called golden girl of the Beijing Olympics, has secured the first spot on the Australian swimming team for London 2012. Triple Olympic champion Rice won the 400-meter medley final in 4 minutes, 33.45 seconds Thursday night to start the eight-day national selection trials. Rice had surgery to repair a damaged tendon in her right shoulder last year and struggled to regain her form. She was fourth fastest in the heats but was too strong from the start of the final, giving up the lead for only a few meters in the race and winning by more than four seconds from Blair Evans (4:37.80). Former world champion Jess Schipper led the qualifiers into Friday's 100 butterfly final, with reigning Olympic champion Libby Trickett posting the sixth-fastest time. Schipper clocked 58.26 and just shaded Alicia Coutts, silver medalist at the 2011 World Championships, in 58.30. Triple Olympic gold medalist Trickett swam 59.67 in her first major meet since coming out of retirement. Thomas Fraser-Holmes set an Australian record to win the 4:11.81 to win the men's 400 IM on the opening night. David McKeon won the 400 freestyle in 3:46.36 to beat pre-race favorite Ryan Napoleon (3:47.93) in the final. His father, Ron, and uncle, Rob Woodhouse, were both Olympic swimmers.
