Pretoria-based swim star Suzaan van Biljon collected a gold medal for South Africa in clocking a new Fina World Short-Course Swimming Championships record in the 200m breaststroke final on Sunday.
Also, Ryan Lochte claimed his fourth gold medal as world records crashed yet again on the final day of the championships in Manchester on Sunday.
In all, 18 records fell over the five days of magical competition in Manchester.
Van Biljon’s medal came after a breathtaking night for the team at the championships. She finished first in a time of 2:18,73, getting South Africa’s first gold medal and a fantastic championship record, previously held by Masami Tanaka of Japan in a time of 2:20,22 in 1999.
Cameron van der Burgh earned another bronze medal for the South African swim team, clocking an impressive 26,67 seconds and finishing third in the 50m breaststroke final.
Gerhard Zandberg finished seventh in the 100m individual medley in a time of 53,54 seconds. Mandy Loots and Lize Mari Retief finished fourth and fifth in the 100m butterfly final with times of 56,95 and 57,32 respectively.
Earlier in the week, Zandberg (bronze in the 50m freestyle), Van der Burgh (silver in the 100m breaststroke), William Diering (bronze in the 200m breaststroke) and Van Biljon (bronze in the 100m breaststroke) all made trips to the medal podium.
The five-day event ended for South Africa with four bronze medals, one silver medal and one gold medal.
Lochte warmed up for the United States Olympic trials with a devastating, world-record-breaking performance in the 100m individual medley — one of the highlights of an astonishing day of action.
Less than an hour after he was forced to settle for silver in the 200m backstroke, Lochte produced a stunning performance to post a world-best 51,15 seconds, which bettered his previous world record time of 51,25 set just 24 hours earlier.
It helped earn Lochte the title of best male performer of the event, the final global gathering of swimmers before the Beijing Olympics later this year.
Yet he was one of a number of record breakers as the five-day meet ended in excitement — none more so than in the men’s 400m medley relay as Russia denied the United States in another world-record time.
The Russian team of Stanislav Donets, Sergey Geybel, Evgeny Korotyshkin and Alexander Sukhorukov captured gold in 3:24,29, while the US foursome of Randall Bal, Mark Gangloff, Lochte and Nathan Adrian also touched under the former record for a new American standard.
The US had owned the previous world record with a 3:25,09 from back in 2004.
New Zealand’s team of Daniel Ball, Glenn Snyders, Corney Swanepoel and Cameron Gibson took bronze in 3:27,15.
At the end of the meet, 18 world records fell by the wayside as swimmers rewrote the record book.
Croatia’s Sanja Jovanovic beat her previous world best time to clinch gold in the women’s 50m backstroke, her 26,37 effort beating her previous world best time of 26,5.
Yet Jovanovic was not entirely happy with her performance. ”I made mistakes, one at the start because I was too nervous,” she said. ”The second one was on the turn in the first 25m; I missed the turn and lost the lead.”
There was a terrific finish to the men’s 200m backstroke final, which ended with Austria’s Marcus Rogan shaving more than a second off the previous world record.
”The truth is I don’t know what I did differently,” said Rogan. ”I didn’t think I stood a chance. I didn’t think I had won even after I had touched.”
Australia’s Felicity Galvez set a new world record in the women’s 100m butterfly — and then vowed to celebrate by treating herself to a new pair of expensive shoes.
”I just heard that Jimmy Choo has opened up, so I might go and get a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes, why not?” said Galvez after her 55,89 win — a fraction inside the previous world record time of 55,95 set by fellow Australian Lisbeth Lenton in August 2006.
It was a fine finish to a successful week for Australia as Kylie Palmer claimed gold in the 200m freestyle after touching home in 1:54,41.
The Netherlands dominated the final of the women’s 50m freestyle — Marleen Veldhuis claiming gold in a world record time of 23,25 seconds, which bettered her previous world best of 23,58. Her compatriot Hinkelien Schreuder claimed silver in 23,83.
”It’s unbelievable. I really wanted a personal best in this race, but this surpasses it all,” said Veldhuis.
Russia’s Yuri Prilukov became the first three-time defending champion in the men’s 1 500m freestyle, while world record holder Oleg Lisogor, from neighbouring Ukraine, won gold in the 50m breaststroke.
New Zealand’s Moss Burmester took a shot at Franck Esposito’s world-record time of 1:50,73 in the men’s 200m butterfly, but settled for a meet and national record.
Nathan Adrian of the US set a new championship record in the 100m freestyle final. — Sapa-AFP, Sapa