The second day of the Telkom FINA Swimming World Cup currently underway at the Kings Park Aquatic Complex in Durban once again provided the capacity crowd with exciting racing.

While medals for the local competitors have been scarce, some significant performances have rewritten the domestic record books.

While a slight rain shower fell about an hour before the event, bringing welcome relief to a hot and humid Durban, the action in the pool was "cooking".

The 400m freestyle got matters underway with, Camellia Potac leading from the gun. Despite the close attentions of the Chinese duo of Hau Chen and Tianyi Zhang the Romanian produced a well balanced race to claim victory in a time of 4:08,19. Chen (4:10,55) and Zhang (4:11,80) claimed the minor placing, however it was the battle for fourth and fifth places that had the crowd on its feet.

Local favorite, Melissa Corfe and the tenacious Marizanne Grundlingh, despite being up with the leaders, fell slightly off the pace after about 200m, with the Marizanne taking the challenge to Melissa and opening up a slight lead. Corfe however was having none of it and going into the final lap the two South Africans matched each other stroke for stroke. However, going into the wall it was Corfe (4:12,40) who got the touch in ahead of Grundlingh (4:12,41). Both girls were under the previous domestic and continental mark of 4:13,00.

The 50m-butterfly saw the rivalry between Ryk Neethling and Roland Schoeman take center stage. After an electrifing start, going into the turn it was Neethling who held a slight advantage with Polish ace Bartosz Kizierowski, Russian Igor Marchenko and Stephan Ackermann from South Africa in close attendance.

Schoeman closed the gap with an neat turn and with ten meters to go, the battle for top honours was a straight shoot out between himself and the big guy from Bloemfontien. Going into the wall, Schoeman got the touch in and claimed the gold medal in a time of 23,25, with Neethling recording a 23,37. "I'm really stoked with that performance," Schoeman said. "I didn't have a great start. It felt like my back foot slipped on the block. I knew Ryk would be right by my side and I just focused on my underwaters and hitting my turn perfectly. I knew my penultimate stroke had to be long and Ryk was unfortunate to come up a bit short with his penultimate stroke. But that's the experience I've gained to know when to take my penultimate stroke."

Not to be outdone, Kizierowski and Marchenko hit the wall together to claim the bronze medal in a time of 24,24, while the promising Stephan Ackermann can be well contented with his effort of 24,49.

Martina Moravcova will certainly have fond memories of Durban in years to come. The Slovakian ace once again produced the goods in the 100m butterfly with a commanding performance of 57,58 to claim another gold medal. After the first turn she was in control and extended her margin of victory with every ensuing lap. Yanwei Xu from China was always ahead of the pack posted a time of 58,56 to claim silver ahead of South African, Mandy Loots (59,87).

The 200m Backstroke saw German Steffen Driesen, put up a world class performance when he annihilated the field with an awesome display of fast turns and powerful underwater work, to take the honours in a time of 1:54,85. China's Rui Yu won the silver in a time of 1:57,83 with the promising Australian youngster, Grant Brits winning the bronze in a time of 1:59,55.

Ilona Hlavackova (Cze) won the 100m backstroke comfortably when she took command of the race from the gun and was never challenged. Her time of 58,82 was just too good for the rest of the field who all failed to break the sixty-second mark. Haley Cope from the USA had an excellent last 50m. After being in 5th place at the halfway mark, Cope pulled out all the stops to claim the silver medal in a time of 1:00,33, While local stalwart, Charleen Wittstock finished well to win the bronze medal in a time of 1:00,80.

Oleg Lisogor is an imposing individual. Be it in the water or out of it he commands a presence. The Ukrainian was determined to make his presence felt in the 100m breaststroke. Utilising his power to extend his lead at every turn, Oleg was a comfortable winner in a time of 59,69, well ahead of Brazilian Eduardo Fischer who headed the chasing pack in a time of 1:00,43. The bronze medal went to Kurt Muller (1:00,75) from South Africa who held off his determined compatriot, Terence Parkin (1:00,75).

The 200m breaststroke saw Nan Luo from China take the lead from the start and claim a comfortable victory with a time of 2:24,75. The surprise of the event was the stellar performance of the fast improving Tamaryn Loubsher when she won the silver in a time of 2:25,87 ahead of the likeable Staciana Stitts from the USA. Stitts posted a time of 2:27,34 while compatriot Ashley Roby headed the rest of the field with a time of 2:30,46.

The 200m freestyle was another scintillating affair.

