LAST UPDATED: December 4th, 2006 Click the banner for more info. for how to keep up to date with the latest results, news and more! Super G - The Giaan Rooney Fanlisting. a Virtual Obsession production My apologies for the big delay in updating, but I am looking forward to keeping things more update from here-on-in! ... We'll start with the recent news...! A full updates to come over the coming days... but in the mean time...Visit Swimming Australia for all the Nationals news! Giaan defends Jones and Lenton Dual Olympian Giaan Rooney has slammed reports criticising former team-mates Leisel Jones and Libby Lenton for their recent increase in body size, and has emphasised their newly-muscular shapes have predominantly come from extra time spent in the gym. Read the full story here on Sportal.com.au Golden girl can get green around the gills Confidence, fear, desperation and jealousy are key ingredients in the recipe for success, writes Elka Graham. WHEN an Australian nails a world record it is greeted with excitement, perhaps even a little adulation and backslaps from teammates, right? Sure, but there is another reaction too. Read the full story here at theage.com.au Giaan joins Channel 9 team for Trials and beyond While last night was not strictly Giaan Rooney's on air debut as part of the Channel 9 team for the Swimming coverage, as she has previously had cameo roles during her time on the National team as an athlete, it was a much increased role for Giaan from those appearances, and included a pool deck preview with Nicole Livingstone, where Giaan spoke of her mixed emotions and excitement attending her first meet since retiring, and it also included a post race interview with first and second place winners in the Womens 400m freestyle, Linda McKenzie and Bronte Barrett, the final event of the night. It was nice work from Giaan and I am looking forward to her contributions throughout the week :-) It was also reported last week in the News Ltd papers that Giaan will be the weather presenter on the Today show over the summer period, and also joining the team on popular new show What's Good For You - read the article "Outlook it fine for Giaan" to hear all about it! Conversely, I am not a happy chappy that Channel 9 is showing ZERO swimming tonight, and with no Fox Sports, it means zilch on the coverage front, but I guess I should be thankful they are coming to the party, so to speak, for the rest of the week! July 22nd, 2006 Injury sees Giaan out of Dancing on Ice! :( Giaan and her dog Lester in recovering mode!, Giaan and Dancing on Ice partner, Jonathan O'Dougherty, during their very sucessful week 1 performance An training mishap last Sunday has bought Giaan's Dancing on Ice to an end, with permanent metal plates in her ankle and crutches the accessory of choice for the next six to eight weeks!! "I am feeling really good. I am really, really disappointed I won't get to go out and skate tomorrow night and have fun with my skating family." Giaan said, quoted in Tuesday's Sydney Confidential "I feel so bad for my partner Jonathon (O'Dougherty) after all the hard work he has put in, we don't get to see the fruits of our labour pay off." On the show that night, Giaan and Jonathan were rink side and Giaan was her smiling self, and explained how it all happened, as published in The Sydney Morning Herald the next day: "I would love to tell you we were doing something hard, but we were just warming up actually, just doing what we do every other warm up day and I caught my toe on the ice and went over," Rooney said from the sidelines of tonight's show. "I am devastated watching everyone else tonight, they look fantastic and I am going to miss being a part of it." Supported by crutches, Rooney said it was great being able to try out something a little risky. "These were my teenage rebellious years and I don't get to go through with them because you're very precious as an athlete and make sure you look after yourself and that's why I've never been ice skating before," she said. "I was really enjoying it, taking a challenge and actually having a bit of fun." Asked if she would come back for series two, Rooney said: "I'd love to, but only if you bring Jonathon back as well." Mr O'Dougherty said he was sad to be out of the game. "I'm really disappointed, I was looking forward to skating tonight ... it was going to be fun." Today's Herald Sun also has another article [full article here], where Giaan confirms she has no regrets, nor animosity towards the Nine Network about the circumstances or their assistance following the accident: "They have been really good to me," she said. "They paid all my hospital bills and flew my Mum up, so I've got no complaints." The former swimmer had surgery on Monday to insert a permanent plate and screws in her dislocated and fractured ankle. Other contestants seriously injured so far include Michael Slater, with a severed tendon to his hand, and model Annalise Braakensiek, who is doubtful to start on Tuesday after falling and breaking a hip. Rooney blamed the injuries on Aussie competitiveness. "In England they only had one major injury," she said. "I was talking to Michael Slater, and we were saying how we were both really tired when we were injured training. "When I was swimming I would get in the pool tired, but with ice skating it takes just one small slip-up." Another article in today's The Australian speaks further about all the injuries that have unfortunately occured, with a brief mention about Giaan and insurance claim in there too! ;-) (they try to make a semi-big deal of it can make a semi-big deal!>, but really, who wouldn't be claiming!). Click here to check out ALL the latest in the media about it, and in the coming days I will post an update about Giaan's big success in week one of the show!. July 10th, 2006 G gets her skates on! Torvill and Dean's Dancing on Ice premiers tomorrow, Tuesday 11 July, at 7.30pm on Channel 9 Giaan and her Dancing on Ice partner, Jonathon O`Dougherty, will tomorrow join celebrities including Young Australian of the Year Trisha Broadbridge, former AFL player Dermott Brereton, reporter Jules Lund and model and model Jake Wall in putting in to action the routines they have been practising for many weeks...! Click here to visit the Channel 9 page for D.O.I - which includes a video file which is a 'sneak peek' of it all...! Last weeks New Idea magazine had profiles on each of the celebrities, but I can't seem to find that magazine at the moment(!) however, see below for a pic from today's mX newspaper... it had an article also, but it's difficult to scan (sorry!) so I will summerise some of it tomorrow :) But, something you can read now...! - The article below is from The Gold Coast Bulletin, last Thursday. Edition V - TV GuideTHU 06 JUL 2006, Page 031 Fish out of water By LISA SIMMONS Free to air TORVILL AND DEAN'S DANCING ON ICE Tuesdays, 7.30pm Nine, NBN RETIRED swim star Giaan Rooney is fresh from her first ice dancing tutorial with ice dancing legends Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean and she's beating herself up. ``I've managed to stay pretty upright to date. I've only fallen three times during training in the last eight weeks. ``Now, I've just managed to fall over twice in front of Torvill and Dean. They're going to think I'm a real gumby.'' Rooney has spent the last two months in training five-days a week for her outing on the new fish-out-of-water series Dancing on Ice. The new challenge is a replacement of sorts following her recent retirement from competitive swimming. Rooney may be a star in the pool but that's not much help on an ice rink. ``I'm pretty fit, but it's not about that,'' she says. ``The thing I've got to overcome is the differences you find in the two sports. ``Swimming is an upper body sport. Skating is a lower body sport. So, although my upper back and shoulders are quite flexible, the problem I have is making the lower half of me turn on.'' Rooney has her professional tutor and skating partner to thank for the fact she has escaped injury so far. ``I've had a lot of bruises but nothing else, touch wood,'' she says. ``I'm lucky to have Jono teaching me. He catches me about 50 times a day.'' Rooney had never ice skated before she started training for the celeb series. ``I've never even been on rollerblades,'' she says. ``I had rollerskates as a kid - I was around about 10. I'd skate round and round the garage but I don't think anything I learned there prepared me for this.'' Rooney wondered during her first week in training what she'd gotten into. ``I hated it,'' she says. ``I wondered how I was ever going to do it. ``I thought `right, I'll get myself voted out the first week and then it's over and done with'. But as the weeks progress, I find myself changing my tune. ``Once you get over the fear of arsing out, you get some confidence and start to enjoy it. ``Now, I'm loving it. And it's helped me deal with the loss of the challenges I'm used to setting myself in swimming.'' Gold Coast-reared Rooney has called Melbourne home for the past four years but she regularly comes home. ``I was there on the weekend for a function for Kurrawa Surf Life Saving Club on Saturday night,'' she says. ``Mum and Dad still live on the Gold Coast and when I left, we made a pact that we'd never go longer than three months without seeing one another. So I come up, or they come down. And I'm often there doing bits and pieces for work.'' Rooney juggles ice dance training with TV presenting, charity work and some motivational speaking. ``I love the fact I'm so busy,'' she says. ``I'm the sort of person who can't handle being bored and doing so many different things means I'm far from that.'' Nor can Rooney believe how much life has changed since her last swim meet at the Commonwealth Games ``As an athlete you can be a little bit precious,'' she says. ``You have to be careful with yourself and that means being selfish most of the time. ``Now I get to go the other way a bit. I can go out to dinner with friends, eat what I like and stay up a bit later without having to worry too much about the