Melanie Schlanger was selected to compete in two freestyle relays in Beijing for Australia.
Although the team was unable to defend Australia's Olympic gold medal in the 100m freestyle relay from Athens, a blistering third leg from Schlanger ensured Australia did not go without a prize.
In the 200m freestyle relay, it was a strategy for Schlanger to swim only in the heats to help get the team into the finals. Australia’s first-choice quartet then won the final in a world record time. As reward for swimming in the heats and being part of that victorious team, Schalnger also received a gold medal.
Preparations for Beijing Olympics
Schlanger trains at Commercial Club under Coach Stephan Widmer in Brisbane. Her swimming partner is Libby Trickett but Trickett has announced she may be moving to Sydney in 2009.
Prior to the Beijing Olympics, Schlanger missed out on an individual place in the Australian Time-trials for her favourite 100m freestyle individual event. The two available places went to Libby Trickett and Cate Campbell. However, Schlanger's times were sufficiently fast that she was allowed to compete in the 100m and 200m freestyle relays for Beijing.
Melanie Schlanger started swimming at the late age of 14 years, so hopefully she will peak later than most swimmers who start swimming from a very young age. Unlike many swimmers who "burn out" by their late teens, Schlanger has the passion to continue and keep on improving.
Focus on 100m Freestyle
Schlanger considers herself a specialist 100m freestyle swimmer, although her 200m freestyle time is getting more competitive. Nationally, Schlanger is the third fastest woman behind Libby Trickett and Cate Campbell. According to FINA, her world ranking for the 100m individual event is currently 18th with a personal best time of 54.2 seconds. The top six positions as of August 2008 are as follows:
- TRICKETT Lisbeth, AUS, 1985, 52.88
- STEFFEN Britta, GER, 1983, 53.05
- CAMPBELL Cate, AUS, 1992, 53.30
- COUGHLIN Natalie, USA, 1982, 53.39
- SEPPALA Hanna-Maria, FIN, 1984, 53.60
- VELDHUIS Marleen, NED, 1979, 53.67
Melanie Schlanger's best 100m relay split time is 53.85 seconds (which is not the same as individual time as it excludes a reaction time of about 0.5 sec when all swimmers start off the blocks). She hopes to improve in 2009 and is initially targeting individual times below the 54 second benchmark to join an elite group of swimmers.
Summary
The 100m women freestyle event is getting very competitive on the world stage with more and more swimmers achieving times below the 54 second benchmark. Schlanger is currently ranked by FINA within the top twenty swimmers in the world for the 100m freestyle. She is already back into training for the next World Championships in Rome in July 2009 and long term, she hopes to compete in the London Olympics in four years' time.
Readers may also be interested in finding out about Olympic facts and figures including the athletes' world rankings.
Harry P. Schlanger - Hello, I started out as a physicist working for research organisations. Mostly in the area of heat transfer in solids and porous media. ...
