Italian Filippo Magnini became the second-fastest 100m freestyle swimmer in history on Thursday, winning the coveted title in a blistering 48,12 seconds at the 11th World Swimming Championships. Magnini fended off the formidable challenge of South Africans Roland Schoeman and Ryk Neethling, who finished second and third.
Australian distance great Grant Hackett added the 800m freestyle world record to his resume in scintillating fashion on Wednesday to claim the gold at the 11th World Swimming Championships. ”I feel like it was probably a perfectly swum race,” said Hackett, who opened an early gap on his rivals and relentlessly extended it.
Michael Phelps left failure in his wake on Tuesday, winning his first individual gold medal of the 11th World Swimming Championships in the 200m freestyle. Phelps’s roller-coaster opening day at the meet included failing to qualify in the 400m freestyle and winning a 4x100m freestyle relay gold.
South African veteran Roland Schoeman and United States newcomer Jess Hardy surprised themselves with world-record performances at the 11th World Swimming Championships on Monday. Schoeman broke the 50m butterfly world record for the second time in as many days as he captured the gold in 22,96 seconds.
Michael Phelps recovered from a stunning failure in his first event of the World Swimming Championships to lead off a dominating United States victory in the 400m freestyle relay on Sunday. South Africa’s Roland Schoeman set the first world record of the meet in the semifinals of the 50m butterfly.
Veteran Laura Wilkinson and youngster Chip Peterson made sure the United States wouldn’t have to wait for the arrival of superstar Michael Phelps to strike gold at the 11th World Swimming Championships. Wilkinson won the women’s 10m platform diving and Peterson captured the men’s 10km open-water swimming title.
Alexandre Despatie gave Canada another gold medal to celebrate at the World Swimming Championships when he won the 3m springboard title on Tuesday. The Montreal resident was cheered loudly, especially for earning two perfect marks of 10 on his third dive. American Troy Dumais earned the silver.
Canada’s Blythe Hartley led all the way in winning the 1m springboard title at swimming’s World Championships on Monday night. It was Canada’s second medal, and first gold, in as many days. Hartley easily outdistanced silver medallist Wu Min Xia of China, preventing the Chinese from a possible sweep of diving gold medals.
Germany’s Thomas Lurz fended off a tenacious challenge by American Chip Peterson on Sunday to win the men’s 5km open-water gold medal at the 11th World Swimming Championships. Russia’s Larisa Ilchenko claimed the women’s 5km crown. They were the first medals awarded as competition got under way on Sunday.
The ripples of the 2004 Athens Olympics will still be felt when the 11th swimming World Championships open in Montreal on Sunday. Several of the sport’s superstars — including Australian Ian Thorpe — are taking the post-Olympic year off, while others — such as Michael Phelps — have chosen instead to refocus their efforts.
Team chief Ron Dennis was angry and happy at the same time on Sunday night as he celebrated Kimi Raikkonen’s victory for McLaren in the Canadian Grand Prix and disputed the disqualification of his team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya. For Raikkonen, who saw Alonso crash out while running at the front, it was some consolation for suffering a similar fate in the previous race at the European Grand Prix.
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/ 8 December 2004
Intrepid comic book reporter Tintin, who began his adventures 75 years ago, looks like a young teen because of a growth hormone deficiency and the effects of too many blows to the head, according to a study released on Tuesday. The study was written by Claude Cyr, a pediatrician at the University of Sherbrooke in Quebec, with help from two experts — his sons Antoine (five) and Louis-Olivier (seven).
A wayward whale wallowing inside the sluice gates of a Canadian power plant is being lured to safety with a unique form of musical bait. Recordings of whales are being pumped below the waves to lure the beast, nicknamed ”Sluice” out of the plant in eastern Nova Scotia, closed for a week by its unwanted guest.
An earthquake measuring 6,2 points on the Richter scale struck Vancouver Island off the Pacific coast of Canada early on Monday, but caused little damage and no known casualties. ”We have no report of damage” from the temblor, said Brad Fraser, spokesperson for the city’s police department.
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/ 14 January 2004
Canada became the third largest producer of diamonds in 2003, behind Botswana and Russia, but ahead of South Africa, the government statistics agency announced Tuesday. Between 1998 and 2002, Canadian companies mined about 13,8-million carats, diamonds collectively worth ,8-billion Canadian dollars, it said.
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/ 16 September 2002
Women often complain that men are stupidly competitive, and researchers have found that they might be right.
Western ”arrogance” and ”greed” played a role in instigating the September 11 terrorist attacks on the US, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien says in television documentary.
South African adventurer Mike Horn will start the frigid fourth leg of his one-man Arctic Circle tour on Wednesday.