Alicia Coutts will competing in her first long course event since winning five Olympic medals in London. The 2012 EnergyAustralia Swimmer of the Year will be competing in the Victorian Open Championships which will be held at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre from January 11th-13th.
Coutts will be joined by many fellow Olympians including Melanie Schlanger, Blair Evans, Belinda Hocking, Matson Lawson, David McKeon, Leiston Pickett, James Roberts, Matt Targett, Christopher Wright and Brenton Rickard.
One of the highlights of the meet will be when Coutts and Schlanger who won Olympic gold together on the 4 x 100 freestyle relay will face each other in the 100 freestyle.
Joining the many Olympians will be Short Course World Championship medalists Travis Mahoney (bronze – 4 x 100 freestyle relay), Sarah Katsoulis (bronze – 50 breaststroke), Marieke Guehrer (silver – 4 x 100 freestyle and 4 x 100 medley relays) and Rachel Goh (silver – 4 x 100 medley relay).
Coutts, Katsoulis, Schlanger, Rickard and Roberts will all be using the competition as preparation for the upcoming BHP Billiton Aquatic Super Series.
17 year old Alexander Graham, who went 1:49.40 to break Michael Klim’s Victorian Boys 17-18 Years 200m Freestyle record at the Victorian Age Championships in December, will also be competing. Graham will be using the Open Championships as preparation for the Australian Youth Olympics Festival which begins on January 16th.