consequences.'' The new skating challenge is tough, says Rooney, but not as tough as swimming. ``Nothing is as hard as swim training,'' she says. * * * * For more info and to keep up with all the latest on Torvill and Dean as well as their Dancing on Ice>, visit Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean and follow the links! May 20th, 2006 Giaan to hit the ice! Giaan Rooney will be one of the contestants on Channel Nine series Torvill and Dean Dancing on Ice. Filming for the reality TV style show began the at the beginning of this month, with the show to air on Nine later this year. There are some funny quotes from Giaan in the article below, which also details her other commitments scheduled so far with the network - local Victorian aired programs 'Postcards' and 'Any Given Sunday' - a football/sports magazine style show on ... yup, Sunday! ;-) Good stuff for Giaan - all the very best to her with this! :-) Torvill and Dean Dancing on Ice sounds like it could be good to see! ;-) I will post about it when more info. is known about when it is to be aired... as well as any snippets of info. I may hear about the other shows. A few weeks ago Giaan attended and was a presenter at the Logie Awards - click this link for a pic of Giaan on the night! Sunday Herald Sun, Edition 1 - FIRSTSUN 07 MAY 2006, Page 119 Giaan dives back in By FIONA BYRNE `I didn't have the fire in my belly any more.' GIAAN ROONEY SWIM star Giaan Rooney has wasted little time diving into her new career as a TV presenter and performer. Rooney announced her retirement from the pool on Thursday and has signed a network contract with Channel 9. The deal will see her file reports for Victorian travel show Postcards and appear as a panellist on Any Given Sunday. First, though, she is getting her skates on for Nine's Torvill and Dean Dancing on Ice series. Rooney will be competing against footy great Dermott Brereton and Getaway's versatile presenter Jules Lund. Lund is hosting the red carpet special at the Logies tonight. Lara Bingle and Jake Wall are also taking to the ice. ``I have never put a pair of ice skates on in my life until Friday,'' Rooney said. ``It is so hard. I am going to ask if I could wear a sumo suit for the first six weeks so that every time I fall over I don't hurt myself.'' Rooney said she had been contemplating retirement for the past six months. ``If I could race every weekend I would never leave the sport, but unfortunately in swimming our major meets are only held about twice a year. ``I didn't have the fire in my belly any more.'' Rooney said she had been keen to move into the media since studying journalism at university. ``It did not really worry me if I was in front of the camera or involved in the research side of it, I just knew that I felt comfortable in this industry,'' she said. ``I get the same adrenalin rush being in front of the camera as I do when I am up on the blocks before a race.'' Rooney is adapting quickly to her role as fledgling TV star. She is attending the Logies tonight and will be presenting the Most Outstanding Sports Coverage Award with Commonwealth Games gold medallist John Steffensen. May 5th, 2006 GIAAN ROONEY RETIRES Giaan Rooney yesterday announced her retirement from swimming, drawing to end a fantastic 8 year stay on the Australian swim team. Quoted in the News Ltd press, Giaan details her decision and her new career path at Channel 9, in a presenting role 'on variety, lifestyle and sports programs'. "I didn't make a full decision until Channel 9 offered me a great job, but I knew my time was limited about six months ago," Rooney said. "If I could just race forever I would, but I don't have that fire in my belly for training every day. I always wanted to retire at the top of my game and with no regrets and I am doing that." Rooney gathered friends and training partners together in Melbourne on Wednesday night to tell them of her decision. She said the success of the women's team had made her decision easier. "I am leaving the team in great hands. What better way to go than knowing there's a crop of women swimmers who are going to dominate the world for the next four to six years," she said. "They are not going to miss me as a swimmer." This is definitely a 'rush job', with more information to come this evening/over the coming days. Last but definitely not least, all the best to Giaan for her future career path, and Thanks for the memories! Articles: Rooney retires to step into new spotlight - The Australian Giaan admits she lost the fire - Herald Sun April 3rd, 2006 A question of timing...! There was an article published in The Sun Herald yesterday - >> Officials check claims Rooney robbed of gold in timing blunder - regarding the possibility that Giaan Rooney's touch in the 50m backstroke final at the Commonwealth Games was not strong enough to register on the touch pads as she hit the wall, and possibily 'robbing' her of the Gold. Now, I must admit, this is not the first I have heard of this...! The day following the final, a guy name Raymond emailed me his thoughts about this, and pointed me in the direction of some posts on the Sportal forum in the thread he made titled - Help! Giaan Rooney got robbed of Gold. In brief summary, Raymond posted how he had watched the footage shown on Nine at home, and he believed Giaan had touched the wall first. I checked his posts out and replied to Raymond how despite having watching the race a few times myself, and specifically the touch as well, I just thought it was a bad touch on the wall. For those interested, I will put a clip of the race here online tonight and some screen captures too and you can check it out...! There was also a story on a current affairs show Today Tonight on Friday about this. I didn't actually see it myself - did anyone out there?! ;-) There is another thread on the Sportal forums which discusses all this also. Despite this interesting development, I don't think we'll see a change of the official result, especially as it is now well outside the 'appeal times' for any review process. This is also definitely nothing 'new', with another Aussie backstroke - Dyana Calub - having been in a similar situation before which maybe even saw her, if I remember correctly, miss the cut for the finals at an international meet due to a soft touch. It was specifically a 'flick touch' on the wall if I remember correctly...! But I definitely there is a good point raised here by Kowolski (Raymond) ... What I don't get is how people reckon this kind of stuff up is "just part of the sport". In any other sport, the first person to cross the line wins. Why should it be any different in swimming, just because their touchpad technology is flawed? In fact before they brought in the touchpad technology, how hard you touched the wall was never part of the sport. Food for thought!! April 2nd, 2006 Rooney ready to race in BMW Celebrity Challenge! Kate Ceberano and Giaan Rooney Photo credit: News Ltd Tomorrow Giaan Rooney will join a host of Aussie and International guests of the 27 competitors racing in the BMW Challenge, to be broadcast on Channel 10, as a part of the F1 Grand Prix this weekend at Albert Park, Melbourne. On Monday, 'fresh' ;) from the Closing Ceremony of the Commonwealth Games, Giaan joined a collection of the other races in practice time at Sandown! There are some pics on Getty Images of the practice session, and also some nice pics from last nights 2006 Australian F1 Grand Prix Ball - > Click here to view and also an article in the Herald Sun earlier in the week - >> Golden girls restart engines and another one today, ahead of the final qualifiers being staged at Albert Park - >> Crashes rev up a fun race Yesterday Giaan did a lap of a different kind around the Albert Park race circuit, flying with the RAAF Roulettes! Sqn Ldr Dennis Tan said the acrobatics over the circuit impressed the swimmer, but not her stomach. "We looped in formation at 3000 feet . . . above the track," he said. "At that point, Giaan started feeling not quite herself, and was quite unwell, so we decided to head back to Point Cook." Back on solid ground, Rooney was rapt to have seen Melbourne from the sky - and the Roulettes were rapt to have taken her up. "She was such a pleasure to fly with, and once we were back I got her to sign posters for my kids," Sqn Ldr Tan said You can read the full article online - >>Giaan loops the lap The some of the starters for the race, which begins at 11am are listed below, taken from an interesting article about the celebrity race - >> Celebrities take the wheel - and be sure to tune in to Channel 10 for all the action! 