JODIE Henry is all set for a place in history after her record-breaking effort in the 100m freestyle at the Athens Olympics overnight.
Victory in the final - which she will swim in the early hours of tomorrow morning - would make Henry the first Australian gold medallist in the event since Dawn Fraser in 1964 at Tokyo.
Henry, 19, smashed teammate Libby Lenton's mark by 0.14sec, clocking 53.52sec in her semi-final. Lenton did the opposite, struggling in fifth place in the other semi-final in 55.17sec and ruling her out of the final.
Lenton's former record was described as "soft" by the camp of defending 100m freestyle champion Inge de Bruijn before these Games, but perhaps not that soft.
Both the Dutchwoman and world champion Hanna-Maria Seppala, of Finland, were almost a body length behind Henry as she went about pulling the record apart languishing in her wake.
It was, of course, Henry's blistering anchor leg in the women's 4x100m freestyle relay that spectacularly won Australia its gold medal on day one of the Games.
The team set a new world record that night too, and Henry's final leg split was a breathtaking 52.95sec, quicker than her world record today.
Notoriously nervous before racing - she threw up before the 100m freestyle final at the Sydney Olympic trials four years ago - Henry will have the eyes of an expectant nation on her again as she chases a second gold at these Games in the individual race.
The pressure of her first individual Olympic final is something she has yet to experience, although the signs so far are that she will have no trouble coping.
Henry insists she doesn't want to take life too seriously just yet, and her beaming smile at the end of her swim today was evidence of that.
"If you take it too seriously it's going to eat you up," she said.
Coach Shannon Rollason has deliberately kept Henry under wraps, too. With the intention of keeping her as relaxed as possible for the premier women's sprint race of the Games. It's an approach that has one more test to pass to be judged a success.
Henry's world record is the latest rewrite of the Australian history books at the Athens meet. While the bulk of the new chapters have been written by Ian Thorpe, Henry was one of two women changing the numbers on day five.
Petria Thomas, whose silver in the 200m butterfly was her seventh Olympic medal overall and her third individual medal at these Games, was the other.
Not since Shane Gould won three golds, a silver and a bronze in individual events at the 1972 Munich Games has a female Australian Olympian been so successful.
Henry will swim from lane four in the final, flanked by de Bruijn and American star Natalie Coughlin in lanes five and three respectively.
The psychological advantage of beating them in the semi-final will provide the young Australian with an edge, but both have experiences that will provide them with as much ammunition in the chase for gold.
Australia's Henry beats De Bruijn to win women's 100m frestyle
Australia's Jodie Henry beat defending champion Inge de Bruijn of the Netherlands to win the women's 100 meters freestyle at the 28th Olympic Games Thursday.
Henry, who set a new world record of 52.52 seconds in Wednesday's semifinals, clocked 53.84 for the gold.
This was the 21-year-old's second gold medal at the Olympic Games following her first win in the 4X100m freestyle relay with the Australian team.
De Bruijn, 31, took the silver in 54.16 and American Natalie Coughlin won the bronze in 54.40.
"I just didn't feel as good as I did last night," Henry said. "But I came away with a win, so I'm pretty happy."
Henry, who failed to make the Australian team for the Sydney Olympic Games four years ago, had never won a world title before the Games. Her best result came from last year's world championships, where she won a silver in the 100m freestyle.
"Back in 2000, I just missed out on the team. I was amazing watching the Aussies and I thought to myself 'I'd love to be there one day' and here I am but I never thought it would happen."
08-19-2004 07:19 AM
