At the Trofeo Nicoletti in Riccione this evening, Olympic silver medallist Milorad Cavic clocked a swift 50.92 in the 100m butterfly, while Andrew Lauterstein set a Commonwealth record with his 50.93 at the Giorgio Armani Swim Meet in Milan. Both men wore the modified, approved arena X-Glide. There will be a few gatecrashers to the Jaked01 party in Rome, it seems.
Cavic has been working with the ADN Project in Italy under the guidance of coach Andrea Di Nino, among those many European coaches who supported the campaign to impose clear and strict rules on suits and a signatory to the Rijeka Petition that was sent to FINA last December.
Cavic, who finished 0.01sec behind Michael Phelps at the Olympic Games in Beijing last year, will be a serious contender for the world 100m 'fly crown in Rome later this month.
Last year, the warning signs that he might be the man to upset Phelps's stroke at eight gold medals in Beijing, were blurred by Cavic's removal from the European Championships in Eindhoven. His 'crime' was to have worn a t-shirt in his own language stating 'Kosovo is Serbia' (which few would have noticed had such a fuss not been made and had the punishment not outweighed the crime quite so heavily) when receiving his gold medal for the 50m butterfly title won in a European record of 23.11.
That continental standard is long gone and now stands at 22.43 to Spain's Rafa Munoz and a Jaked01 suit. Munoz is among those who wants to keep the fast suits, 100% poly and all. No wonder. In that race in Eindhoven, he finished third behind Cavic in 23.60. A gain of 1.17sec over 50m. What a difference a year (suit) makes.
Munoz heads for Rome as the favourite for gold in the 50m and a favourite in the 100m, his 50.46 Jaked01-assisted blast the fastest in the world this year. Phelps, Cavic and Lauterstein are the only other two to have broken 51sec.
