Can Marrit Steenbergen Defeat the Australians In Their Own Backyard? Discover the Excitement of Friday’s Meet in Brisbane.
Marrit Steenbergen, the Dutch wonder woman dubbed “The Steen Train” and British Olympic golden boy Duncan Scott have touched down in Brisbane ready to take on Australia’s best in a Skins-style meet on Friday night.
Swimming Australia yesterday finally released event details of the one-off made for TV short course meet that will see the stars of swimming, racing under the stars at the historic Valley Pool –Queensland’s spiritual home of swimming.
Steenbergen is coming off an extraordinary six-gold medal haul for The Netherlands at the European Short Course Championships in Lublin, Poland on the weekend as the 25-year-old rises to superstar level heading towards LA28.
While Scott won a heart-stopping 200m freestyle in Poland in a world class 1:40.54 and will headline the World Team that includes fellow Olympic golden boys Thomas Ceccon (Italy) and Lukas Märtens (Germany).
Waiting for them will be a red-hot Dolphins line up headlined by Olympic gold medallists, Queensland awesome foursome Cam McEvoy, Zac Stubblety-Cook, Kaylee McKeown and Mollie O’Callaghan.
But it’s the “Steen Train” who is going to take some stopping.
Steenbergen is certainly in career-best form: winning the 100m (50.42) and 200m (1:50.33) freestyle double and the 100m (56.26) and 200m (2:01.83) IM double – all four in European short course record times and among the fastest times ever swum.
Setting her fifth record in the 50m backstroke lead off (25.47) in the Netherlands gold medal-winning 4×50 medley relay and her sixth gold in the Netherlands 4x50m freestyle relay.
Read David Reider’s piece on the rise and rise of Marrit Steenbergen.
Steenbergen has emerged as the star attraction of a World Team gathering in the 2032 Olympic host city for a meet dubbed Australia v The World at the historic 50m outdoor pool where the likes of Australian legends Stephen Holland and Tracey Wickham set world records in the 1970s, come rain, hail or shine.
The historic heritage-listed front façade will greet both swimmers and fans alike in a true trip back down memory lane that will see some of the world’s fastest swimmers go head-to-head in what promises to be a fun-filled night of swimming in the open air – a meet to be televised live.
And while Scott and Steenbergen and the rest of the world team are shaking off their jet lag, Swimming Australia finally released details of the secretive event schedule, turning the clock back to the original Qantas Skins Meet from 1996 – featuring the Skins style 50m shoot-outs and the popular Mystery Medley.
All Skins winners from the four-strong fields in all strokes for men and women will compete for the right to race in the Champions Race off staggered starts – earning double points for their teams
The mystery events will feature the 200m individual medley with the stroke order decided on deck with the spin of a live roulette wheel each lane swimming a different order.
Then there’s the:
The Mega Relay (A mixed 6x50m freestyle relay with the crowd voting if a male or female swimmer leads off).
The What’s It Going To Be Relay (A 4x50m Mixed Relay with the crowd choosing if it’s a medley or freestyle relay just before the start. The catch ? Teams must stick with their original swimmer order – no reshuffling or last minute swaps!
The Fans Secret Weapon (A mixed 4x25m freestyle relay where the crowd has the option to sub out a swimmer for another. The coaches must decide who will be cut to make room for The Secret Weapon)
Winners taking five points (1st = 5pts, 2nd = 3pts, 3rd = 2pts, 4th = 1pt
POWER PLAYS:
Each team has three x power plays in their arsenal BUT a power play can only be used once for a male event, once for a female event and once for a relay.
When a team activates their power play and hit the wall first, their points are doubled, scoring a massive 10 points! (If both teams choose to make a power play for the same event, it’s double points to the winner only.)
400M SPEED CHALLENGE: (In the men and female 400m freestyle, it’s not just about the final touch – every lap counts! The leader at each 100m checkpoint will win a bonus point.)
