Swimmer Jarrod Poort sweated

Donal — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 14:02:16 +0000

In reply to The 1500m Freestyle in London

Swimmer Jarrod Poort sweated three months for Games go-ahead

WHEN Jarrod Poort was told yesterday he would be keeping alive Australia's proud history in the 1500m freestyle, he thought only of Kieren Perkins and Grant Hackett. In fact, he will keep alive in London a history that extends back to the Hitler Olympics.

Not since the 1936 Berlin Games has Australia not fielded a swimmer in the 1500m, the event that over the past 104 years has produced more medals for Australia _ eight gold, eight silver and eight bronze _ than any other Olympic event.

But that 76-year sequence looked like ending when 17-year-old Poort won the 30-lap race at the selection trials in Adelaide in a time, 15min 13.38sec, that was 2.3sec outside the Olympic A-qualifying mark.

Poort's only hope of swimming in the Olympics rested on the standard of entries from other countries.

Only if, once all the A-qualifying spots were filled, he ranked among the top B-qualifiers would he be extended a discretionary invitation by the International Olympic Council.

And that's precisely what happened yesterday.

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Swimmer Jarrod Poort sweated