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Lochte Leaps For 5th Gold & Medley Triple

Dec 19, 2010  - Craig Lord

Dubai, world s/c championships, day 5 finals:

Men's 100m medley 

Half an hour after winning his 4th gold in the 200m backstroke, man of the meet Ryan Lochte claimed his fifth title in five days with a 50.86 victory in the short medley. That took his tally of world s/c medals across multiple championships to a record 21 and made him the first man to win all three medley crowns at two successive championships, 100, 200 and 400m, the first two taken in world-record times. 

After leaving his rivals gasping for breath 0 Markus Deibler (GER) taking silver in 51.69 and Sergey Fesikov (RUS) bronze in 51.81, Lochte left the water and headed straight to his medal ceremony for the backstroke before returning to join his teammates for the 'fly leg of the medley relay. 

The champion's time fell just 0.1sec shy of what would have been a clean seep not only of titles but world records, the 2009 non-textile suit time of Peter Mankoc (SLO) safe for now. "I just went for it," said Lochte. "I felt it a lot in my legs after the 200m backstroke but that's around the time I did in semis, so I'll take it."

The result:

  • Lochte  50.86
  • Deibler 51.69
  • Fesikov 51.81
  • George Bovell (TRI) 51.97
  • Kenneth To (AUS) 52.20
  • Takuro Fujii (JPN) 52.36
  • John Tapp (CAN) 52.97
  • Henrique Rodrigues (BRA) 53.69

History in the making:

World s/c Podiums

  • 2010:  50.86; 51.69; 51.81
  • 2008: 51.15; 52.21; 52.22
  • 2006: 52.42; 53.00; 53.97

Most world titles in this event:  

Records (TB = best ever in a textile suit)

  • WR: 50.76 Peter Mankoc (SLO) Istanbul 12.12.09
  • TB: 50.86 Ryan Lochte  (USA) Dubai 19.12.10

Most world records in this event (since specific 25m records began in 1991): 3

  • Neethling 2005-08

All-time textile rankings top 5:

  • 50.86 Lochte Dubai 2010
  • 51.52 Neethling 2005
  • 51.69 M Deibler  Dubai 2010
  • 51.81 Fesikov Dubai 2010
  • 51.97 Bovell Dubai 2010

From the archive: 

For the first time in five championships, Peter Mankoc (SLO) will not feature in the short medley final. Champion in 2002 and 2004, he claimed silver in 2006 and 2008. In 2010, the world recod setter in 2009 almost made it back to the hunt for medals, missing the cut by 0.01sec.