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Johns Roars To Gold At Monte Carlo Meet

Jun 12, 2001

MONTE CARLO - Brian Johns of Richmond, B.C., grabbed the lead at the halfway mark and roared to another gold medal in the men's 200-metre individual medley Tuesday at the fourth and final stop on the Mare Nostrum European swimming series.

Johns, 18, clocked two minutes and 03.11 seconds for his second gold and third medal overall of the series in the 200 IM. Rob Van Der Zant of Australia was second at 2:04.00 and Dean Kent of New Zealand third at 2:05.06.

"I'm pretty surprised to go this fast at this point in the year," said Johns, who won gold at the second stop in Canet , France last week and finished second to Olympic champion Massiliano Rosolino of Italy in Rome on Saturday.

"Over the last couple of months I've been working hard on the breaststroke to bring it up to a pretty respectable international level. I came here hoping to get a sense of the field in my events for the world championships (next month in Japan) and I feel now that I can reach the final (top-eight) there."

Johns is also in contention for the series' overall men's IM title which will be decided after Wednesday's 400 IM.

"Brian has taken the next step at the international level," said Canadian national team coach Dave Johnson of Calgary. "He's getting better with every race."

Curtis Myden of Calgary, a three-time Olympic bronze medallist, finished ninth overall winning the B final in 2:05.35, a time which would have placed him fourth in the final.

Other Canadian finalists were Erin Gammel of Barriere, B.C., seventh in the women's 200 backstroke and Krsity Cameron of Clinton, Ont., seventh in the women's 100 breaststroke.

The competition also features a knock-out playoff format for the 50-metre events. Gammel in the 50 backstroke, Nadine Rolland of Montreal in the women's 50 butterfly and Mike Mintenko of Moose Jaw, Sask., in the men's 50 butterfly have all qualified for semifinals in their respective events.