Triple-gold for Mellouli on Durban World Cup Day 2; nice wins for Molina, Bal, Du Rand, and Pengelly

The following event, the 100m freestyle for women, proved to be another golden performance for Josefin Lillhage (SWE), a familiar face on the World Cup circuit, having finished second overall among women in the 2005 edition. Lillhage finished in 53.07, while Australia’s Marieke Guehrer (AUS) took silver in 54.36 and Liezl Burger (RSA) bronze in 56.95.

The men’s 200m freestyle was a head-to-head battle between Oussama Mellouli (TUN), who took to the water again just minutes after finishing his 1500m race, and Darian Townsend (RSA). At half the two were equal and they remained that way until the race was decided by a dead sprint at the end, which was in Mellouli’s favour and gave him a second gold medal in a very short time span. Their times were 1:43.62 to 1:44.02 respectively, with Kyle Richardson (AUS) taking bronze in 1:45.99. Mellouli looked to be having a great time. He was elated yet relaxed as he circulated the pool at the King’s Park Aquatic Centre, a venue which provided a friendly and rather intimate atmosphere for organisers, teams and media present at the World Cup in Durban.

Few were surprised when Suzaan Van Bilon (RSA) swept another breaststroke final, as she has been the dominant female breaststroke swimmer at this event, but it wasn’t particularly easy. She won in 32.42, but four other swimmers also finished in the range of 32 seconds. Taking silver and bronze were Courtnay Mower (RSA) and Jeanie Du Toit (RSA) in 32.49 and 32.72 respectively.

Then, a solid line-up took to the blocks for the men’s 100m breaststroke, which saw Cameron Van der Burgh (RSA) have a nice start in lane four, take the lead, and then hold on to it. He won in 57.99, while silver went to Christian Sprenger (AUS) in 58.55 and bronze to Felipe Lima (BRA) in 58.86.

The following race, the women’s 400m medley, was more exciting, with Jessica Pengelly and Kathryn Meaklim struggling for the gold. From the outset, it was actually Pengelly, Meaklim and Jacqueline Staples (AUS) pushing each other forward, and after the butterfly portion Staples was in front. Then it was Meaklim’s turn to set the pace during the backstroke, but after a great turn into the breaststroke portion, Pengelly was in front. Staples fell behind meanwhile, but Meaklim was looming. With 150m to go, it was purely between Meaklim and Pengelly, but when Pengelly accelerated in the last 50m, she managed to win by a stroke with a time of 4:30.45. Meaklim settled for silver in 4:30.74, and Staples was third in 4:42.75. After the race, Pengelly said she was “overjoyed” with her time, and, like many of the other swimmers competing in the World Cup, that she “wasn’t expecting to do so well right now, as it is still early after the Olympics and I am just getting back into it after a break.”

When the women took to the pool for the 100m backstroke, a line-up that included Melissa Corfe (RSA), Sophie Edington (AUS), Melissa Ingram (NZL), Chanelle Van Wyk (RSA) and Fabiola Molina (BRA) made it difficult to predict a winner. The race was close, but in the end it was Molina who prevailed with a time of 59.15, followed by Ingram in 59.40 and in third was Edington in 59.50.

Next up was the 50m backstroke and yet another respectable line-up including 2007 FINA/ARENA World Cup winner Randall Bal (USA), Peter Marshall (USA), Daniel Orzechowski (BRA), and Evgeny Aleshin (RUS). Despite a great start by Marshall, Bal’s short-course experience and backstroke prowess proved successful once again and he took the win in 23.64. Marshall was second in 23.73 and Orzechowski third in 24.76.

Speaking after the race, Bal said he just went out there to do his best while keeping in mind that the start was critical. He says the fact that he is World Cup winner from last year does not weigh on his mind this time around: “I know a lot of people would say that it would be more pressure, but the most important thing in sport is to have fun. One thing I’ve learned from swimming competitively for the last 13 years or so is to find balance in your life. That’s the most important.”

As the evening unfolded it was time for another performance from Mellouli; this time for the men’s 200m medley. He had a good start in the butterfly leg and he had taken a definite lead after the backstroke portion was complete, but a weaker turn into the breaststroke allowed Darian Townsend (RSA) to pressure him as they reached the freestyle stage. It was not nearly enough however, and Mellouli found himself with his third gold medal of the night in a time of 1:56.73. Townsend finished in 1:57.18 and Jay-Cee Thompson (RSA) had another good showing to take third in 1:59.16.

In the woman’s 400m freestyle, Melissa Corfe (RSA) took an early lead after swimming fast in the opening 50m, but she failed to distance herself from Melissa Ingram (NZL), who caught up by mid-race and had smoothly surpassed her by the final 100m. In the last metres the race belonged to Ingram, who won cleanly in 4:05.62. Corfe, who is the African record holder in this event, finished in 4:10.33, while Rene Warnes (RSA) took bronze in 4:16.53.

Another crowd favourite came next: the men’s 50m freestyle. Sprint heavyweight Stefan Nystrand took the win in the race where often anything-goes. He clocked 21.42, a time which he called “decent”, while explaining his World Cup performances are gradually improving: “They [his races] seem to be going better and better, and that’s my goal, although I think it’s going to be hard to be in the top three overall.” For him, he explained, the World Cup is “one of the best opportunities for training.”

When Mandy Loots (RSA), Josefin Lillhage, Sophie Edington, and Fabiola Molina stepped up to race the 100m medley, the race promised to be a good one. Again it was Molina, who has had a great showing in Durban this weekend, taking the win while swimming in lane 1. Molina clocked 1:01.31, followed by Lillhage in 1:01.58 and Loots in 1:01.72.

The final two events of the night – the men’s 200m backstroke and women’s 50m butterfly – were won by George Du Rand and Marieke Guehrer (AUS) respectively. Du Rand won easily in an African record time of 1:51.82, while Guehrer hit home in 25.56. Other wins in the finals session of Day 2 in Durban were had by Garth Tune (RSA) in the men’s 100m butterfly in 52.19, as well as Loots, who took gold in the women’s 200m butterfly in 2:07.84, thus almost beating her own African record in this event of 2:07.14. Finally, in the 200m breaststroke, Kathryn Meaklim picked up another win in a time of 2:24.49.