STEPHANIE Rice says she and fellow swimming star Eamon Sullivan remain "great mates" after deciding to end their relationship to concentrate on their performances at the Beijing Olympic Games.Rice, who has continued to train with the Australian team in Kuala Lumpur, said she and Sullivan had decided they needed to focus on the Games ahead.
"The Olympics is the pinnacle of both my and Eamon’s careers and we sat down before we headed into camp and decided that it would be best for both of us to be solely focused on training and our preparation for what happens in the pool,'' Stephanie Rice said"We are still great mates and are enjoying being together with the whole swim team as we gear up for the Games.”
Sullivan said he and his now ex-girlfriend were being “a bit selfish” by deciding to go their separate ways.“Basically with the months ahead we are just focusing purely … I guess being a bit selfish that we want to swim to the best of our ability,” he said.“We both mutually agreed that being together is something that probably won’t work during this month. So we decided to have a break.”
When asked if the break was a permanent move, Sullivan left the relationship door slightly ajar.“You never know what the future holds but we are not thinking about that at the moment,” he said.“We are just thinking about the months ahead and making sure we do 100 per cent in our preparation and focus 100 per cent on ourselves.
"We are still great friends.”
The duo, who captured the nation's hearts at the national trials last March when they revealed their romance, split about 10 days ago.The split was revealed to friends after both swimmers changed their status to "no longer in a relationship" on the networking site Facebook.Australian head coach Alan Thompson said the split had not been destructive for Stephanie Rice or Sullivan's preparations - or to the team.“It was a decision made a while ago," he said.
"Their friends have known for awhile. I don’t think it is anyone business, really.“It is a private matter between these two guys. They are professional athletes and they are handling it really well."Rice and Sullivan shot to national stardom for their exploits in the pool when they both smashed world records at the Olympic qualifying championships in Sydney last March.But fame for the couple was cemented by revelations they were romantically linked.
Party photos of the two - showing Rice in a series of raunchy poses - made them online favourites around the world.Earlier this month, they were back on the front pages together promoting a new underwear brand.NO one was happier than Stephanie Rice to see the Wallabies' Queensland contingent jet back into Brisbane early on Tuesday morning.
Triple Olympic gold medallist Rice had barely enough time to finish her morning training session, jettison her swimming goggles and leap into the shower before greeting her boyfriend Quade Cooper on his return from Australia's spring tour of Europe.All the attention centred on the glamour couple who shared a quick hug in front of the waiting cameras in the arrivals hall.Cooper was initially reluctant to field questions from the media but eventually was persuaded to offer his thoughts about the successful tour.
"I'm just happy to be home and have a bit of time off to recharge the batteries," the Wallabies flyhalf said.During the tour the Australians showed they are on track to be a force at next year's Rugby World Cup in New Zealand with wins against the All Blacks, Wales, Italy and France, making amends for a disappointing show against England
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