Steffan Herbst (Ger), Chad Carvin (USA) and Ryk Neethling, swimming from lanes 2, 3 and 7 respectively already held a slight advantage over the field from the start. The German led going through the 150m mark with the evergreen Carvin threatening on his shoulder.

Neethling picked up his stroke going into the last 50m and the crowd sensed that he was in with a chance. With 15m to go the writing was on the wall and Neethling had once again produced an electrifying finish to claim his first gold medal of the meet in a time of 1:44,05. Carvin eased into second place with a time of 1:45,11 while Herbst had to settle for the minor placing in a time of 1:45,71.

Dragos Coman (Rom) claimed fourth place with a time of 1:46,76, with the promising South African Darian Townsend posting a 1:47,29.

The 50m freestyle saw Martina Moravcova once again claim the top spot with a time of 25,23, just too good for a game Lauren Roets (RSA) who was overjoyed with her silver medal in a time of 25,64 and just ahead of Chinese speedster Binan Wu (26,66)

"I'm very happy with my wins," she said. "The times are okay. They're what I usually do at these World Cups. But considering that this is my first meet in four months, I'm quite happy."

Moravcova has not competed since the World Championships in Barcelona, where she claimed two silvers in the 100-metre Butterfly and the 200-metre Freestyle.

"I'm still making some basic mistakes on my starts and turns, and am gulping water every now and then. It's quite evident that I haven't raced for some time," she said.

The 200m individual medley was as all medley events a "ding dong" battle. The Brazilian duo of Thiago Pereira and Lucas Salatta dominated proceedings with Salatta (1:58,68) claiming the gold medal after his compatriot was disqualified for a suspect turn. The Brazilian has appealed.

This result opened the door for the South African duo of Terence Parkin (1:59,31) and Theo Verster (1:59,67) to claim the minor placings.

The event concludes on Sunday.

Event 113, 400m Freestyle Women, Final
==================================================================

  1. POTEC Camelia                   1982  ROM  4:08.19     960
  2. CHEN Hua                        1982  CHN  4:10.55     946
  3. ZHANG Tianyi                    1990  CHN  4:11.80     938
  4. CORFE Melissa                   1986  RSA  4:12.40     935
  5. GRUNDLINGH Marizanne            1983  RSA  4:12.41     935
  6. FERREIRA Monique                1980  BRA  4:16.81     909
  7. PETERSEN Ilse                   1984  RSA  4:21.56     881
  8. SCHWENDENWEIN Sasha             1987  RSA  4:25.15     860



Event 114, 50m Butterfly Men, Final
==================================================================

  1. SCHOEMAN Roland                 1980  RSA    23.25     976
  2. NEETHLING Ryk                   1977  RSA    23.37     968
  3. KIZIEROWSKI Bartosz             1977  POL    24.24     914
  3. MARCHENKO Igor                  1975  RUS    24.24     914
  5. ACKERMANN Stephan               1983  RSA    24.49     898
  6. PIMANKOV Denis                  1975  RUS    24.59     892
  7. LAUTERSTEIN Andrew              1986  AUS    24.69     886
  8. BURMESTER Moss                  1981  NZL    24.87     875



Event 115, 100m Butterfly Women, Final
==================================================================

  1. MORAVCOVA Martina               1976  SVK    57.58     990
  2. XU Yanwei                       1984  CHN    58.56     966
  3. LOOTS Amanda                    1978  RSA    59.87     933
  4. SPARG Lauren                    1984  RSA  1:01.18     900
  5. GEHRING Charne                  1986  RSA  1:02.06     878
  6. HOFMANN Nele                    1986  GER  1:02.26     873
  7. KOWN You-Ri                     1989  KOR  1:02.36     871
  8. KIM Bo-Mi                       1989  KOR  1:02.53     867



Event 116, 200m Backstroke Men, Final
==================================================================

  1. DRIESEN Steffen                 1981  GER  1:54.86     966
  2. YU Rui                          1982  CHN  1:57.83     929
  3. BRITS Grant                     1987  AUS  1:59.55     907
  4. BOTHA Jarryd                    1985  RSA  1:59.76     904
  5. MARAIS Carl                     1984  RSA  1:59.90     902
  6. PARKIN Terence                  1980  RSA  2:00.60     893
  7. GUIDO Guilherme                 1987  BRA  2:02.19     873
  8. NORTON Jeff                     1982  RSA  2:02.61     868