1. Kate Ceberano, singer, 2. Tara Moss, author, 3. Damien Oliver, jockey 4. Giaan Rooney, swimmer,5. Trisha Broadbridge, Young Australian of the Year, 6. Phil Keoghan, host of The Amazing Race, 7. Toby Allen, of Human Nature and Dancing with the Stars, 8. Kate Waterhouse, model and horseracing identity., 9. Carey Hart, US Supercross Champion, Extreme X Games., 10. Tiffany Cherry, Fox Footy presenter, 11. Luke Ricketson, ex-Sydney Roosters footballer, 12. Gorden Tallis, ex-Brisbane Broncos footballer, 13. Shawn Giles, Superbike racer, 14. Murray Cook, Red Wiggle, 15. Jeff Fatt, Purple Wiggle, 16. Anthony Field, Blue Wiggle, 17. Nikki Hudson, hockey player One more thing, there was an article about Ian Thorpe and Giaan Rooney meeting the Queen while she was in Melbourne for the Commonwealth Games - >> Queen jokes with sick Thorpe, that had a couple of good quotes from Giaan: Australian women's swimming team captain Giaan Rooney, a republican, had some kind words for the Queen, who many believe may have made her last trip to Australia. "She's a really lovely lady. She's someone like your grandma," she said. "I would have loved to have actually had a proper chat to her and question her more about her life. "But (I) don't want to really overstep the mark." *** The Queen did give an inkling that she would like to return to Australia, saying to Rooney that she wished her trip had been longer. "But (Prince) Charles is leaving for India next week so she had to get back," Rooney said. Check out the full article, it's a pretty funny read ;-) March 27th, 2006 Rooney riled by rumours By Jim Wilson - Daily Telegraph, Monday March 27, 2006 Australian swimming captain Giaan Rooney says there is absolutely no issue between her and gold medal winning teammate Sophie Edington. Rooney has become fed up with speculation and last night wanted to set the record straight. "I just want people to know that the innuendo about a so-called rift with Sophie has been so disappointing," Rooney said. "I have a great relationship with her and I have great respect for Sophie. There is no bad blood at all and I am proud to call her a teammate." Rooney has been quizzed about the pair's relationship following the final of the 50m backstroke in which she finished second behind Edington. There were claims Rooney was less than sportsmanlike in her post-race behaviour, sparking suggestions she had major issues with Edington. "That is so untrue and unfair to Sophie and me," Rooney said. "It's massively disappointing." Rooney has set her sights on something special in front of a home crowd following her success at the world championships in Montreal last year. "I was hoping to break a world record in the 50m and that's fair enough following my win at the worlds," she said. "Immediately after touching the wall in Melbourne, I looked up at the scoreboard and went straight to the time. It wasn't a world record but then I had a look again and realised that I had not only missed the record but had been beaten. It was tough." *** Good on Giaan for setting the record straight and getting what she wanted to say on the matter out there...! In other news, last night was the Closing Ceremony of the 2006 Commonwealth Games! Leisel Jones was the Australian athlete with the honour of carrying the flag in the ceremony. There is a pic on Getty Images of Giaan and Lesiel (which I've put below) Pic from Getty Images There was also a pic in today's Telegraph, but can't seem to find that online anywhere...! Lastly, tonight on A Current Affair on Channel Nine at 6.30pm (check your local guides! ;-)) there is a feature on the Games with, in what the networks have done many times before, basically a room full of winning athletes who are then asked about their Games experience...! ;-) Sure to be some swimmers, so check it out! March 23rd, 2006 Sophie snares second gold, Giaan silver in 50m back Sophie Edington completed the sprint backstroke double Monday night in Melbourne with a super touch seeing her grab the gold the slimmest of margins -0.01 second!!! – in the Women’s 50m backstroke. Giaan had a great race and was up and stroking well, and looked to have held off a spirited comeback by Sophie in the final 15m, who was closing fast, but as the final metres of the race came, you knew it was only going to come down to the touch, with Sophie nailing it, grabbing victory with her lunge for the wall – the replay of the finish showing that Giaan was actually still marginally ahead before the lunge, but just that marginally behind Sophie with regards to the finishing touch, as the winning margin shows…! Sophie clocked 24.42 and now shares the Commonwealth Record with Giaan (2nd in 28.43). Tay Zimmer made it a clean sweep for the Aussies, winning bronze in 28.71. It has been reported that Giaan was quite upset following the race and tears were shed, which is :( coz, as a fan, I really feel for Giaan and the fact she wasn’t able to realise her goal of Gold in Melbourne, after her great improvements over the 50 this past year, and indeed over these past few years, it would have been a just a further reward for all her efforts. But, silver is still a great and absolutely a result to be proud of. Giaan was clearly disappointed at the immediate conclusion of the race, the contrast of reactions no doubt obvious for all who watched the race - it was almost Sophie’s delight and Giaan’s dismay really…! Kinda almost looked like just a look of bewilderment really… Sophie, Giaan and Tay didn’t really celebrate ‘all together’ in the pool at all, but Kingscliff training partners Sophie and Tay were very excited, which is nice!!! I will say this though, despite her disappointment, I could see Giaan say ‘good job’ to Sophie almost straight away at the end of the race (and began to kind of look away and into the stands –pics below) and not long after that the celebrations began for the other girls. Pics from Getty Images While particularly as one of the initial reports online (foxsports.com.au – can’t seem to find it!) seemed to comment on this (disappointment shown by G / the fact the three girls didn’t all celebrate together) and the caption writers on gettyimages.com did also…! I make a point of saying that it was far from all delight, it was far from this big bad super negative display to be grilled over, but, don’t get me wrong – I am not implying they (media) are to ‘gloss’ anything over – not at all! but I also do admit I will probably always have a much more subjective slant to my little reports and opinions for this little site for things related to Giaan, no surprise there, I guess…! … How’s this ;-) , I actually found myself going in to bat a bit for Giaan to my sister, who was a bit vocal about what she thought of Giaan’s demeanour (yes, our opinions differed marginally, as you can probably guess by my wording!) – I liken in back to that this is these guys ‘full time jobs’ … they bust they guts for these results, and just like Joe Bloggs in the street may get sad or angry with some things that don’t go to plan at work or in life, so too do these guys…! Interestingly, yesterday, long after the Monday night final, the News Ltd papers had a snippet regarding the Women’s 50m backstroke race … in their SPORTS GOSSIP section of the Comm Games coverage. On reading it, my initial reaction was a bit of surprise, closely followed by ‘Oh. This is a bit Jana-Tamsyn’. Which is a bit scary huh! If you haven’t seen it, I’ll do no more than tell you to click the link right here if you’re interested in what it is I am eluding too. I do have one comment though, in that I would hate for it to go much further than that one …ahem ‘report’ … really. Seriously, ignoring who it is about for a moment, I would like to think Australian Swimming and swimmers are better than to make a media issue out of things (which was pretty much said in the reporting of recent events in Australian Atheletics). The crap that has been in the Aussie media regarding things like this of late is a big testament to that…! Although I have actually found an article this morning which has a bit more of an in depth and interesting report on this subject, which was published in yesterday's Australian - Smiley waters run deep for swimmers - a good article which has a lot of thoughts I find myself agreeing on - like, all of them! ;-) haha In closing, massive CONGRATULATIONS to the Australian Swim Team on a very successful Comm Games meet. The Aussie Men really finished off in style also, special mention of them winning Gold in sensational style in the 4 x 100m medley relay. Also coming soon, a few reports, profiles and photos that were published on Giaan in the lead up to the Melbourne Games, including one of which that spoke briefly of her her moving into new house in Melbourne (previously mentioned in the media over Christmas as something she wanted to do! So mark that one off! Haha) with boyfriend Patrick Murphy. March 19th, 2006 Rooney: I had steam coming out my ears Giaan has tonight lowered her own Commonwealth** and CG record and equalled her personal best time on her way to winning semi final number two in the 50m backstroke, in a scorching 28.42 - her swim only was only 0.23 seconds off German Janine Pietsch's world record, which was set in May last year. Fellow Aussies Sophie Edington (28.79) and Tay Zimmer (28.97) round out the top three qualifiers for tomorrow nights final. I'm loving it that Giaan has said a killer quote - published tonight in a good little article over on Fox Sports - Girls ready for treble treble which I have, of course, used as my headline! Rooney said she was gunning to swim tonight after feeling nervous in the pool last night. "I had steam coming out of my ears this morning," she said. "I was a bit more fired up (tonight). I got my equal PB (personal best) and I'd love to get closer to the world record tomorrow night if I can." As I said, it's a good read, so be sure to check it out! I'm sure you don't need me to tell you this, but Giaan was looking sensational tonight! She was actually ahead of the WR line with 10-15m to go, so I was getting a bit excited in my lounge room at that stage!! Giaan also said in the post swim interview (paraphrased) that the good thing is she didn't feel that good out there and there are some things to work on for tomorrow night ...!! Sleep is calling, but more updates tomorrow!! If not, I'd better get in the 'be sure to tune in to Channel 9's coverage tomorrow night from 6.30pm' right now! GO G! Great swimming!! (**My apologies, I incorrectly said Giaan had broken her Commonwealth record this morning ... just call me Nostradamus! ;-)) Thompson praises Rooney Australian Swim Team head coach, Alan Thompson, has praised Giaan Rooney for her ability to bounce back following last night's 100m backstroke final, and the entire team for their performances so far at the Games. "She looked very good this morning. Giaan was great. It wasn't that far off the world record. She certainly loves that event," Thompson said. "Competitors like her, they have their five minutes of unhappiness or disappointment and they switch it straight around and move to the next thing to get ready for that." >> Coach praises Rooney's bounce - SMH.com.au Meanwhile, last night Linda McKenzie, a member of the victorious 4 x 200m freestyle relay team along with Libby Lenton, Bronte Barratt and Kelly Stubbins, has dedicated her win to the other three members of the 4 x 200m freestyle relay team at the 2002 Fukuoka World Championships, who were disqualified for their premature celebrations after victory. McKenzie was the only remaining member of