Kazan: Cate Campbell faces deeper competition

Australian swimmer Cate Campbell says she faces more depth of competition in retaining her 100m freestyle world title at Kazan.

Cate Campbell prepares for the world swimming championships in Kazan. Picture: Ric Frearson

On the eve of the FINA world swimming championships, Cate Campbell was asked if she and her sister Bronte were the “Williams sisters of the pool’’, and she laughed.

“Yeah, but I am hoping there won’t be a Serena situation where I am leapfrogged by the younger sister,’’ she said.

“But we are living our dream together. It was never just one of us dreaming to be an Olympian, it was both of us. To have achieved that is something that we will never take for granted. To have represented Australia, to be able to do it together is a privilege.

“Every year we have to stop and take stock of where we are and be incredibly grateful because not many people get to do it let alone with the person who is closest to you in the world.’’¶

Unlike the Williams sisters, who rarely compete directly against each other on the tennis court, the Campbell sisters can’t avoid it. In almost every individual race, one has to lose for the other to win.

To date the dominant performer has been world 100-metre freestyle champion Cate, but 21-year-old Bronte finally claimed a win of her own at the national trials this year in the 50m freestyle.

Both have arrived for the championships in Kazan in Russia ranked in the top four in the world in the 50m and 100m freestyle, so further head-to-head competition is unavoidable.

But tomorrow they will relish their favourite moment of any international championship, when they get to compete together as part of the 4 X 100m freestyle relay team and share any resulting medals.¶

Combining with Emma McKeon and Melanie Wright (nee Schlanger), they broke the world record in this event at last year’s Commonwealth Games and, with all four individually ranked in the top six in the world, the Australian quartet will be the hottest of favourites to win the gold medal in Kazan.

“It will be great getting out there and racing together first off on Sunday night,’’ Cate said.

“It’s something we always look forward to, racing together, instead of racing against each other.

“But for me, I’ve said from the time we step out behind the blocks, Bronte ceases to exist. So do the other six people in the final, I’m not discriminating, don’t take it personally, I know it’s exactly the same for her. I just shut off to the rest of the competitors and focus on what I need to do.

“In that respect, it doesn’t really matter whether she’s there or not, because from the moment I step out she doesn’t even feature in my thoughts. Once I hit the wall, it’s see how I’ve done, because we are selfish human beings, and then it’s see how she’s done.’’

Cate Campbell goes into the world titles ranked No 1 in both the 50m and 100m freestyle.

She was a commanding winner of the 100m in Barcelona two years ago but Dutch Olympic champion Ranomi Kromowidjojo got the jump on her in the one-lap dash, turning a superior start into victory.

Since then, Kromowidjojo’s former coach Jacco Verhaeren has been appointed the head coach of the Australian team and is now assisting Cate to prevent a repeat of that result in Kazan.

He has worked specifically with Cate and her coach Simon Cusack on improving her start over the last six week.

Cate said she hoped to give Kromowidjojo “a taste of her own medicine because I have this great mind working with me this time around and not her’’.

“Probably the last month or two we have been really working on those skills,’’ she said.¶

“He gets very technical about the angle of the dive, the movement that needs to come first and it’s a bit different to what I have been used to.’’¶

“So from that respect he is very clever, he has been doing it for a long time with great success, Ranomi [Kromowidjojo] has one of the best starts in the world, all the Dutch girls do.’’¶

Cate is the only Australian swimmer in a position to defend her world title in Kazan but she expects it will be a tougher prospect than it was in 2013 after seeing the growing depth of the event.

“There are four of us who have consistently swum sub-53 [seconds], so to make it on the podium you are going to have swim incredibly fast,’’ she said.

“It comes down to that one moment in time and who steps up. It’s anyone’s game.

“It’s about never giving up until your hand is on the wall. I think people who get complacent, who think that they are in front, a sloppy touch, can cost you that elusive medal, just as much as the people who are gunning for you. If you believe you can get there right to the very end, miracles do happen.

“Nothing is a guarantee and you have to fight tooth and nail until your hand is on the wall. And that’s what I’m going to do, I’m going to fight for it.’’