Bronte Campbell admits she won’t watch sister Cate’s 100m freestyle world record swim

FINALLY the Campbell sister rivalry just got real. Very real. When Cate broke the 100m freestyle world record last month, Bronte was nowhere to be seen.

FINALLY the Campbell sister rivalry just got real. Very real.

The relationship between swimming’s golden siblings Cate and Bronte Campbell has captured the imagination of world sport’s media because they go head-to-head in the pool but are so incredibly tight out of the water as they live and train together daily.

But when it came to Cate’s moment in the sun, when she broke the 100m freestyle world record at a Brisbane grand prix last month, Bronte was nowhere to be seen.

SISTER ACT LAPPING UP THE PRESSURE

Cate and Bronte Campbell keep their careers separate.

Bronte, the current world champ, had missed the event due to illness and was at her local IGA buying ice to treat her troublesome shoulder when her father rang to tell her Cate had broken Britta Steffen’s super suit mark. Bronte hung up.

She wasn’t being rude and it wasn’t that she didn’t care, but she had to pay for her ice.

“I was like, That’s cool, dad, bye!’ and hung up on him and paid for my ice,” Campbell said.

“It would’ve been lovely to be there, it was a special moment but it’s Cate’s moment so it would’ve been lovely to be there but it’s also good she had it all to herself.”

But, interestingly, Bronte has never watched a single replay of the race on video.

The sisters will still be sharing a room in Rio.

Their coach Simon Cusack has banned Swimming Australia from releasing the full vision of the race online so international rivals can never see the full race of Cate swimming a stunning 52.06s 100m freestyle.

But Bronte could watch it whenever she wanted, but she hasn’t bothered to take a single glance.

“I haven’t seen it, it’s got nothing to do with me. If it was a competitor I wouldn’t be looking either and Cate’s my competitor,” she said.

“The coach can look at it but you never look at it, it’s not at all relevant to me.

“I don’t really care what my competitors are doing, it’s got nothing to do with me.”

Bronte won’t be revisiting Cat’s recent success in Brisbane.

Bronte is more focused on herself. How she can execute her perfect race. And she is hopeful she can do that in Rio now that her shoulder has come good following two cortisone injections since the trials.

She still has some way to go to catch Cate which is why despite being the current world champ, Bronte insisted Cate was now the one to beat in Rio despite Cate’s continued insistence she is the “underdog”.

“Cate does like to be the underdog, it’s a very Australian thing to be the underdog. It’s a Queensland thing, you don’t rate yourself too highly,” Bronte said.

“We don’t talk a big talk, it’s not worth it, we just go out there and do what you do.

“She is on the top of everyone’s list now, she is the fastest woman that’s ever been and that’s pretty impressive when you think about all the people that have ever been.

“I didn’t think anyone was coming close to (that world record) for a few years so forget top of my list she is top of everyone’s list, she is top of every list that there’s ever been.”

Originally published as Bronte Campbell admits she won’t watch sister Cate’s 100m freestyle world record swim