the team, that back in '02 consisted of Petria Thomas, Elka Graham and Giaan Rooney. Last night marked Australia's first victory in the event, following the 2002 Worlds meet! Well done to all the team! Fantastic to see Aussie triumph in the 4 by 2 relay again! Giaan's 100 back final in pictures Click the links below to view some pics from last night's 100 back final and medal presentation Various swimming pics from Getty Images That earlier promised pics and futher 'analysis' from me, still to come...!! Rooney races to Games record in 50m back! Giaan thanks the big crowd following her record breaking swim Photo credit: Channel 9 Giaan Rooney has this morning set a new Commonwealth Games record on her way to qualifying fastest for tonight's semi final action in the 50m backstroke! Giaan's time of 28.58, bettered the previous Games record - held by fellow Aussie Dyana Calub, by 0.40. Other Aussies also in action in tonight's semis will be Sophie Edington, still smiling after last night's victory ;-), who won her heat in 29.21, making her second fastest, while our other backstroker in Tay Zimmer also won her heat, her time of 29.22 sees her third fastest for the semi's! This is all looking very nice for the goal of having 3 from 3 in the final! But, first things first, don't want to look too far ahead - still got the semi tonight, which by all indications could very well produce some fast swimming also! Following her swim, Giaan was interviewed pool side by Duncan Armstrong, who opened the interview by saying "That’ll get over your crankiness from last won’t it G? That was a very very fast swim this morning" (hehe!) Giaan replied: "Definitely, I wasn’t happy with last night at all, and as our Head Coach Alan Thompson says, you have two choices," she said, smiling "one is to deal with it and get on and move on and the other one is to wallow in your self pity --- I just used it this morning – that is the fastest I have ever been by far in the morning and I got up this morning and I just thought ‘right, let’s do this one properly’ This crowd is unbelievable; it makes me so proud to be an Australian right now." Photo credit: Channel 9 Giaan was really appreciative of the crowd, which was massive and loud - always great to see! but it's almost what we have come to expect over these past 4 days!! All the swimmers, and athletes over all sports have said much the same thing about the great support, so take a bow Melbourne sports lovers! :-) Giaan all smiles following her post swim interview Photo credit: Channel 9 GOOD LUCK TO GIAAN AND ALL THE SWIMMERS TONIGHT!!! March 18th, 2006 Aussie 1-2: Sophie swims into history as she leads Giaan to the quinella Sophie Edington tonight created more Australian swimming history as she won Gold in the 100m backstroke in 1:00.93 seconds - ohhh yeah!! ... Sub 61!!! A big well done to Sophie! Giaan swum a fantastic race also, Congratulations to her - she really looked as though she gave it her all tonight in winning the silver medal in 1:01.42. At the end of 50m, Giaan was fifth in a close-ish field, the race lead by NZ's Hannah McLean, who, at the third 25m I thought may even run away with the race! - Sophie Edington was right up there and second at the turn, England's Melanie Marshall third and third Aussie in the field, Tay Zimmer, fourth. Giaan picked up the pace and by the final 25m was really moving through the field and gaining on the leader Sophie, but Sophie continued to swim strongly to take the victory in the Australian Record time. Giaan sounded a little down in the post race interview :(, but was - not suprisingly at all - pleased for Sophie and congratulated her on the achievement. That said, I don't think there is nothing wrong with sounding a little down, I think that is understandable - win, lose or draw - any athlete - as a human being there has to be feelings and emotion attached to performances and results. Check out the race summary, below, as published on Fox Sports Edington grabs historic victory March 18, 2006 SOPHIE Edington overpowered the field to win the gold medal in the 100m backstroke at the Commonwealth Games tonight. She became the first Australian woman to swim the event in less than 61 seconds, touching the wall in 1min 0.93sec ahead of compatriot Giaan Rooney, who clocked 1min 01.42sec. England's Melanie Marshall finished third in 1min 01.55sec. Edington's was Australia's fourth gold medal of the night. "All I wanted to do at this meet was go under 1:01 - I'm just so stoked," Edington said. Rooney, the Australia swimming team captain, said: "Full credit to Soph. That's a brilliant time, the first Australian woman under 1:01 and that's something that everyone will be gunning for." (C) AAP *** That's my speedy wrap - I saw the race, but on a pretty dodgy, computer based TV with jumpy reception!! hehe Further info, pics and a bit more of an 'analysis' to come soon! Sophie sets the stage with speedy semis swim - G second fastest Sophie Edington was oustanding last night as she cruised to victory in semi final number two of the Womens 100m backstroke 1:01.30. With an impressive display of all out speed and control, Sophie appeared to take her foot off the pedal to cruise home - a sub 61 swim very nearly achieved last night, as - in my humble opinion! - she was looking very fast and very comfortable! Giaan won semi final number one in 1:01.68 - and she looked pretty pleased with her performance as she touched the wall, and as if she had a bit more in the tank, so all good signs for tonight! Australia's other representative in tonight's final is of course Tay Zimmer, who qualified fifth fastest in 1:02.48. Full field is: Tonight's 100m backstroke final will be swum at about 8:20pm, while the second event on tonight's program (which begins at 7pm) is the Women's 100m freestyle final, which should be a real craker of a race! I think one of the big keys to Giaan winning tonight's race is making sure she really nails the first 50, more so her starts and turn as that is where Sophie Edington really excelled last night...! Pics today in the papers, taken at the heats on Friday morning show Giaan had one of the more slower starts of the morning sessions swimming, but as she showed in the semi's last night, where her reaction time went from 0.80 to 0.70 - in comparision Sophie Edington, who's start was great last night with a reaction time of 0.65 - Giaan really is almost as quick! As always, as close as to the 30sec mark as possible for the first 50m is also the aim in the 100 bk, and very achieveable also. Giaan does come home super quick, so that is something to look forward too! :) I know I 'say' it all the time, but sub 61 is SO on tonight I think!! Very interestingly to note, while I'm looking through stats, I came across some good'uns! ;-) Giaan and Sophie last night swum scarily close times to some previous performances...! Namely the 2005 Aus. Championships 100m backstroke final...! Giaan's first 50m in the 2005 race, and last night, was identical in - 30.29..!! In 2005 she had a faster second 50m (30.85) and went on to swim her PB win the championship in a then Australian record time of 1:01.14...! So, last night's time was 1:01.68, and obviously had a marginally slower 2nd 50m in 31.39 seconds. Sophie's first 50m in the 2005 race was 29.91 and she went on to place second in 1:01.26, while last night she swum a very similar 29.92 as she posted her time of 1:01.30 .... food for thought!!! ;-) maybe it isn't just all about the first 50 for Giaan after all!!! ALL THE VERY BEST TO G AND THE GIRLS IN TONIGHT'S FINAL - AND ALL THE AUSSIES! March 17th, 2006 Giaan sixth fastest after 100 back heats Sophie Edington lead competitors in today's 100m backstroke heats, qualifying fastest for tonight's semi finals. Fellow Aussies Tay Zimmer is third fastest with G sixth fastest. See below for a summary of the 100 back heats, and a great quote from Giaan about meeting the Queen! 'stolen' directly from the SMH website...! (link to full story - right here) Edington fastest Australia Sophie Edington has qualified fastest for the women's 100 metres backstroke semi-finals - a feat she says is "not too bad". The 21-year-old won heat three in 1:01.32, while teammate Tayliah Zimmer qualified third, behind England's Melanie Marshall, after winning heat three in 1:01.92. Edington said she was "very happy" with her time, but admits that nerves almost got the better of her. "I've been waiting all week, thinking 'I want to swim, I want to swim'. Now it's like I don't want to swim," she said after her heat. Victorian Giaan Rooney, the captain of the Commonwealth Games swim team, was runner-up to Zimmer in that heat but was relegated to sixth position overall with a time of 1:02.88. "It's good to get up and race, I've been ready for three days," Rooney said. When asked about what it was like to meet Queen Elizabeth, she replied: "She's really nice - like my grandma." The semi-finals will be held later tonight at Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre. *** Very much a 'morning swim' from G - but all signs seem to indicate she is pumped up and ready to go, so looking forward to see what she and the girls bring to the semis tonight. Check out the Commonwealth Games sub site on SMH.com.au for all the Comm Games latest! March 16th, 2006 Giaan's Commonwealth Games campaign set for action! Giaan Rooney will tomorrow kick off her Comm Games campaign with the heats of the 100m backstroke, the first of four heats getting under way at 10.17am (to be precise!) - the back is the second event on the day 2 morning program, behind the Mens 50m fly. 2006 Australian champion Tay Zimmer and silver medalist Sophie Edington are the other Aussie representatives in the 100 back. All the very best to Giaan and the girls!! In an article published on the Sportal website on Wednesday night -Rooney ready to lead - Giaan was confident of a great showing at these Games: "Ultimately I'd love to come out of these Commonwealth Games with three gold medals, I know that's a big ask and it's a big call but I really believe I'm capable." Be sure to read the full