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It was hard to keep count of the world records that was broken on day three of the short-course world swimming championships. |
Last night at the Hamad Aquatic Centre, the 25m pool was set on fire, with the holiday Friday crowd revelling in the fast-packed action as five records tumbled one after the other.
Hungarian golden girl Katina Hosszu was expectedly leading from the front, setting two world records to win the women’s 200-metre backstroke and 100m individual medley.
France’s Florent Manaudou too joined the party as the Olympic champion became the fastest man in 50m freestyle. The other two records were set by Denmark and the Netherlands women in relay.
But the stage for the second consecutive night belonged to Hosszu. After being pushed to two silver medals by Mireia Belmonte Garcia on the opening day of the meet, Hosszu has bounced back in resounding fashion. The world female swimmer of the year, though, is trailing in the gold medal count having won three to Garcia’s four.
Hosszu started her record feat in the 200m backstroke, winning in 1 minute 59.23 seconds and thus becoming the first woman to break the two minute mark, eclipsing Missy Franklin’s mark of 2:00.03 set in Berlin in 2011.
Australian Emily Seebhom finished almost a second behind Hosszu in a time of 2:00.13 to take silver, followed by Sayaka Akase of Japan third in 2:02.30.
Hozzsu’s second record came in 100m individual medley, where she stopped the clock in 56.70, shaving 0.16 seconds off her own mark she had set in Dubai in September this year.
She was off the blocks quickly, and her rapid backstrokes are what did the trick. Siobhan-Marie Oconnor of Britain picked up silver in 57.83, while Seebohm took bronze in 58.19.
MANAUDOU ON FIRE
Meanwhile, fast-twitch specialist Manaudou set a new mark of 20.26 seconds in the men’s 50m freestyle final, beating South Africa’s Roland Schoeman time by 0.04 seconds.
The record is even more significant as Schoeman’s time had come in the super-suit in Pietermaritzburg in 2009. “My goal was to win but I didn’t expect to break the record tonight. Now having achieved it, I am very satisfied to have done it,” said Manaudou, surprised at the turn of events.
Italy’s Marco Orsi picked up silver in 20.69 and Brazil’s Cesar Cielo bronze in 20.88.
Earlier, Denmark women had opened the night rewriting their own world record to win the women’s 4x50m medley relay. Danish quartet of Mie Nielsen, Rikke Moller Pedersen, Jeantte Ottesen and Pernille Blume finished in 1:44.04, bettering their mark of 1:45.92 set in 2013. The U.S. took silver in 1:44.92 and France bronze in 1:45.89.
And the night again ended in record-breaking fashion, with the Netherlands’ women setting a record time in 4x100m freestyle. Inge Dekker, Femke Heemskerk, Maud Van Der Meer and Ranomi Kromowidjojo combined to clock 3:26.53, improving 1.89 seconds of their own mark set in Amsterdam in 2009. The United States were second in 3:27.70 and Italy third with a timing of 3:29.48.
Meanwhile, Garcia of Spain quietly picked up her fourth gold of the championships, cruising to women’s 400m freestyle victory. She touched in 3:55.76, ahead of Sharon van Rouwendaal and Zhang Yufei of China.
Garcia was ahedad of her world record pace by one one-hundredth of a second heading into the final 100 meters, but fell off after that point.
Japan’s Kosuke Hagino of Japan took the men’s 200m medley in 1:50.47, ahead of America’s defending champions Ryan Lochte, who came in 1.51.31. Daiya Seto of Japan finished third in a time of 1:51.79.
Hungary had two more gold medallists, with Daniel Gyurta winning the 200m breaststroke in 2:01.49 and Peter Bernek taking the 400m freestyle in 3:34.32,
“I’m very happy I won. It was my goal to defend my title and I did, so it’s a good feeling,” Gyurta said.
In the women’s 100m Freestyle, Femke Heemskerk of the Netherlands won in 51.37.