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2004 World SC Championships - Day 4 Finals Report
Oct 11, 2004 - Nikki Dryden
INDIANAPOLIS - A crowd of over 8,400 spectators got to see its first individual world record of the championships as Ian Crocker bettered it in the 50 fly. Brooke Hanson continued to have the meet of her life, picking up her fourth and fifth gold medals of the championships.
Women's 100 Breast
It took a personal best to win this event and only Brooke Hanson (AUS) was able to come through. She earned her fourth gold of these championships with her win of 1:05.36, which was also a new championship record. World record holder Tara Kirk (USA) was well off her best and could only manage the bronze with her 1:06.33. World record holder in the 50 breast, Jade Edminstone (AUS), won the silver with a 1:05.97, while Amanda Beard (USA) finished in fourth spot.
"I can't believe how well my world championships have been," said Hanson. " I'm so happy with another gold. I just tried to keep myself up and remember my splits from the relay. I am not trying to out-psyche the other girls, but they know how fast I'm swimming at the moment, so that's sort of a mental advantage for me. I'm just trying to get out there and dominate." As for the huge crowd, Hanson was of course excited. "You hear the roar every time we come up. It's an amazing environment; the best I've had in 10 years of swimming."
Men's 50 Back
World long course champion in this event, Thomas Rupprath (GER), was no match for the field tonight; his first 25 speed puts him so far ahead of his competitors, no matter how fast world record holder Matt Welsh (AUS) closed on him, Rupprath was just too far ahead. Rupprath touched in 23.57 ahead of Welsh's 23.60. In for bronze was Peter Marshall (USA) in 23.93, with crowd favourite Aaron Peirsol (USA) in for fourth spot with his best time of 24.03.
"I was defending champion in that," said Welsh. "But considering the year and everything, I'm very happy. I was hoping to get among the places. Thomas is always going to be very fast. It's a bit odd being the world record holder, but I know he has a faster time, so you know it was a very, very good race."
Men's 50 Fly
After coming within 2/100ths of a second of the world record in last night's semi-final, the crowd was hoping for a good show. Ian Crocker (USA) did not disappoint. He turned first at the 25 before coming off the breakout well ahead of the field. He touched in a new world record of 22.71 for the win. Out in lane one, Matt Welsh (AUS), fresh off his silver in the 50 back, almost caused an upset, but after touching in second, he was disqualified for going past the 15 metre mark off the start. That moved Mark Foster (GBR) into the silver with his 23.22 and Duje Draganja (CRO) into the bronze with a 23.68.
"I needed to get a little bit of a better start," said Crocker. "And stay under water for a little longer, so that's what I worked on tonight and I think it helped. I botched up my turn a bit, but you know that's something to make it faster next time." Crocker scratched the 100 free this morning, but doesn't regret his decision one bit. "I really wanted to be able to walk away from this meet with a world record. And I think the coaching staff and I made a good decision. I think Jason will do really well in the 100 free tomorrow and make the US proud. The talk between the coaches was one gold is better than two silver."
Women's 200 IM
Katie Hoff (USA) went out for it, touching first at the 50 in 28.52 before flipping at half way under world record pace with a 32.76 back split. But Brooke Hanson (AUS) reeled her in to turn first at the 150, but she had Hoff, Lara Carroll (AUS) and Amanda Beard (USA) all right on her shoulder. But as she's done all week, Hanson just accelerated away from everyone and won her fifth gold of the championships with a 2:09.81 to Carroll's 2:10.58 and Hoff's 2:10.61. Beard picked up another fourth place finish with her 2:10.91.
Women's 4x100 Free
Once again it was USA v AUS, with SWE also in the hunt. The Americans came out on top with a near world record of 3:35.07, with Sweden putting in a great team effort to pick up the silver in 3:35.83 over Australia in 3:36.18.
Semi-Final Action
Haley Cope (USA) broke the championship record in the women's 50 back semi-final with a 27.14 and heads into the final over half a second ahead of Tayliah Zimmer (AUS). As for breaking the world record tomorrow night, Cope leaves that option open. "I had the world record at one time. We'll see. That definitely didn't feel like that's all that was in the tank. I'll probably go watch a little film and talk to a few people and see what I can do better.'
Salim Iles (ALG) is the top seed for the men's 100 free with his 48.17 ahead of Jason Lezak (USA) who won his semi in 48.20.
Eileen Coparropa (PAN) swam a 24.59 for lane 4 in the women's 50 free. Marleen Veldhuis (NED) is second with a 24.64. Jenny Thompson (USA) grabbed the final spot in the final with a 24.93.
Martina Moravcova (SVK) went out fast in the second semi-final; she was under world record pace at the 50, turning in 27.09 before slowing up on the last 25 to touch in 57.53. Her next closest competitor is Rachel Komisarz (USA) with a 58.20. Jenny Thompson (USA) and Libby Lenton (AUS) both came off the 50 free double to make it into the final.
Thomas Rupprath (GER) returned to action in the 100 IM where he swam the fastest time of the semis. His 52.88 was well ahead of second place swimmer Peter Mankoc (SLO) who swam a 53.86.
Brendan Hansen (USA) heads into the 50 breast in first spot with a 27.27. The field is tightly packed after that with Stefan Nystrand (SWE) grabbing lane five for tomorrow night's final.
