the last minute as the shot went wide.
Spain gained
an extra-man play and shot, deflected over by goalkeeper Konstantinos
Tsalkanis. Spain shot again but it was collected by Greece with 30
seconds remaining and Afroudakis held the ball in the dying seconds for
the victory.
Spain had won four of the last five matches at World Championships.
Match 22: 21:30, Group A, SPAIN 7 GREECE 8
Quarters: 1-1, 0-2, 2-3, 4-2
Referees: Radoslaw Koryzna (POL), Mario Bianchi (ITA).
Extra Man: ESP: 4/8. GRE: 2/2.
Pens: ESP: 1/1
Teams:
SPAIN: Inake Aguilar, Alberto Munarrez, Ruben Do Lera, Ricard Alarcon, Guillermo Molina (3), Marc Minguell (3), Balazs Sziranyi (1), Albert Espanol, Xavier Valles, Felipe Perrone, Pere Estrany, Xavier Garcia, Daniel Lopez. Head Coach: Rafael Aguilar.
GREECE: Konstantinos Tsalkanis, Emmanouill Mylonakis (3), Konstantinos Gouvis, Konstantinos Genidounios, Ioannis Fountoulis (2), Kyriakos Pontikeas, Christos Afroudakis (1), Evangelos Delakas (1), Konstantinos Mourikis, Christodoulos Kolomvos, Alexandros Gounas, Angelos Vlachopoulos (1), Konstantinos Galanidis. Head Coach: Athanasios Kechagias.
Match Report:
FLASH QUOTES:
Christos Afroudakis (GRE):
“We played a very good defence, and our keeper was spectacular tonight. We have to be very serious against South Africa.”
Angelos Vlachopoulos (GRE):
“We play every match as if it were the final, always based on a good defence and today was not an exception.
We have to go step by step, our next target is to pass to the quarterfinals. It is a championship and we need to be very serious and concentrated”
Marc Minguell (ESP):
“It has been an awful game. We’ve played our best part of the game based on our individual skills but we need to play more as a team. Now is everything or nothing and we have to correct our mistakes and go on.”
Felipe Perrone (ESP Captain):
“It has been a weird match, now pre-quarterfinals we need to forget the last two games. We were only able to break their defence at the end of the last quarter. Now USA is completely different to Greece and Montenegro and there’s nothing decided yet.”
Daniel López (ESP):
“We didn't play well, it wasn't the game we wanted. We started playing with more heart than head and in the second half we did it better. There are no bad teams so we have to improve our attack in the next game and carry on. We have no doubts in our team.”
BCN2013 - Water PoloAmericas water polo tournament to decide last two teams for World Championships
To date, the following teams have qualified for the Barcelona 2013 water polo tournaments in the men’s and women’s category:
MEN
Europe: Croatia, Italy, Serbia, Montenegro, Hungary, Romania, Greece, Germany and Spain
Asia: China and Kazakhstan
Oceania: Australia and New Zealand
Africa: South Africa
WOMEN
Europe: Hungary, Russia, Italy, Greece, Netherlands, Great Britain and Spain
America: USA
Asia: China, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan
Oceania: Australia and New Zealand
Africa: South Africa
The Barcelona 2013 water polo tournaments will be held at the Bernat Picornell pool on Monjuïc Mountain and the 16 teams will be seeded into four groups. The women’s competition will start on July 21 and conclude on August 2 while the men’s tournament is scheduled from July 22 to August 3. Both finals will take place at the Palau Sant Jordi, main venue of the 15th FINA World Championships in Barcelona.
BCN2013 - Water Polo
