Ryan Lochte (USA) obtained his fourth medal at the 10th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) – and 19th since 2004 -, with a superb new World Record in the men’s 200m individual medley and the highlight of the third day of the competition in Dubai. Touching first in 1:50.08, he improved the previous world best mark established by Darian Townsend (RSA) in November 2009, in a time of 1:51.55. Lochte, already with one WR in Dubai (in the 400m IM) and medals also in the 200m free (gold) and 4x200m free (silver) performed a solitary race, leaving Markus Rogan (AUT) with the silver in a time of 1:52.90 and Scott Clary (USA) with the bronze (1:53.56). Nothing seems to stop Lochte, also with a very successful career in 50m-pool: six Olympic and 13 world medals. Dubai, Day 2: Two more WR and tied match (3-3) between USA and Russia
FINA World Swimming Championships (25m)
Two World Records and a handful of Championships records on Day 2 definitively confirm the 10th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) in Dubai as the premium event of the year in terms of world-class results. In a session with eight finals, USA and Russia shared the lead of the medal chart with three gold each, and also obtained one WR each: for the Americans, the first individual WR of the season (by the “insatiable” Ryan Lochte in the men’s 400m IM), and for the Europeans a new best time in the 4x200m free relay. Spain (and Belmonte Garcia) continues to impress, and South Africa got the first title in Dubai.
Unstoppable Lochte
Lochte remains the man to beat in Dubai, and after the victory in the 200m free on Day 1, he established the first individual World Record of the year, with a superb 3:55.50 effort in the 400m individual medley. This performance improves the previous world best mark by a comfortable margin (Laszlo Cseh, from Hungary, had clocked 3:57.27 in December 2009). This was Lochte’s 17th medal in this competition, and his 10th victory at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25m), since his first participation in 2004, in Indianapolis (USA). Moreover, it was the third consecutive victory for Lochte in this event, after his 2006 and 2008 successes (he now equalled the three straight wins of Matthew Dunn, from Australia, in 1995, 1997 and 1999).
Dubai, Day 1: China sets first WR of the year and Spain gets first gold ever
FINA World Swimming Championships (25m)
As FINA President Dr. Julio C. Maglione predicted in his opening Press Conference of the 10th FINA World Swimming Championships, memorable performances will highlight this competition in Dubai (UAE). After the first day of action in the Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Sports Complex, the first World Record of the year was established in the women’s 4x200m free relay and no less than 12 Championships records were established.
Following the five finals on the programme, a variety of countries is also represented in the medal chart, with swimmers from 10 countries (153 nations, a new record, are represented in Dubai) getting at least one award. The gold medal count is led by Spain, with two victories in this first day (the championships are held until December 19).
Olympic gold medallist Rebecca Soni of the United States of America (USA) is looking forward to renewing her “very good” rivalry with Australia’s Leisel Jones when the two go head-to-head at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) in Dubai next week. Soni won her gold medal in Beijing in 2008 when she edged out Jones in the 200m breaststroke final and she beat the Australian in the 100m and 200m events in this year’s Pan-Pacific Championships in Irvine, California in August.
Olympic gold medallist and long course world champion Federica Pellegrini of Italy will be desperate to fill a gap in her medal collection at the 10th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) in Dubai later this month.
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