Swimming-Australian sibling rivalry to heat up Kazan pool

By Ian Ransom MELBOURNE, July 25 (Reuters) - Sharing a coach, a home and a childhood dream to win gold for Australia in the Olympic pool, Cate and Bronte Campbell will also share the spotlight when they compete against each other at the Kazan world championships. The sprint sisters have always been close but in recent years have become almost inseparable in competition. Two years Bronte's senior, 23-year-old Cate brings the 100 metres freestyle title to Kazan and the year-best time of 52.69 seconds. Bronte is fourth on the timesheets, less than four-tenths of a second behind. The 50 metres freestyle is even tighter, with Cate leading with a time of 24.03 seconds ahead of her second-placed sister. Being second to Cate has been Bronte's lot for the most part, but the 21-year-old crashed through a psychological barrier in April, when she upset her to win a first national title in the 50 metres freestyle. That ended a run of six straight runnerup finishes at national championships behind her more illustrious sister. "It means I stop getting asked about it," Bronte told reporters at the time. "No one is going to ask me 'when is it going to happen' which is an impossible question anyway." Though the times have become tighter and the competition more intense, the Campbells remain firm friends outside the pool, perhaps mindful that each owe their success and future prospects to the other. Australia's love of an Olympic swimming champion has long placed a heavy load on individuals, but the Campbells will share the burden of expectation at the world titles and for their expected assault at the Rio Games next year. The burden falls a bit heavier on Cate's shoulders, given her crushing disappointment at the London Olympics. Some three inches taller than Bronte and possessing the perfect physique for slicing through water, Cate won gold in the 4x100m freestyle relay at London but fell ill with pancreatitis and had to withdraw from the individual event which many favoured her to win. Not quite so blessed with her sister's proportions, Bronte needs more strokes to complete a lap so her ability to all but match Cate has been seen as a testament to her fighting spirit. Their coach Simon Cusack says neither swimmer needs much direction. "They have an intimate feel for the water. They feel the water on their hands and their limbs, it is instinctual and almost impossible to teach," Cusack told The Australian newspaper in a recent interview. Sibling acts are a rarity in elite swimming, but Australia has produced a disproportionate share, starting with Frank and Lily Beaurepaire, who became the country's first siblings to compete at an Olympics at the 1920 Games in Antwerp. John and Ilsa Konrads both took medals at the 1960 Rome Games, with John winning the 1500m freestyle and Ilsa taking silver in the 4x100m freestyle relay. Emma McKeon, who won two freestyle relay silvers at the 2013 world championships, will compete at Kazan and her brother David will contest the 200, 400 and 800 freestyle. Australia have not toasted an individual Olympic champion in the pool since the 2008 Beijing Games. London yielded the lowest Olympic medal haul in 20 years and a raft of damaging reviews into the team's culture. With telegenic looks and squeaky-clean images, both the Campbell sisters fit the bill to become the country's newest 'golden girls', role models both in and out of the pool. Kazan will test the sisters' bond but Cate insists blood will always be thicker than water. "I would hope I would be graceful but if (Bronte) was beating me regularly it would be hard," she told The Australian. "But I would never let something like a swimming race come between us. It is just a swimming race." (Editing by Amlan Chakraborty)