While Australia’s galaxy of stars will be shining at the Qantas Skins later this month, four of Australia’s emerging guns will be blazing their way across the Indian Ocean to Durban in South Africa for the opening round of the 2004/05 FINA World Cup Series.

As one of the host countries for the World Cup Series, Australia is obliged to send a team of four athletes to the other events around the globe and the South African leg will be used to give four or our strongest emerging male swimmers international experience.

Brenton Rickard, who won four silver medals at the 2004 FINA World Short Course Championships, leads the group, which also includes World Short Course team member Andrew Mewing, and young guns Andrew Lauterstein and Kenrick Monk.

Rickard goes to South Africa after the ultimate roller coaster ride throughout 2004. In March the man tipped to be Australia’s leading breaststroke hope over 100m at the Olympic Games missed selection in the team and was forced to watch the Athens Olympics on television.

Then the 21-year-old returned to the Telstra Dolphins Australian Team for the World Short Course Championships and returned from Indianapolis with four silver medals.

He finished second in the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke, proving his versatility before joining his Australian team mates to claim silver on the final night of the meet in the 4x100m medley relay.

Mewing, another of Australia’s World Short Course representatives, will also make the trip to Durban after impressing in his international debut in Indianapolis.

The 23-year-old represents a new breed of swimmer in Australia after making a return to full time training following time off to finish studies. He came back from the World Short Course Championships with a silver medal for his efforts in the gallant Australian 4x200m freestyle relay team that went so close to knocking off the USA in a tense final.

The final two places on the small team to go to Durban will be filled by two young swimmers we are certain to hear a whole lot more about over the next four years. Lauterstein and Monk are regarded as two of the most promising members of the Fisher & Paykel Flippers youth squad.

Monk and Lauterstein made a splash at the 2004 Telstra Australian Short Course Championships and narrowly missed selection in the team for the World Championships but at 16 and 17 years of age respectively there is tremendous hope for the future.

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