TWO of Australia's best male swimming prospects, world record-holder Eamon Sullivan and Olympic medallist Hayden Stoeckel, have withdrawn from the world championships, which begin in Rome in two weeks.
Sullivan, who is still officially the fastest 100m freestyle swimmer in history, has failed to recover from the illness that undermined his competition tour of Europe last month. Stoeckel has succumbed to a shoulder injury that has seriously restricted his training for the past month.
Head coach Alan Thompson said it was in the best interests of both swimmers that they skip the world titles.
"Obviously, you can't lose two Olympic medallists and not have an effect but we have to do what's best,'' Thompson said. "We could push through with them but that may do more damage to them and we have to look forward to 2012 (the London Olympics).''
Sullivan contracted a virus in Singapore on the way to Europe and arrived in Barcelona with both flu symptoms and stomach problems. He competed inconsistently in Spain and France, showing glimpses of form, but never really looked like the man who swam 47.05sec for 100m freestyle in Beijing last year.
The impact of the two withdrawals will be particularly hard on the young Australian men's team, which has already lost its long-standing leader Grant Hackett to retirement in the past year, and needs every ounce of the experience remaining to compete with the rest of the world this year.
Breaststroker Brenton Rickard and butterflyer Andrew Lauterstein are now the only individual Olympic medallists in the men's team and will have to bear even more responsibility.
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