article, for more from Giaan regarding the team captaincy, overall team performance and her tip of who will shine individually! There was also another interesting article - Rooney talks up men - with quotes from Giaan about the Australian team as a whole, and specific mention to the three components of the team - mens, women's and multi disability - not just the women's team. Team Australia tonight won their first Gold medal in the pool, Stephanie Rice victorious in the 200m IM, in fine style as she lead home and Aussie quinelle of Brooke Hanson and Lara Carroll! Gotta love that sight of 3 Aussies, and the flag x 3, come presentation time! Other Australian finalists tonight were Libby Lenton (bronze), Bronte Barratt (4th) and Linda Mackenzie (5th) in the Women's 200m free, Travis Nederpelt (silver), Josh Krogh (bronze) and Andrew Richards (7th) in the Men's 200m fly, while Craig Stevens placed 4th in the 400m free final, a gusty effort especially considering his hectic and short preparation for this meet. Lastly, the Mens 4 x 100m freestyle team of Michael Klim, Eamon Sullivan, Brett Hawke and Ashley Callus put in a very impressive display in winning silver in tonight's final, narrowly behind red hot, full strength South African team! Way to go, boys! >> Rice joins Australia's golden cluster - Swimming Australia March 11th, 2006 Giaan, but not forgotten - Herald Sun Picture: COLLEEN PETCH It's just 4 days to go until the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games begin, and in today's Herald Sun there is a great feature article, written by Rebecca Williams, on Giaan Rooney Australian beauty: Swimmer Giaan Rooney is not only a champion but a popular member of the swimming team. And when the team moves into the Commonwealth Games athletes' village tomorrow, Rooney will take the reins as captain. >> Click here to read the full article =*=*= It has also been a fairly actioned packed week for the Aussie swim team, as this time last weekend went into their 1 week staging camp om Melbourne before entering the Athletes Village tomorrow. Ian Thorpe was under a big illness cloud, with his coach Tracey Menzies withdrawing from the team on Monday, to look after her new born son, her star athlete followed suit the next day and knew he couldn't compete when, it's reported, on Monday he did 12 laps of the training pool at Sutherland Lesiure Centre in an effort to gauge his abilities after been laid low for weeks with illness, but he was that spent that he knew then and there he would not be able to compete. Very unfortunate news for Ian Thorpe, but hopefully he will be able to give himself enough time as he needs to recover and compete again. Here are some quotes (below) from Giaan on the withdrawal of the Thorpedo: Giaan Rooney, Australian Commonwealth Games swim team captain "Everyone is a little bit shocked but we are all looking forward now to focusing on some of the other athletes taking an opportunity to swim well at these Games." "Obviously Ian's withdrawal is very sad and unfortunate and the team will react in different ways, but we've got a job to do and at the end of the day we are more worried about Ian the person and not Ian the swimmer, and his long-term health is far more important to us than his short-term capabilities as a swimmer." Lastly for this update, both the swim suits to be worn by the Aussies and the medals on offer for the athletes at the Commonwealth Games were 'unveiled' so to speak...! Click the links below to check them out! :) The medals (Pic from Getty Images) Klimmy and Brooke flex their muscles! Aussie swim team members pose for the media in the suits (Pics from Fox Sports) February 18th, 2006 EXCLUSIVE: GIAAN ROONEY QUESTION & ANSWER!! Welllll, exciting news...! Thanks to the great generosity with her time from Giaan and her willingness to answer some questions, and also the great help from Lisa Stallard at International Quarterback which without this it wouldn't have happened! I've been able to do a bit of a Question and Answer with Giaan! Click the link below to view the Q & A! February 12th, 2006 Australian Grand Prix 2006, Celebrity Race! As if ,my headline hadn't already given it away ;-) but in today's Sunday Herald Sun there was a small little article confirming Giaan will be getting behind the wheel in the Celebrity Race this year - which is broadcast on Channel 10, as part of their coverage of the Australian Grand Prix - so I will be sure to give the heads up closer to the date, too! Sunday Herald Sun Giaan's driving ambition By Fiona Byrne TOP medal hope Giaan Rooney will be able to put her competitive urges to good use after the Commonwealth Games, having signed to drive at the Australian Grand Prix. The glamorous swimmer will be behind the wheel in the BMW celebrity race at the Formula One carnival at Albert Park next month. Rooney will put the pedal to the metal against the likes of Tara Moss, Kate Waterhouse, Tiffany Cherry, The Wiggles, Steve Jacobs, Alastair Lynch, Ryan Phelan and Ed Phillips. =*=*= Should be good! :) Australian team for Pan Pacific Championships named On Friday, the 40-strong Aussie team to contest the Pan Pacs, to be held from August 17-20 in Canada, was announced. WOMEN: F Adcock (Norwood SA) B Barratt (Albany Creek QLD) L Carroll (Fremantle Port WA) J Edmistone (Southern Crawl QLD) M Englesman (Manly Jetz NSW) J Fargus (Miami QLD) M Gorman (Redcliffe Leagues Lawnton QLD) E Graham (Sydney University NSW), B Hanson (Nunawading VIC) S Katsoulis (Carey Aquatic VIC) L MacKenzie (Mackay QLD) K Palmer (Redcliffe Leagues Lawnton QLD) S Paton (Telopea NSW) S Reese (Carey Aquatic VIC) J Reilly (City of Perth WA) S Rice (St Peters Western QLD) J Schipper (Redcliffe Leagues Lawnton QLD) M Schlanger (Marochydore QLD) C South (Norwood SA) K Stubbins (Haleybury Waterlions VIC) MEN: L Brodie (Albany Creek QLD) N Ffrost (Southport Olympic QLD) C Flouch (Redcliffe Leagues Lawnton QLD) T Grimsey (Albany Creek QLD) E Hannant (Miami QLD) J Krogh (Redcliffe Leagues Lawnton QLD) A Lauterstein (Southport Olympic QLD) A Lucas (West Coast WA) K MacGillivary (Miami QLD) A Mewing (Miami QLD) K Monk (SAC Seals NSW) T Nederpelt (City of Perth WA) A Pine (Yeronga Park QLD) A Richards (Smithfield NSW) B Rickard (Carey Aquatic VIC) E Rolff (Kingscliff NSW) C Smith (Redcliffe Leagues Lawnton QLD) H Stoeckel (Kingscliff NSW) E Sullivan (West Coast WA) M Welsh (Melbourne Vicentre VIC) Giaan Rooney is amongst a number of other Aussie swimmers - Leisel Jones, Libby Lenton, Jodie Henry, Ian Thorpe, Sophie Edington, Tayliah Zimmer, Michael Klim, Alice Mills and Jim Piper - who have made themselves unavailable for this meet, due to the timing of these Championships to other meets, such as the March Commonwealth Games and the 2007 Aus Champs / World Championships qualifiers, to be held from 11-18 November, 2006 in Melbourne. A big Congratulations to all the swimmers selected to represent Australia! Very glad to see - as expected really, but glad none the less :) that, as in the words of National Coach Alan Thompson, there is a strong mix of experienced internationals and emerging talent. >> Schipper and Edmistone to lead Pan Pac team - Swimming Australia February 5th, 2006 GIAAN ROONEY NAMED DOLPHINS TEAM CAPTAIN A MASSIVE Congratulations to Giaan Rooney, who was this afternoon named Dolphins Team Captain for the 2006 Commonwealth Games! :D See below for a copy of the full media realease from Swimming Australia GIAAN ROONEY NAMED CAPTAIN & DEPUTISES FOR HACKETT 3:12pm Triple Commonwealth Games representative and dual Olympian Giaan Rooney was today named captain of the Commonwealth Games Swim Team - deputising for Telstra Dolphins Australian team captain Grant Hackett when the team moves into the Games Village on March 12. With Hackett on hand, Swimming Australia President Neil Martin announced Rooney’s appointment to the applause of the entire 53-strong swim team and 44 members of the Australian Swim Team staff who dined out at The Point Restaurant in Melbourne before moving into a three-day Orientation Camp in Melbourne. Rooney, the reigning world champion in the 50m backstroke said after the announcement: “I’m actually honoured, humbled and flattered all at the same time and a little bit scared. “Grant will be with us in the team staging camp before the Games and I will be deputising for Grant once we go into the Games Village. Rooney has a great relationship with Hackett, having trained with the distance king at Miami on the Gold Coast before she moved to Melbourne to train under Ian Pope, and today she said she will sit down with Hackett during the staging camp to discuss the captaincy role. “Grant is like a brother to me and if I have a problem he is always a phone call away and I know he will support me whenever I need him,” the world 50m backstroke champion said. “We will meet during the camp a number of times and I will try and take as much from Grant as I can.” Rooney also believes the 2006 Australian Commonwealth Games Swim Team was one of Australia’s strongest ever. “It’s important to emphasise that we do have the Elite Athlete with a Disability competitors, and we have a great group of women and a great group of men and this is one of the strongest Australian teams ever assembled.” The swimmers certainly got “straight to The Point” when they celebrated one of the most successful Telstra Australian Swimming Championships on record at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre with a lunch at The Point in Albert Park. The Point, one of Melbourne’s most popular dining spots, is the closest restaurant to the venue where 11 world records were broken during the championships. Swimmers will return to their home programs on Tuesday afternoon and will re-assemble in Melbourne on March 5 before moving into the Village on March 12, with competition starting on March 16. =*=*= Congrats again to Giaan! - I will add more news articles/pics, as they become available. 