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Alicia Coutts is chasing as many as five medals at the London Olympics, confident that a helpful program gives her a huge leg-up in her pet butterfly and medley events.
Coutts won silver medals on the same day in the 100m butterfly and 200m individual medley (IM) as a tough schedule did her no favours at last year’s Shanghai world swimming championships, but she’ll face no such clash in London.
She first needs to get through next week’s selection trials in Adelaide where she’s also aiming to qualify for the 100m freestyle and a place in the 4x100m freestyle and 4x100m medley relay squads.
The Queenslander acknowledges she faces a demanding agenda in London where she could swim on each of the eight days of competition, but all five of her potential finals are on separate days.
“I guess it’s all about executing your race properly and backing up,” she said.
“None of my events overlap. It’s actually a really good program for me, so I don’t think that should be a problem.”
Her two world championship silvers came within 40 minutes of each other and, a year after, she won five gold medals at the Delhi Commonwealth Games, missing gold in Shanghai by a bare .07 and .10 of a second.
Australia’s most successful female swimmer of the past two years has improved with each major outing since Delhi, but knows it’s a massive step to translate Commonwealth gold into Olympic success.
She needs to overcome some stiff competition from home, for a start.
Her clash with triple Olympic champion Stephanie Rice and Emily Seebohm in the 200m IM will be a highlight of the Adelaide trials, with only the first two qualifying for London.
While the 100m freestyle is the lesser of her priorities, she’s been dealt another favour by the trials program, which mirrors the Olympic schedule.
“If I can qualify (for the 100m free), I’ll definitely swim it in London,” she said.
“It’s after my main events anyway. It doesn’t overlap with any of my program, so it’s not going to affect my other events in any way.”
And with Melanie Schlanger, Cate Campbell and Libby Trickett all in good shape, the 4x100m freestyle relay has again emerged as a strong event for Australia after a lean period.
“It’s looking really good for the relays this year,” Coutts said.
“A lot of people have really stepped up since last year, especially after the Commonwealth Games – our team was a little bit on the weak side.
“It’s good to see the girls stepping up and we can be major contenders at the Olympic Games for the relay.”
Australia’s eight-day Olympic selection trials begin in Adelaide on March 15.
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