Golden girl of the pool

PERFORMING is something that seems to come naturally to Stephanie Rice, star of the camera, gossip mags and now proudly and completely star of the pool.

In the gruelling 400 metres individual medley fi nal, the glamour girl of Australian swimming proved she was worth the hype with a smashand- grab effort — smashing the world record and grabbing the gold medal.

Rice’s feats also earn her The Age’s Performer of the Week award, presented by Colonial First State.

American Katie Hoff might have been the pre-race favourite but she couldn’t go with Rice, who took Zimbabwe’s Kirsty Coventry with her into uncharted waters.

At one stage, they were more than three seconds ahead of world record time. No wonder it hurt so much. “It was the most pain I’ve ever experienced racing,” she said.

Rice (four minutes 29.45 seconds) kicked ahead of Coventry (4:29.89) and well clear of third-placed Hoff (4:31.71).

Rice does nothing by halves and, rather than sneaking under the record, whacked nearly two seconds off Hoff’s mark.

She quickly turned on the million-dollar smile, matched by the raised right arm of victory.

“When the pressure is on, I know that everything I have trained for and practised for is coming to that point in time,” she said. “I could not have asked for a better race.”

The confidence and the smile will be back when Rice contests the 200-metre individual medley, with the 4 x 200 metres relay another medal proposition.

Every Tuesday, The Age sports team will select an outstanding sporting performance of the week. The winner could be any Australian team or individual competing in a major sport. Readers will select the performers of the year by voting online in November. Until then, post your feedback or suggested selections on blogs at:

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