Browsing: Competition

Croatia’s Duje Draganja has set a new world record in the 50 SCM freestyle event, clocking 20.81 where Sweden’s Stefan Nystrands world mark was 20.93. And USA’s Ryan Lochte bettered the 200 SCM IM world record with a time of 1:51.56, more than a second faster than Hungary’s Laszlo Cseh’s world record of 1:52.99. Read here and here on SwimInfo.

Here is the men’s 50 freestyle final in Croatian. I found it in English too, but it is just not the same as hearing those Croatians scream their lungs out :-)

Australia’s Felicity Galvez has set a new world record in the short course 50 meter fly at Manchester 2008, with the time of 25.32, a hundredth of a second faster than the now former world record of 25.33, that Sweden’s Anna-Karin Kammerling set in 2005. See SwimInfo and SwimNews.

Zimbabwe’s Kirsty Coventry has improved the 200 SCM backstroke world record with more than 3 seconds, when she and Great Britain’s Elizabeth Simmonds went under Japan’s Reiko Nakamura world standard of 2:03.24 from February. The new world record is 2:00.91. Read about it on SwimNews and SwimInfo.

American Jessica Hardy clocked an astonishing 29.58 at the 2008 FINA World Short Course Championships in Manchester this evening, claiming the world record of 29.90 that had stood to Australian Jade Edminstone since 2005. Sources: SwimNews and SwimInfo.

Zimbabwe’s Kirsty Coventry set a new 400 IM SCM world record in a race where no 2 and 3 also swam within the former world record. USA crushed the 400 freestyle relay SCM world record, and the Dutch women totally obliterated the 800 freestyle relay SCM world record with more than 7 seconds, in a race where 4 teams (!) went clear under the 6 year old world record.

Here is the 400 IM final in Spanish

As stated here on fina.org, FINA has now incorporated the new version of the WADA World Anti-Doping Code into its rules, together with a new set of FINA Medical & Ethic Rules.

The FINA Extraordinary Congress has also approved the adoption of a starting platform in swimming that may have an adjustable setting back plate (to be implemented only after the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing), the definition of 10km open water events as ‘Marathon Swimming’, and the new regulations related to cases of emergency abandonment of open water swimming races.

The 2008 FINA World Swimming Championships start lists are now available here on omegatiming.com.

The team entry lists of the 2008 FINA World Swimming Championships are now available here on manchester2008.org.

Quite interesting that Libby Trickett took only one breath when breaking world record in the long course 50 meters freestyle at the Australian Trials, when she a few days earlier took what seems like more than 30 breaths in the also world record breaking 100.

50 freestyle:

100 freestyle:

The Australian gold medallist from Athens 2004 expects a lot from the upcoming Swimming World Championships in Manchester. “It’s an Olympic year, world records have been tumbling and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see a few more set in Manchester”.

Source: manchester2008.org