O'Neill strikes gold for Australia

Susie O'Neill gave the home crowd plenty to shout about

Australia's Susie O'Neill gave the home crowd another gold medal to cheer in the pool when she held on to win the 200m freestyle.

The Commonwealth champion could not contain her delight as the passionate supporters chanted her name.

O'Neill, who was fastest in Monday's heats and semi-finals, saw off a determined late spurt from Slovakia's Martina Moravcova to win in 1 minute 58.24 seconds.

Defending champion Claudia Poll, who was bidding to become the first woman to retain the crown, had to settle for a bronze medal.

The Costa Rican also took bronze in Sunday's 400m freestyle.

"That was pretty painful," O'Neill said. "Thank goodness it's over, I'm so relieved I finished."

The 27-year-old, who plans to hang up her goggles after the Olympics after marrying her childhood sweetheart last year, trailed Moravcova at the end of the first lap before making her move at the 70 metre mark.

She stretched her lead to 0.55 when they turned for home but with the capacity crowd, which included Australian Prime Minister John Howard, willing her to victory she thrashed her slender arms through the water to reach the wall first.

"I tried not to listen because they were putting me off," she said. "So I just closed my eyes and tried to swim my own race."

An hour later O'Neill showed why she is one of the world's finest all-round swimmers by qualifying first in her semi-final for the final of the 200m butterfly.