Our next Libby at just 14

IN the week that Libby Trickett announced her retirement, the girl who may eventually replace her in the national team, Yolane Kukla, 14, declared her intent at the Queensland championships.

Kukla stepped into the frame for Commonwealth Games selection next year by smashing the national 14 years' age record in the 100m freestyle, becoming the youngest Australian woman to break 55 seconds.

Her time of 54.99sec would have earned her fourth place, and a spot on the national team, at this year's world titles selection trials.

"I think she is capable of making the (Commonwealth Games) team, and whether that's as a relay or an individual swimmer will depend on how she handles the occasion," Kukla's coach Michael Palfery said yesterday.

"Libby's departure opens up the door for the younger kids coming through, and we are going to have a crack at it.

"I think (Kukla) can get faster by the end of the season."

If Kukla's timing is this impeccable for the rest of her career, she will have every chance of rising to the peak of the sport.

Already, the comparisons with Trickett are unavoidable.

Like the triple Olympic gold medallist, Kukla hails from Brisbane and is a compact athletic type with a strong power-to-weight ratio, courtesy of a background as an elite gymnast.

She also excels in the same events -- 50m and 100m freestyle and 100m butterfly -- showing the kind of sprint versatility that is invaluable to the national team.

This week she has also demonstrated an ability to compete confidently in open company.

She finished second behind Trickett's immediate successor, Olympic medallist Cate Campbell, 17, in the 50m freestyle in Brisbane, clocking a personal best time of 25.17sec.

Among those in her wake were seasoned international competitors, triple Commonwealth Games gold medallist Sophie Edington and world 50m butterfly champion Marieke Guehrer.

"She's raced tough this week, she's doing age and open events at this meet and she's stepped up more in the open events," Palfery said.

Kukla's freestyle times this week would have been good enough to reach both Olympic finals at the 2004 Athens Olympics, the last Games before the rise of the performance-enhancing polyurethane bodysuits which will be banned next year.

And tellingly, Kukla swam in a suit that was as close as she could find to be compliant with the new rules.

If she does qualify for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, she will join a small but celebrated club of Australians to break into the national team at 14.

The most recent were Leisel Jones (2000) and Ian Thorpe (1997).

Two other Queenslanders, Tessa Wallace and Jayden Hadler, both 16, also emerged as Games prospects this week.

Wallace finished second to Jones in the 200m breaststroke in 2min 26.03sec, while Hadler broke Andrew Lauterstein's national age record in the 100m butterfly, clocking 53.78sec.

Meanwhile, Guehrer, Australia's most-travelled international competitor, will make one last excursion this year, to contest the Salnikov Cup in St Petersburg this weekend.

At the last meet of the year, Guehrer plans to make one last attempt on the world short-course record in the 100m backstroke, before polyurethane suits are banned.

l Triple Olympic gold medallist Petria Thomas will be inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Florida, next May.

Thomas, who won eight Olympic medals during her career, one short of Thorpe's Australian record tally, will be one of 10 greats added to the hall. Others include Germany's Franziska van Almsick and US distance champion Brooke Bennett.