Australian swimming head coach to see venue of Olympics

BEIJING, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Australian swimming head coach Alan Thompson has arrived in Beijing for firsthand experiences of venues, traffic and even potential competitors for his swimmers ahead of the Olympics.

Thompson's trip coincided with the debut event of the Water Cube, the Swimming China Open. The tournament is a test for the functions of the facility and the organization ahead of the August games.

The captain of the Australia's swimming squad said the aquatic venue was very impressive and the Australian swimmers would find it easy to get around.

"We will have great level of comfort here because its layouts are similar with the Olympic aquatic venue in Sydney ... (this way) the swimmers don't have to look for things and that's what they like, not to be confused," Thompson said on Sunday.

He said his contingent will also inspect the quality of the training venues and its distance from the Water Cube before arrangements are made on the arrival dates and pre-games training.

Thompson, who observed several races at the China Open, said there was no doubt that Chinese swimmers will perform strongly in the Olympic Games, particularly when they are swimming in front of a home crowd.

"The Chinese team is building and becoming stronger, just like the Australian in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, it (the Beijing Olympics) would be very inspirational in your own country."

He said long distance freestylers You Meihong and Zhang Lin were among the several Chinese swimmers who caught his eyes.

"Although Zhang would have some work to do in men's 1500 meters freestyle, but he is good in 200 meters freestyle and becoming competitive in 400 meters," he said.

At Saturday's 400m freestyle final, Zhang's finishing time of 3 minutes and 45.04 seconds brought him another step closer to catchup with South Korea's Park Tae-Hwan, who ranked first with 3:44.30 in FINA's 2007 world rankings. Zhang's score could upgrade his ranking from the seventh to the second.

China's female breaststroker Qi Hui may also be an Olympic medal hopeful but faces growing competition from swimmers from South Korea and Russia, Thompson added.

Australia is a long-time swimming powerhouse, with world champions or record-holders like Grant Hackett, Leisel Jones and Jessicah Schipper poised to take home golds from the Beijing Olympics.

But the head coach remained reserved about their Olympic ambitions. "We are only looking to improve. We don't have particular goals for Olympic medals, and not even a minimum number," Thompson said.