Event 117, 100m Backstroke Women, Final
==================================================================

  1. HLAVACKOVA Ilona                1977  CZE    58.82     986
  2. COPE Haley                      1979  USA  1:00.33     949
  3. WITTSTOCK Charlene              1978  RSA  1:00.80     938
  4. LEE Nam-Eun                     1989  KOR  1:01.27     926
  5. CHEN Xiujun                     1986  CHN  1:01.31     925
  6. ZHANG Tianyi                    1990  CHN  1:01.69     916
  7. ALTMANN Romy                    1983  RSA  1:01.75     914
  8. LEE Da-Hye                      1987  KOR  1:02.28     902



Event 118, 100m Breaststroke Men, Final
==================================================================

  1. LISOGOR Oleg                    1979  UKR    59.69     967
  2. FISCHER Eduardo                 1980  BRA  1:00.43     949
  3. MULLER Kurt                     1984  RSA  1:00.75     942
  4. PARKIN Terence                  1980  RSA  1:00.90     938
  5. VERSFELD Neil                   1985  RSA  1:01.94     912
  6. DU TOIT Michiel                 1984  RSA  1:02.17     907
  7. LOTTER Louis                    1981  RSA  1:03.09     884
  8. PETERSEN Brett                  1976  RSA  1:03.41     877



Event 119, 200m Breaststroke Women, Final
==================================================================

  1. LUO Nan                         1986  CHN  2:24.75     957
  2. LAUBSCHER Tamaryn               1984  RSA  2:25.87     946
  3. STITTS Staciana                 1981  USA  2:27.34     931
  4. ROBY Ashley                     1980  USA  2:30.46     899
  5. ROPER Ronwyn                    1987  RSA  2:31.57     888
  6. HELBIG Sonja                    1987  GER  2:32.37     880
  7. VAN BILJON Suzaan               1988  RSA  2:34.56     858
  8. BONNEY Kim                      1986  RSA  2:35.81     845



Event 120, 200m Freestyle Men, Final
==================================================================

  1. NEETHLING Ryk                   1977  RSA  1:44.05     988
  2. CARVIN Chad                     1974  USA  1:45.11     974
  3. HERBST Stefan                   1978  GER  1:45.71     965
  4. COMAN Dragos                    1980  ROM  1:46.76     951
  5. TOWNSEND Darian                 1984  RSA  1:47.29     943
  6. MEICHTRY Dominik                1984  SUI  1:47.61     939
  7. EDVARDSSON Peter                1981  SWE  1:50.23     903
  8. THOMPSON Andrew                 1986  AUS  1:51.25     889



Event 121, 50m Freestyle Women, Final
==================================================================

  1. MORAVCOVA Martina               1976  SVK    25.23     942
  2. ROETS Lauren                    1987  RSA    25.64     918
  3. WU Binan                        1986  CHN    25.66     917
  4. COPE Haley                      1979  USA    25.78     910
  5. WITTSTOCK Charlene              1978  RSA    26.00     897
  6. STRYDOM Tanya                   1989  RSA    26.01     896
  7. HOFMANN Nele                    1986  GER    26.25     882
  8. LANDAU Andrea                   1982  RSA    28.07     778



Event 122, 200m Individual Medley Men, Final
==================================================================

  1. SALATTA Lucas                   1987  BRA  1:58.68     962
  2. PARKIN Terence                  1980  RSA  1:59.31     955
  3. VERSTER Theo                    1975  RSA  1:59.67     950
  4. YU Rui                          1982  CHN  2:00.60     939
  5. LAUTERSTEIN Andrew              1986  AUS  2:02.68     913
  6. HELLSTROM Dan                   1984  SWE  2:04.74     888
  7. VD BIJL David                   1984  RSA  2:07.08     859
     PEREIRA Thiago                  1986  BRA      DSQ



Event 123, 100m Individual Medley Women, Final
==================================================================

  1. MORAVCOVA Martina               1976  SVK  1:01.63     956
  2. COPE Haley                      1979  USA  1:02.75     929
  3. STITTS Staciana                 1981  USA  1:03.19     919
  4. LOOTS Amanda                    1978  RSA  1:03.63     908
  5. ROBY Ashley                     1980  USA  1:04.88     878
  6. LITTLE Candice                  1983  RSA  1:05.20     871
  7. REYNOLDS Bevin                  1984  RSA  1:05.61     861
  8. MEURER Sabrina                  1986  RSA  1:06.93     830