Multi-gold results for Meaklim, Townsend, Mellouli and more as World Cup swimming descends on Durban

Meaklim entered the Durban event ranked 8th overall among women in the 2008 FINA/ARENA Swimming World Cup after the first stop in Belo Horizonte (BRA) from October 10-12. An 800m freestyle specialist, she owns the African short-course record in this event, which she set at the 9th FINA Swimming World Championships (25m) in Manchester on April 9, 2008.

The evening’s second event was one of the more highly anticipated races: the men’s 100m freestyle. It was a respectable line-up, embodied by the likes of Stefan Nystrand (SWE), one of the stars of this year’s Cup, as well as local favourite Darian Townsend (RSA), Australia’s Kyle Richardson, and the young Wesley Gilchrist (Born 1989). It would be Townsend who would prevail after an excellent start and solid opening 50m. In the second half of the race, Nystrand applied formidable pressure and bridged much of the distance between himself and Townsend, but couldn’t manage to out-touch him in the end. Their times were 47.24 and 47.51 respectively, while Gilchrist took third in 48.59.

Speaking later on in the evening, Townsend said he was really pleased with his 100m free, which he called the “glory event in swimming”. He also said it was nice to race at home, as he trains full-time in Arizona. “After the Olympics,” he said, "I didn’t have much time to train, as I wanted to right into these Cups.” He proceeded to note that he likes long-course and short-course racing equally, but the transition from one into the other can be unpleasant.

Then it was the ladies’ turn again, with the staging of the women’s 200m freestyle. This event was won by veteran World Cup star Josefin Lillhage (SWE), who stroked smoothly to the finish for a clean victory in 1:55.91. She is thus continuing to perform well in this World Cup series, as she entered the Durban leg ranked second overall among women. Taking silver behind her was Melissa Ingram (NZL) in 1:56.52, followed by Melissa Corfe (RSA) in 1:58.45.

Next up was one of the evening’s sprint showcases; the men’s 50m breaststroke. This race was a great one for Cameron Van der Burgh (RSA), who won with a time of 26.45 over the current World Cup top-ranked male swimmer, Australian Olympian Christian Sprenger. Sprenger took silver in 26.74, while Brazil’s Felipe Lima took third in 26.99. This race proved valuable for Van der Burgh with regard to the FINA Point system, as he garnered 1013 points for this one victory.

Following a women’s 100m breaststroke event in which South Africa's swimmer of the year Suzaan Van Bilon prevailed in a time of 1:08.77, it was time for the men’s 400m medley, which was a definite highlight of the night. It was the first appearance of Olympic champion Oussama Mellouli (TUN), who faced excellent opposition from Riaan Schoeman (RSA). Schoeman had the lead after 100m and proceeded to slightly increase his lead during the backstroke portion of the race. But Mellouli had a nice turn into his breaststroke that helped him creep up on Schoeman and equalise the race with good under water swimming and quick turns. The two were still equal with 100m freestyle left to go and in the last 50m they were dead even. The final sprint went to Mellouli however, and he won in a time of 4:08.84. Shoeman registered a 4:09.07. Well behind in third was Jay-Cee Thompson in 4:18.12.

The women’s 100m butterfly belonged to Marieke Guehrer (AUS) in 57.03, who had a great showing last weekend in Belo Horizonte, a meet from which she emerged the top-ranked female competitor in the 2008 World Cup. Taking silver and bronze were two other high-profile South African swimmers, Mandy Loots and Chanelle Van Wyk respectively, with times of 58.81 and 1:00.18.

Then it was Randall Bal’s turn to shine in the 100m backstroke, which he won in a time of 54.23. Bal was the 2007 World Cup champion and in this race the audience was treated to another display of his prowess, even in the face of a very respectable line-up including the American Peter Marshall, who took silver in 52.02, Garth Tune (RSA), who took bronze in 53.04, and Russian Olympian Evgeny Aleshin, who took fourth in 53.20.

The following races were the women’s 50m backstroke and the men’s 200m butterfly. The women’s event was marked by another excellent performance by 33 year old Fabiola Molina (BRA), who won with a decent time of 27.39 ahead of Australian Olympian Sophie Edington, who was second in 27.69 despite having a powerful start. Van Wyk (RSA) picked up another medal by finishing third in 28.20. In the men’s race, Sebastien Rousseau (RSA) prevailed in 1:55.73 followed by Sweden’s Simon Sjodin in 1:55.74 and George Du Rand (RSA), who took bronze in 1:56.94.

Meaklim (RSA) scooped another gold for her next appearance; the women’s 200m medley, which she finished in a time of 2:10.09. Her compatriots took the other podium spots: Jessica Pengelly and Mandy Loots swept silver and bronze respectively in times of 2:10.09 and 2:11.27. She spoke after the race and expressed satisfaction with her swimming in Durban so far: “I hope to continue in this form,” she said regarding her upcoming appearance in Sydney. “These wins give me lots of confidence. The 800m free wasn’t a great time for me because I tried to win but not go all out; to conserve energy for my other races.” But despite her happiness, she admits the Cup schedule is already wearying: “I’m feeling tired, and adjusting to time zones isn’t easy.”

Mellouli made his second appearance of the night with the men’s 400m freestyle, which he won rather easily in 3:42.32. “It was a good race,” he said later, upon reflection. “I expected to go a bit faster, but I’m happy with it for a post-Olympic swim.” Taking silver was Jay-Cee Thompson in 3:48.05, while Riann Schoeman (RSA) picked up some more hardware by taking third in 3:48.62.

Next up was the premiere sprint event for the women, the 50m freestyle. It was 2007 World Cup winner Therese Alshammar (SWE) who claimed victory in this one, giving all a reminder of her exceptional talents when it comes to short-course racing. She won in 24.46, while Marieke Guehrer (AUS) took silver in 24.79 and Josefin Lillhage (SWE) took bronze in 24.98. Speaking after her race, Alshammar said her season has started nicely. She comes away from a great holiday, and has actually only been back into training for three weeks. When asked whether her success in the 2007 World Cup is helping her this time around, she says the answer is both yes and no. “It [the win last year] has given me an experience to learn from, but it has also made a lot of pressure; pressure on myself.”

The first finals session of the meet wrapped up with four events: the men’s 200m breaststroke, the men’s 100m medley, the women’s 200m backstroke, and the men’s 50m butterfly. The 200m breaststroke went to Sprenger (AUS) in a time of 2:06.07. He called it “a tough race, because William Diering [second in 2:06.78] is a great breaststroker”. Regarding his World Cup participation despite the event being not long after the Olympics, he said “I just decided to push myself and keep going.”

The men’s 100m medley meant another gold for Townsend (RSA) in 53.37, and it was Mellouli’s turn to take silver, which he did in 53.90. In third was Van der Burgh in 53.96. The 200m backstroke went to Melissa Ingram (NZL) who looked very comfortable and dominant as she proceeded to win in a time of 2:04.98, while Corfe (RSA) and Pengelly (RSA) rounded out the podium with times of 2:07.17 and 2:09.60. Finally, the men completed the night with the 50m butterfly, which went to Neil Watson (RSA) in 23.81.