53 Swimmers named in Commonwealth Games team ... plus Selection snap shot At the completion of competition last night, the 2006 Commonwealth Games team was named, and the swimmers who will be representing Australia in Melbourne are: Women: Bronte Barratt (Qld), Lara Carroll (WA), Sophie Edington (NSW), Jade Edmistone (Qld), Joanna Fargus (Qld), Sally Foster (Qld), Felicity Galvez (NSW), Melissa Gorman (Qld), Brooke Hanson (Vic), Jodie Henry (Qld), Leisel Jones (Qld), Libby Lenton (Qld), Danni Miatke (Vic), Linda MacKenzie (Qld), Alice Mills (Qld), Kylie Palmer (Qld), Sarah Paton (NSW), Shayne Reese (Vic), Jennifer Reilly (WA), Stephanie Rice (Qld), Giaan Rooney (Vic), Jess Schipper (Qld), Caroline South (SA), Kelly Stubbins (Vic), Tarnee White (Qld), Tayliah Zimmer (NSW). Men: Leith Brodie (Qld), Ashley Callus (Qld), Nick Ffrost (Qld), Brett Hawke (Vic), Michael Klim (Vic), Josh Krogh (Qld), Andrew Lauterstein (Qld), Andrew Mewing (Qld), Kenrick Monk (NSW), Travis Nederpelt (WA), Jim Piper (WA), Adam Pine (Qld), Andrew Richards (NSW), Brenton Rickard (Qld), Christian Sprenger (Qld), Eamon Sullivan (WA), Matt Targett (Vic), Ian Thorpe (NSW), Matt Welsh (Vic) Congrats to all! :) A few swimmers were ‘borderline’ and only just missed the team, one of those being backstroker Fran Adcock … who’s non selection in the team has been, in today’s media, put down to the use of the FINA point score system between her and other (unnamed) atheletes to decide the final make up of 45 athletes for the CG team … I've just been looking out for more info the FINA Point score, and wondered if it is based on the IPS Point Score which swimnews.com says is being used for the FINA World Cups, then I presume yes? If soooo ... interesting info below...! After entering in the Finals performances of both Fran Adcock and Caroline South ... one of perhaps a few swimmers who was ‘borderline’ in being selected for the team or not FRAN ADCOCK – 200 BACK - 3rd place Time: 02:12.8 Points 948 FRAN ADCOCK – 100 BACK - 6th place Time: 01:02.7 Points 940 Adcock total = 1888 CAROLINE SOUTH – 800 FREE - 3rd place Time: 08:40.8 Points 944 CAROLINE SOUTH – 1500 FREE - 3rd place Time: 16:37.0 Points 944 South total = 1888 I guess based on that, if these two were infact in direct competiton for one of the final spots on the team, that they chose South as she finished higher in both her finals swims ...??? Despite the selection policy being based on times ...??? I'm not sure! Despite all that above, I don't mean to take anything away from either girls performance, or South's selection in the Aussie team, just thought I would share how tight the selection was, if this is even in fact the way they do it when breaking it down against the FINA point score system...! For what it's worth, I feel a little more 'sorry' for Fran Adcock than I would perhaps another swimmer, after chatting to her briefly a couple of weeks ago when she was actually the AIS Tour Guide (!!) when I did a tour of the AIS when I was down in Canberra for the weekend ... she seemed genuinely happy with her training and excited for the then up coming CG trails ... It was quite funny actually, my sister asked her how her training for the Commonwealth Trials was going, and she said how it was all going really well, and then I asked "Will you be swimming the 200 back?" and she seemed a bit surprised and said "Yeah, how did you know that?!" - I got a bit embarrassed haha and mumbled something about being a bit of a swimming fan, but later thought I shoulda said something like 'You're an Olympian, give yourself more credit girl ;)' It was great to be able to have an AIS swimmer (along with a rower too :)), of all athletes, as the tour guide, as I enjoyed getting a bit of a snapshot into the AIS Swimming program ... interestingly, Fran said some very similar things to Giaan (quotes below!) about the Womens Aussie swim team and media attention! She seems like a real nice person, so I hope she keeps on training hard and we'll see her back on a Dolphins team soon ... :) Giaan sets new Commonwealth mark as she wins the 50 back! Giaan celebrates following her win Pics from Fox Sports The pressure was on, but Giaan Rooney delivered superbly! Rooney went into night 5 of the 2006 Commonwealth Games trials, needing first and foremost a fast time, in order to place herself higher on the top 45 swimmers list, as the team was to be selected based on fastest times swum, being in the first two (traditionally three, for a CG team) places not enough to win a spot on the team, this time round. Well, how does a eclipsing your own Commonwealth Record to post a new benchmark of 28.42 sound...?! Yup...! Bingo! :D Tay Zimmer probably had the best start of the 8 in the final, but Giaan was able to capitalise on her own speed and power as the race progressed, coming home very strongly, her finger tips and hands brushing with the World Record-red line with 20-15m to go in the race! I've said it before, but I'll say it again - it definitely seems like a case of 'if' not 'when' for Giaan and the 50m backstroke WR! :) Credit: Fox Sports "I'm stoked with the time, I'm really happy," Giaan said in the post swim interview with Duncan "it means I'm getting closer every time [to the WR mark], as I said the 100 wasn't a great one but I've really made up for it in the 50 and I'm stoked!" "I'm a bit angry with Popey" Giaan said with a smile "He told me my final was on at 8.45 tonight, not 8.26, so I did the made dash down the corridor - might have to do it more often!" she laughed. Asked about her career thus far, from 1998 and her National team and CG Games debut, and third Commonwealth Games, Giaan said "My second Commonwealth Games wasn't that great, so I'm really hoping to make up for it in my third, and as you said, home town, I just can't wait." Duncan asked Giaan about the ladies team and how they keep breaking records "It's actually a bit strange, because when I came on the team at the start it was all about the Mens team, and now it takes a Record to get any media attention in the Womens team!" Giaan laughed >>Click here to download video of the Women's 50m backstroke final >>Full results - Womens 50m backstroke final - Swimming Australia COMING SOON: Race analysis and post swim interview with Giaan. (it's going to be a big file, sorry!) February 2nd, 2006 Giaan top qualifier for 50m backstroke final Giaan Rooney has continued on strongly from her third place in last night's 100m backstroke final, after a solid heats swim this morning (28.97) which saw her third fastest into tonight's semis (full heats results here)Giaan swum strongly and took out the first semi final in 28.78 - she looked really great in the race, finishing very strongly and just looked generally very controlled and powerful throughout the race, in my opinion -- Go G! :) The eight finalists for tomorrow night are: Interestingly, Elizabeth Coster of New Zealand posted a very impressive 29.84 morning heats swim, but, being an international she is unable to contest the final I thought, but seeing as she didn't swim in the semis, I guess maybe it is both?! Nice work from the Kiwi, who will one to watch in March, for sure! All the best to G for tomorrow nights final - I'm sure she'll go well, she was looking real slick out there tonight! Once again she'll be pushed all the way by Tay and Sophie - those two are two of many, anyway! - May the best women win! :) Note: Sorry for the delay in updating the site, been a bit under the weather the past couple of days -- but back on board! ;) --- screen caps and video to come VERY soon! Tay tops in 100m back - National Champion 2006 Tay Zimmer has produced a new Australian Record - 1:01.03 - on her way to winning the 2006 National Championship, Wednesday night in Melbourne (day 3) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Trials. Giaan Rooney placed third in 1:01.86 with Tay's Kingscliff teammate Sophie Edington making it Kingscliff 1-2, second in 1:01.38. Giaan led the field at the 50m mark, before slowly but surely being run down over the last 25m by the Kingscliff duo, Tay finishing the stronger to take the win very impressively, and comfortably! Congrats to all the girls, who again fought out another memorable Australian Championships 100 back!!! It is now more than ever a case of 'who will be the first Aussie girl to go sub 61' - which is VERY exciting - you'd think it will happen at the Comm Games, without a doubt! Tay Zimmer was understandably elated with her madien national title over this distance - her mum also very emotional in the stands, which is cute!! :) -- Of the rest of the Zimmer clan, Tay said a big hello to her brothers, sisters and family - after being asked if they were here in Melbourne she said how they are at home in Kingscliff - before excitidly saying that'd they would be coming down for the Commonwealth Games though --- *VERY* cute! :) Greg Salter and all up at Kingscliff would have to be very happy with the fact that both girls were so successful over the 100 back...! This is by no means a 'failure' for Giaan, while I'm sure you'd agree with me that of course Giaan may be disappointed as she was probably - like many of the girls, and definitely the top three places - aiming to take the Championship, not place third, but, that said Tay swum fantastically, faster than any Australian has ever swum to take the Championship, and the biggest upside of this is that with third place, Giaan still makes the Commonwealth Games team and has 6 weeks to make little improvements on her 100m race and have a crack at it again...! :) Should be good! :) January 18, 2006 Commonwealth Games trials - 11 days to go! For those who mightn't have seen it, An interesting article from today's Australian about Comm Games selection, and Australian Championships / Worlds 2007 selection... Selectors raise bar for the Games By Nicole Jeffery January 18, 2006 ANY swimmer who is not ranked in the top eight in the world at the end of the Commonwealth Games trials on February 4 will be in danger of missing selection, national head coach Alan Thompson warned yesterday. Australia is allowed to field up to three swimmers in each event at the Melbourne Games, but Thompson said that a cap of 45 swimmers in the team meant that they would be selected in a pecking