Media Feast Not Affecting Rice's Golden Hunger

Sydney Morning Herald

Friday August 1, 2008

Michael Cowley in Kuala Lumpur

STEPHANIE RICE really should not be too surprised she has become the breakfast diet of so many this week.

Since sweeping on to the scene and winning gold medals at the Commonwealth Games in 2006, Rice has been one of the main dishes for the media, with the then-teenager making more appearances on our screens than a Neighbours star.

It was the same story at the world titles last year, and then at the Olympic trials in March when she broke two world records, again Rice - and her boyfriend Eamon Sullivan - were the flavour of the media feast.

So, while she admits her surprise at all the fuss, it makes sense that her split with the world's fastest man in water, has been played out in public.

"I guess I never thought my personal life would be such an interest in the media but it's sort of flattering I suppose," Rice said yesterday when speaking for the first time about her break-up with Sullivan. "But at the same time, I'm not going to let it get to me. We both have worked too hard for that.

"I've been pretty lucky being in KL [Kuala Lumpur] and having to not hear about all that and all the media, and I don't really know what's going on, but I do get a few emails from Mum saying it's been on all the morning shows and it's such a big deal, so it's really nice to be away from that here.

"The whole reason that we decided to have a bit of a break was because of the Olympics and obviously the media talking about it [the break-up] is a little bit draining but at the same time we both know we made this decision because of the Olympics and being such elite athletes and professional that we want to do what is best for us."

While it happened "a couple of weeks ago", the split is affecting her swimming. On Wednesday morning, ironically while her former boyfriend was informing the media of their relationship split, Rice swam a time trial in the 200 metres individual medley - the event in which she still holds the world record at two minutes, 8.92 seconds.

She clocked 2:10.70, three seconds quicker than she has ever done at the same stage of her preparation, and an obvious sign she continues to improve since setting those world records four months ago.

"I was really excited," she said. "The main reason for doing the time trial was to try out the long LZR suit because I've never worn it before for the medley. The only concern I have was in the breaststroke - I was not being able to get full [kicking] range, but it felt great on butterfly, backstroke and freestyle, so it's sort of a three against one. I'm still a little undecided, but it helps me to decide a bit more."

When asked how much she had improved, the 20-year-old said: "I don't really know yet and I won't know until I race, but in terms of my training, I think I've definitely been able to push myself a little bit further and make slight improvements on a lot of different things.

"At the Olympics, some people don't do PBs and world records to win because of the pressure. It's really about the race for me, and I'm looking forward to the actual race and the challenge."

© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald

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