Olympic champion Oussama Mellouli (TUN) was the swimmer in evidence during the second leg of the FINA/ARENA Swimming World Cup 2008 in Durban (RSA) after winning five races in the two-day competition (October 17-18). The 1500m free gold medallist in Beijing also triumphed in the longest event of the programme in South Africa, adding four more victories in the 200m and 400m free, as well as in the 200m and 400m individual medley.
Also in the men’s field, South African Cameron Van Der Burgh was the best in the 50m and 100m breaststroke, having established the best meet’s performance in the shorter distance (in a time of 26.45 and 1013 points). He is now behind Australia’s Christian Sprenger (gold in the 200m breaststroke), who obtained the second best result of the competition as silver medallist of the 50m breaststroke (26.74 and 980 points). Sprenger, the best in Belo Horizonte (the first leg of the circuit) now leads the overall ranking with 45 points, while Burgh has 25. Randall Bal (USA), winner of the 50m and 100m backstroke in Durban is third with 23 points.
Among women, Brazilian Fabiola Molina won three races – 50m and 100m backstroke, and the 100m individual medley -, but Australia’s Marieke Guehrer confirmed the good indication given in Brazil and also obtained the best women’s performance in Durban. Guehrer scored 999 points for her victory in the 50m butterfly, clocking 25.56. She now leads the overall ranking with 50 points. Behind her, Therese Alshammar (SWE), the winner in 2007, is second with 29 points. In Durban, Alshammar won the 50m free in 24.46, but got her best performance as silver medallist of the 50m butterfly (25.80 for 971 points). Her compatriot Josefin Lillhage (two gold in Durban) is third with 27 points.
Like in Belo Horizonte, the South African meet was dominated by the local swimmers, who obtained 56 medals (including 15 gold).