order based on each swimmer's world ranking. Click here to read full article. It is a good read, with a insight into how the coaches and swimmers have had to approach the Trials and the short 5 week break until Comm Games competition, all the while wanting to get as much as they can out of their performances on both occasions...! Another 'quote of note' from the article: Meanwhile, the trials for next year's world championships in Melbourne have been brought forward by two months to November 11-18 this year. Thompson said an informal survey of the nation's elite coaches had found overwhelming support for the move, which will allow the selected swimmers an 18-week preparation for the world titles the following March. Also, slowly but surely, the start lists for various events are appearing on the Swimming Australia website -- Check out the 2006 Telstra Commonwealth Games Swimming Trials > Program & Results > section of the site for more details! -*-*- Fancy yourself as a bit of a tipster for race results, or like me and just wanna have a bit of a look into the crystal ball? ;) Head on over to this topic on the forum of Jewelinthepool.com and share your predictions for the 2006 Australian Championships / Commonwealth Games trials. Jewelinthepool.com is the official website of Aussie breaststroke sensation Jade Edmistone - some great news, views and discussion over on the site - check it out! :) January 7, 2006 Giaan begins '06 with win at Victorian Championships Giaan Rooney started 2006 victoriously this week at the Victorian Swimming Championships, winning the 100m backstroke in a sharp 1:02.31 on day 2 of the meet. Way to go ;-) Impressive time by G! - I can't find the full results just yet, but will add a link when I do! >> Related article: Hanson back to her best - foxsportsnews.com.au Giaan withdrew from her other scheduled event for the meet, the 50m backstroke, which were swum on Friday morning. >> Related article: Danni turns up the heat - foxsportsnews.com.au With three weeks to go until the 2006 Australian Championships which of course double as the Commonwealth Games selection trials, it's getting excitingly close to the 'business end' for big meets in Aussie swimming, which we normally have to wait until March for, but due to the timing of the Comm Games (March!) it's good to have 'Trials time' come around 'early' anyways! ;-) All I want for Christmas... Recently (kinda!) there was a little piece on Giaan in the Gold Coast Bulletin - a little interview about Christmas, but some insightful (for lack of another word) answers from G ... :-) All I want for Christmas By Rachel Syers The Gold Coast Bulletin - Tuesday 20 Dec 2005 From a new frock to world peace, there are plenty of things on the top of the list for Santa to bring on December 25. Rachel Syers spoke to five glamour girls from the Gold Coast who have all had some part in flying the flag for our community. Giaan Rooney Champion swimmer and Olympic gold medallist What do you want for Christmas? Not really sure - everything I would like is not really feasible. For example, I am trying to buy a house, and would love a dog, but without a house there is no place for him to run around. I would also love some beautiful paintings for walls of a new house, but again, no house! The third item I would love is some tickets to see the U2 concert next year in Melbourne, but they are playing in the middle of the Commonwealth Games so hopefully I am busy at that time! To be honest I would love anything that someone has put thought into, and I love surprises. Where will you be on Christmas Day? This year will be the first year my family won't be all together for Christmas. My brother is at uni in Boston and won't be coming home, so the rest of us - Mum, Dad, Gran and Aunty - are spending Christmas Day with very good friends of ours who have an apartment in Broadbeach. Even though I only get two days at home during Christmas, I always look forward to coming back from Melbourne to the Gold Coast and seeing my family, and this year is no exception. What will you be wearing? With the weather on the Coast at Christmas usually guaranteed to be steamy, I will don my usual hot weather uniform of a floaty little dress and sandals together with some chunky beads and a big pair of sunnies. Standard holiday attire! What's your Christmas Wish? Too hard to just have one wish, so I am going to take the `genie in a bottle' rule of thumb and have three. The first one is to abolish child and animal abuse throughout the world. My second wish is to keep my family and friends safe and healthy in 2006. And my final wish is for the Victorian government - and for other states to follow - to pass a law which has been put forward and is in consideration at the moment, that states that all cats sold in Victoria must be desexed unless you are a registered breeder. This would stop the needless destruction of over 40,000 cats and kittens that are put down every year in Victoria alone. Your favourite Christmas memory? My favourite Christmas memory is being quite young and my brother waking me up at dawn to run downstairs on Christmas morning and touching and shaking all the presents that had magically appeared there over night. *** Nice article ... :). If you're interested in reading the full article, click here. More updating to come ... including FINA World Cup pics and news, and Australian Swimmer of the Year awards! November 19, 2005 2005 FINA World Cup, Sydney At long last, an update! Giaan Rooney smiles during yesterday's press conference ahead of the FINA World Cup in Syd Screen cap: Fox Sports News Well, It has been a long time coming, but here I am, updating again! It seems to happen to me at least once a year, where I fall off the updates radar - my apologies again, but here we go with an attempt on what's been happening! This morning, Day one of the two day 2005 FINA World Cup meet being held in Sydney - Giaan has qualified fastest for this evening's final, in the sharp time of 27.88 - the same time which saw her win bronze in the event at the 2004 FINA World Cup, held in Melbourne! (and this was only her morning swim!! :)). Tay Zimmer is second fastest in 27.99, with the Long Course World Record holder over this distance, Janine Pietsch (GER), rounding out the top three with her time of 28.03. Backstroke superstar Natalie Coughlin, also a fantastic short course swimmer, surprisingly missed tonight's final - her time of 28.77 only good enough for tenth fastest after the morning heats session. Meanwhile, Aussies Rachel Goh and Sophie Edington times both tied for the eighth and final spot in tonight's big one in 28.67s, so I presume there would be a swim off..?! Last night on Fox Sport News, there was a news peice previewing the World Cup, which opened with Giaan speaking about Ian Thorpe's return to competition... "He [Thorpe] is definitely the last person I'd write off, in ANY competiton - EVER" Giaan said "So I don't think you'll see everything he has this weekend, but I think he'll be back be back on course by Commonwealth Games trials." ...and her own form... "I'm not really renowned for swimming well at this time of year," smiled Giaan "but it's a great chance for me to be able to test my skills, test my training and see what we need to work on, and obviously what we've done right -and especially with good competition, I usually race better under pressure, and that will definitely be on this weekend" -- Giaan smiled a lil' wryly and had a bit of a laugh towards then end there!! heehee! :) Video clips (short files for quick downloading!) are available - (Right-click the link/s and choose "Save Target As...") *Giaan on the return of Ian Thorpe (WMV-2.02MB) *Giaan on her own form (WMV-3.53MB) Tonight's final action begins at 7.30pm, out at the Sydney Aquatic Centre, with plenty of tickets still available! I'm heading out tomorrow night! ;) The meet will also be shown live, on Fox Sports 2. Articles THORPE RETURN HIGHLIGHT'S WORLD CUP HEATS - Swimming Australia ...Coming Soon... Swimming Australia Skins wrap ... plus all the other G news...! August 7, 2005 Aussie women continue success at Duel in the Pool The 'Doll-phins' had another blockbusting display, continuing on from their World Champs campaign, this time at the second 'Duel in the Pool' USA vs AUS meet held this week in Irvine, California. The Aussies outscored the USA in the women's pointscore - 76-70 - the ladies team victory secured in the final women's race of the day, the 4 x 100m medley relay, to take a thrilling win. Led by Leisel Jones, Libby Lenton and Jess Schipper there were three US Open records swum by the Aussies - Jones in the 100m breast, Lenton along with Mills, Reese and Henry as part of the 4 x 100m freestyle relay and Jess Schipper, along with Rooney, Jones and Henry in the 4x 100m medley relay. Leisel Jones’ swim in the 100m breast - 1:06.21 - was the second fastest of all time and just one-hundredth off the world record set last week by American Jessica Hardy, a whisker off the US$25,000 for setting a World Record too!. Giaan swum great in the 100m back. this meet, clocking 1:01.70 for third place behind American's Natalie Coughlin (1:00.67) and Margaret Hoelzer (1:01.63) - grabbing 2 pts for Team Aus., Sophie Edington was fourth to also help the Aussies along in the pointscore! In the medley relay, G completed her leg in 1:01.69, the rest of the team also doing a great job to set the US record - 3:58.93 - way to go! Full results - Women's 100m backstroke Full results - Women's 4 x 100m medley relay World Champs mini-wrap up - Medley relay girls win Gold (l-r) Jodie Henry, Giaan Rooney and Felicity Galvez (back) congratulate each other in the stands following the final of the Medley relay Screen cap: Channel 9 Well the week has flown and this is my belated mini-wrap up of the World Champs: Days 7 and 8! Australian won 4 golds on the final two days of swimming competition which made the 2005 World Championships team the most successful Aussie swim team team ever! Danni Miatke (50 fly), Jade Edmistone (WR,50 breast), Libby Lenton (50 free), Grant Hackett (1500m) and