The ripples of the 2004 Athens Olympics will still be felt when the 11th swimming World Championships open in Montreal on Sunday.
Several of the sport’s superstars — including Australian Ian Thorpe — are taking the post-Olympic year off, while others — such as American sensation Michael Phelps — have chosen instead to refocus their efforts.
Coming less than a year after Athens, the 2005 World Championships have an air of anti-climax.
Uncertainty over the venue — after world governing body Fina withdrew the championships from Montreal in January and then gave them back in February — only intensified the feeling.
Finally, however, the 15-day extravaganza of swimming, diving, synchronised swimming, water polo and open-water swimming offers some intriguing new match-ups, as well as the renewal of long-standing rivalries.
The men’s 50m, 100m, 200m and 400m freestyle, for instance, will all see new world champions crowned thanks to Thorpe’s pre-Beijing 2008 holiday and the retirement of Russian sprint great Alexander Popov.
Also missing will be Olympic gold medallist Pieter van den Hoogenband of The Netherlands because of hernia surgery in May.
The list of absentees no doubt had Phelps licking his chops as he contemplated his decision to go for titles in 100m, 200m and 400m freestyle, but the 20-year-old American is far from a certainty.
Australian distance freestyle king Grant Hackett boasts the top time in the world this year in the 200m freestyle. In the 100m freestyle, Australian veteran Michael Klim, Italian Filippo Magnini and South Africans Ryk Neethling and Roland Schoeman are all contenders.
Despite his decision to forego title defences in the 200m butterfly and 400m individual medley, Phelps is the undisputed leader of a powerful United States men’s team that includes world-record-holders in Ian Crocker, Ian Peirsol and Brendan Hansen.
Peirsol, defending world champion and Olympic gold medallist in both the 100m and 200m backstroke, has already lowered the 100m world mark this year.
Hansen, owner of world records in both the 100m and 200m breaststroke, will try to drown the memory of second-place finishes in both events in Athens behind Japan’s Kosuke Kitajima.
Kitajima, who also won both titles at the 2003 worlds, will defend only one after failing to qualify for the 200m breaststroke at the Japanese trials.
While Australian team captain Hackett acknowledged the superior depth of the US squad, the Queenslander said the Aussie team could still be expected to make some waves.
Certainly it’s a chance for Australia’s women to build on their success in Athens, where they set world records in both the 4x100m freestyle and medley relays.
Jodie Henry figured in both, and also set a world record en route to the individual 100m freestyle title.
After seeing their male teammates win all six of Australia’s world titles in Barcelona, the Aussie women appear poised this time to bring home the gold.
For starters, Australia’s Alice Mills, Lisbeth Lenton and Henry are the top freestyle sprinters in the world this year.
Australian women also top the 2005 times in the 100m butterfly and the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke.
As on the men’s side, there are some notable absentees, including Inge de Bruijn of The Netherlands, Germany’s Hannah Stockbauer and American Amanda Beard, as well as the now-retired icons Jenny Thompson of the US and Petria Thomas of Australia.
China’s Luo Xuejuan will be back to defend her 50m and 100m breaststroke titles, while other women’s events feature contenders from a range of countries, including Germany’s newly minted 50m backstroke world-record-holder Janine Pietsch, Polish butterflier Otylia Jedrzejczak and France’s Laure Manoudou.
Also poised to pounce despite quiet starts to their seasons are Olympic backstroke champions Nathalie Coughlin of the US and Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe.
Before any of them hit the water, however, come seven days of diving, synchronised swimming, open-water swimming and water-polo preliminaries.
The first medals will be awarded in diving, where hosts Canada boast medal contenders in defending women’s platform champion Emilie Heymans and Alexandre Despatie.
Despatie, a Montreal native, won’t defend his 10m platform title because of a back injury, but will compete in 1m and 3m springboard.
They’ll have their work cut out against a strong Chinese squad, who won a record six Olympic titles in Athens.
Australia also boasts an Olympic gold medallist in Chantelle Newbery, who won the 10m platform in Athens to spearhead Australia’s best haul to date of six medals.
Also scheduled for the opening day are synchronised swimming and water-polo preliminaries, while the men’s and women’s 5km open-water events take the plunge in the 1976 Olympic rowing basin. — Sapa-AFP