Frenchman Alain Bernard out-touched rival Eamon Sullivan from New Zealand to take the Olympic gold in the 100m freestyle, with Athens gold medallist Lyndon Ferns finishing a creditable sixth.
In the blue-riband event of swimming, Sullivan was first to the turn with 0,05 seconds advantage over Bernard, with American Jason Lezak languishing in fifth and tied on time with Ferns.
Lezak, who amazed everyone with his comeback tactics in the final leg of the 4x100m relay to steal the gold from France, adopted similar tactics, this time tying with Brazil’s Cesar Cielo Filho for third place and the bronze medal in 47,67 seconds. Pieter van den Hoogenband passed Ferns to place fifth, leaving the South African in sixth in 48,04 seconds.
”A lot of people called this the premier event,” said Ferns. ”It was a showdown between a lot of guys and it’s obviously the fastest field anyone has ever seen. I’m happy to be a part of it all.
”I still believe I can go 47. It’s just a matter of putting it together,” added Ferns, who is set to prepare for Thursday evening’s 100 butterfly heats. ”Once again, I just put my head down a little too early coming into the wall.”
Despite the presence of Michael Phelps, Darian Townsend led his 200m individual medley into the first turn at the end of the butterfly, but dropped back to third after the backstroke to finish the semifinal sixth in 1:59,65.
Phelps took control in the breaststroke leg doing what was necessary to win the race in 1:57,70, almost three second slower than the world record he set in July.
”I’m hurting a lot more today [Thursday] for whatever reason,” said Townsend. ”I got up at 6am and went for a wake up swim, went through my normal routine and felt good, but the race was a lot faster up front.
”I was swimming with Michael and obviously trying to stay with him in the first 100 was a bit of a challenge, and then I got a bit tired in the second 100 but it was still a good time, the second best time I’ve ever done, so I’m happy.”
Townsend’s performance has almost certainly secured his place in the medley relay over the weekend.
”This is my first big meet where I’ve swum the 200 individual medley,” said Townsend. ”Normally I swim the 100 free and the relays and the 200 free, but this is the first time I’ve actually stood up next to Michael Phelps and raced him, so it’s a big learning curve for me. I’m going to take all this experience on for the next four years of preparation and hopefully in London we can change it around.”
Backstroker George du Rand may have failed to make the final of the 200m in the morning’s session, but he took the African record down another notch to one minute, 58,61 seconds, just 0,01 seconds faster than his qualifying time in the heat. The race was won by American Ryan Lochte, the world record holder, in 1:55,40.
”I think I swam the race a bit better than I did last night [Wednesday], but I still think I had the potential to make it through to the final, so it’s a bit disappointing,” said Du Rand. ”But to make semis is quite a good achievement.”
In her favoured 200m breaststroke event, Suzaan van Biljon finished almost three seconds slower than Wednesday night’s heats, clocking two minutes 28,45 seconds for seventh in her semifinal. — Sapa