the Women's 4 x 100m medley relay team of Sophie Edington, Leisel Jones, Jess Schipper and Libby Lenton all sung Advance Australia Fair atop the dais(the medley girls you could actually hear singing along on the telecast! haha - cool! :)) as they made it a golden day for the Dolphins! In a candid moment, following the 4 x 100m medley relay win, the Channel 9 cameras zoomed in on Jodie Henry (like they had been before the race!), who was 1 of 4 heat swimmers not swimming in the evening final (other three were Giaan Rooney (who swum a 1:02-point in the heats), Brooke Hanson and Felicity Galvez) watching their team mates swim the final and Giaan climbed up the stand to join the girls post race and instigated a group hug ;-) with her fellow Gold medalists - I saved the video (coz I can! haha) so click here if you'd like to view it... :-) In the aftermath of the medley relay it became known that following Jodie Henry's swim in the 100m freestyle final (in which she won the World Championship, as we all know!) Libby Lenton was told she was going to swim the final leg of the medley relay over the World record holding Commonwealth, World and Olympic Champion -- I don't mean to make it sound like Libby wasn't worthy of her place in the final - NOT AT ALL!! - she swum absolutely fantastically all week, but I'm rattling off all of Jodie's achievements because as although as warranted as it without a doubt was to have Libby swim in the final I think it would be the first time in a long time (if not 'ever') that it has happened that way huh! Just goes to show that the team coaches are going to pick in the swimmer in the best form over reputation alone, which at the end of the day, is how it should be, I (and I'm sure many more! ;0)) believe. But I will say this, It woulda been great to be able to see a great racer like Jodie in the final also --- ahhh the abundance of talent in the Australian team!!! :-) -- or as Libby Lenton, gracious as ever, put it in the post swim interview, after talking about how she'd congratulated Jodie and the girls on a great heats swim this morning, "it's so competitive" ... "we could have put in two teams and probably come first and second...it's really tough". Great job by all girls who swum heats and finals of the relays at not only Worlds 05 but all meets, ever!! While the team for the final understandably get the most media attention and accolades, it's not magic that the majority of them are able to be fresher for the final for the opportunity to be rested from the mornings heats swim but not only that, middle lanes and finals spots don't get handed out for free either! All swimmers no doubt work their butts off, so big props to all! July 30, 2005 G's post swim interview; Medley relay time! Click HERE to download the interview with a understandably exicted Giaan following her World Championship win! Unfortunately it's 6MB ... sorry about that, I need to work out how to get files smaller!!! -- Once again, this file is only available for a limited no. of downloads, and for 7 days ... which ever comes first type of thing...! I'm trying to work on a solution there...! More video, audio and piccies to come ASAP! Tomorrow morning's heats (which kick off 11pm AEST) will feature the prelims of the Women's 4 x 100m medley relay! Australia has three of it's swimmers 'locked in' to swim in the final and their fantastic abilities are going to equal big time help to the Aussie quartet - yup, I'm talkin' about World Champions of 2005 over the 100m distance in Leisel Jones (breaststroke), Jess Schipper (butterfly) and Jodie Henry (freestyle). Now before knowing about *the* suit drama's and then yesterday's awesome victory by G, I would have probably been one of the first people to (begrudgingly ;-)) conceed that she wasn't much of a chance to swim in the final of the 4 x 100m medley - coz before all the other info was known, I was like 'hmm what's doing with G's performance I wonder?!' but now we know type of thing...! anyway! but I have to wonder if now, depending of course on her heats performance, G may be able to force her way into the team for the final...!? Don't get me wrong, Sophie Edington is very deserving of a place there lso, but it will no doubt be interesting to see how this one turns out...! So I won't 'lie' ;-) and say I'm not gunning for a super swim by G tonight to place herself in team for the final! but in all seriousness, a ton of Good luck for the team's in both the heats & final! (I'll try do another update before the final...;-)) Unfortunately, lately I've been neglecting to mention other great performances by the Aussie Dolphins so far this week! Grant Hackett's amazing 800m Gold!, Leisel Jones, who this morning grabbed a second Gold with a WR victory in the 200m breaststroke, her memorable maiden gold was won in the 100m breast. earlier this week!! Fantastic work by Leisel, well and TRUELY got the 'monkey off her back'!!! Jodie Henry was Australia's second gold medalist today with a sensational victory in the 100m free, adding another major individual Gold to her collection for the free to go with her haul from Athens 04! I gotta say, although I've seen enough of Jodie swim to know better!!! ;-) I was a thinking a little bit of 'ohhh Jodes the start' ;-) when watching, but it was fantastic to see her do what we all know she can do, bring it hooommmee!! :) The Aussie 4 x 200m relay team, lead by a BLISTERING lead off Australian record time by Libby Lenton won the silver behind the Americans - fantastic work! Articles: Jones and Henry on top in goldern Montreal night - Swimming Australia P.S: This update comes to you a little later than planned due to being busy last night visting my new litte neice, Jessica, who was born yesterday!! :-) ... oh yes, I'll show her off too - in her Bulldogs 'hat' no less! Aint she a cutie!! :-) July 29, 2005 News Flash GIAAN WINS 50M BACKSTROKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP!!! Photos:Fox Sports and Getty Images Giaan Rooney has captured the second World title of her career with victory this morning in the 50m backstroke! Giaan, who I'd say has well and truely erased the disappointment of a below par 100m back, swum the 50 in 28.63, silver was won by China's Chang Gao (28.69sec) and Germany's Antje Buschschulte (28.72sec) won the bronze. Fellow Aussie Sophie Edington narrowly missed the medals, she finished in 5th place (28.87). Click here for full results from the final “I knew when we went past the 15m rope I was ahead of the Chinese girl (Gao) and she was the one to beat,” Rooney explained, as quoted in the article on the Swimming Australia website “From there I knew I was going to be a real chance of winning. “It’s been four years since my last World Championship gold medal – what can I say – I’m just so happy." “I’m really proud that I turned it around after a disappointing 100m backstroke,” she said. “I left that swim at the pool, put it behind me and got ready for this race. This is the one I trained for; this is the one I came here to win." “I was training for a long time and it paid off. I’m very happy, I’ve been doing this for me and that’s the bottom line.’’ Some more quotes from the Golden-gal from Fox Sports are below: "I've been itching for this moment. I love the 50 back," she said on the pooldeck. "I just knew I had to stay calm and do it on the night. It has been a big journey, it's been four years since my last world championship gold medal, and its been a long four years. "I'm just loving the sport at the moment... this is my first time on the podium in four years, what can I say I'm pretty happy." Photos: (C) Getty Images An interesting stat, from the Swimming Australia article is that Giaan Rooney is only the third Australian ever to win a world championship in two different strokes. The other two are training partners Michael Klim, who won the 100m butterfly and 200m freestyle in 1998, and Matt Welsh who won the 100m backstroke in 2001 and the 50m butterfly in 2003. Roons joins some esteemed company!!! I'm very VERY stoked for Giaan!!! :-D Not only has she swum a great race to win the Gold, and highlighted by a fantastic start, she has also been able to put behind the 100 back swim and focus on this race and not let the fact she was unable to make the final in the 100 affect her! :-) Another update later tonight with some audio/video and more pics! Articles: * ROONEY HEADLINES WONDERFUL NIGHT FOR AUSSIE GIRLS - Swimming Australia * Rooney back to her best - Fox Sports WAY TO GO G!!! Backstroke Blunder Speaking of the 100 back, there is a article in The Australian today - Body suit proves drag for Rooney - which Giaan talks about how the wearing of a full length body suit, never worn before in racing or even training conditions, for the 100m back semi final, well, as the reporter Rebecca Williams correctly puts, backfired. "I had never worn legs before so I kicked the whole way out and could not feel them until it was too late coming back, so probably did the last 25m without legs." She admitted she and coach Ian Pope had blundered by not properly testing the different suit before the race. "Popey and I kind of said all those American girls are wearing them and all the European girls are wearing them, so there must be something to them and let's try it," Rooney said. "We were probably too cocky and it showed." Some more on the choice of suit from today's Sydney Morning Herald article - High hopes fall flat for some - "I wore a suit I'd never worn before in the semis," she said. "At 22 you can still learn things and still be stupid. It was the first time I'd even worn it and I tried it in a race. I had never worn legs [full-length suit] before so I kicked the whole way out and couldn't feel them until it was too late coming back, so probably did the last 25 metres without legs." Very very tough way to do it, but I guess it's almost a case of 'lesson learnt'...no more trying a new suit for the first time in racing conditions!! ... :-) here to go to the 2005 World Champs info page. Earlier news is available by following the 'News' link on the top left hand side of each page!