Rebel race league perfectly timed for comeback queen Campbell

Commonwealth Games champion Bronte Campbell believes the new International Swimming League could be a perfect springboard into an Olympic campaign after she was selected as part of the London franchise for the rebel competition.

Sydney-based Campbell will join sister Cate, Olympic 100-metres freestyle champion Kyle Chalmers and Emma McKeon as fellow Australians on the London team, which also includes British breaststroke great Adam Peaty, who has been a vocal advocate of the new competition funded by billionaire Konstantin Grigorishin.

Comeback trail: Australian sprint star Bronte Campbell. Credit:AAP

Rob Woodhouse, a former Australian Olympian and now a sports agent, will be the general manager of a team that will compete for a purse of $32million once it begins in October. FINA initially threatened to ban from the Olympics any swimmers who took part, but has since relented and launched a rich invitation-only event of its own, although it clashes with Australia’s world championships preparations.

It’s been seen as a huge win for professional swimmers, who can now seek to make a living outside of the official FINA events. But the timing won’t suit all of the Australians, with leading coach Dean Boxall among those to say his squad would be unlikely to take part if it threatened their preparations for Tokyo 2020.

For others such as Campbell, it might be exactly what the doctor ordered. She won the 100 metres freestyle at last year’s Commonwealth Games while injured and took an extended lay-off to attempt to coax her body towards another gruelling Olympic campaign.

She will contest the NSW and Australian titles in coming weeks before the official trials in Brisbane in winter ahead of the FINA world championships in Korea in July. But exactly how fast she will be swimming remains a question without a concrete answer.

“It’s really hard to predict. I’ve never had such a long break and coming back there were a few different issues, different from before. The competitions leading up will be a good opportunity to see where I’m at,” Campbell said. “I have no idea how I’m going to go this year, I’ll just give it a red-hot crack and see how I go.”

Campbell is a high-pedigree racer but may not be fully wound up in time to be at her peak at the world championships. In that case, a dose of late-season racing against some of the best swimmers in the world could be the ideal tune-up before the pressure of an Olympic years descends.

“It has all fitted in really well in terms of planning for the Olympics. The question was how would it fit into the plan and there would be no way we would go if it damaged our Olympic campaign. If injuries flared up or something obviously that [Olympics] comes first but it’s all looking pretty hopeful,” she said.

“It can’t hurt at all. There’s nothing like high-class competition. I’m lucky I get that every day in training with Cate and hopefully she gets that from me. It doesn’t make a huge amount of difference to how I race but to race fast and get race fit and practice all the things you do in training is a great advantage.

“It just provides another opportunity for me to compete internationally again. I’m just hoping I can go over and race and get in as much as possible leading into an Olympic year.”

The ISL will run over six legs from October to December featuring eight teams based in either Europe or the United States.

The top two teams from the US and Europe will qualify for the finals, which will be held in Las Vegas in December.

Source: Read Full Article