Nothing like going out with a bang - although Peter Marshall (USA) may now reconsider his future in swimming after blasting a 49.63sec in the 100m backstroke at the final round of the Arena World Cup here in Berlin.
After turning 0.02sec inside the pace that swept him to a global standard of 49.94 at the Stockholm round of the cup on Tuesday, Marshall stormed down the third length and put in what looked like a near-perfect last turn, complete with a a near-perfect 15m underwater dolphin drive. He emerged into a stroke that looked as strong as it had at the start and while his last stroke was a little long, the fastest sprint backstroke short-course king we've ever seen was left to celebrate a popular triumph.
Marshall, 26, shook his head, beamed at the crowd and cameras and then uttered he word "surprise". He had been just racing and travelling to the meets, enjoying his swansong circuit. He had "no idea where that came from". On reflection, he realised that it had come off the back of an enormous pre-Beijing workload that had led to disappointment at US trials, arguably the toughest meet in the world. "I guess I'm reaping the rewards of all of that now. It's a shame it didn't come [at trials]. The plan was to be done at this meet ... but now I'm reconsidering. I'm travelling to South-East Asia with some college buddies and then we'll see...".
With respect to his rivals, Marshall left them looking ordinary. Of course, they were not. Second went to Randall Bal (USA) in 50.55, with Robert Hurley (AUS) third in 50.70. Sad to see that on a Saturday afternoon, the stands at the splendid Europasportpark in Berlin were not as packed as they might be in this post-Olympic period.
Marshall said that he had not been training much for some of the time on tour. After the Durban round he had missed a whole week of water work to go on safari and had been put in touch with a Discovery documentary crew by Ryk Neethling and had enjoyed swimming with sharks. Asked if the 50m tomorrow would be his last race, he said: "It would have been but I'm thinking of carrying on."
His long-course career had never been quite as fast and so it was fair to think of him as a short-course specialist, although that had not been by design. "I'm a very good kicker and that helps in short-course. But I've worked my butt off for the long-course but it never panned out."
His fine form this season might well come down to absence of pressure, being relaxed and enjoying what he was doing, while benefitting from the work he had put in for a shot at the US Olympic team.
Asked to list the people, places and plans that may now be frustrated by any plan to swim on, infectious laughter rippled from Marshall, who was clearly up the front of the queue when they gave out instructions on how to be an ambassador for self, his team, country and swimming. What had his life plan been? "I was going to work that out on vacation ... no-one is going to be disappointed because I didn't have any plans."
Marshall is now among those in line to win the car on offer from organisers of the Berlin round of the cup. He wasn't sure what he might do with it. I offered to relieve him of the wheels should they be too burdensome but he laughed and didn't seem too keen. Georges Khiel, former French international and world cup co-ordinator, made a similar offer but again, the American looked unready to be persuaded, even though he thought the VW would be too small for the US roads.
Oussama Mellouli (TUN) is a champion winner on this season's tour - and looked for a while as though he might deal another blow to Grant Hackett, the Australian he beat for the 1,500m crown in Beijing. The triple slipped away from Hackett, champion in 2000 and 2004, by just 0.69sec, but his world short-course 400m free record lives to fight another day. Mellouli raced 0.13sec inside Hackett's record pace at 100m, turned in 1:45.66 at 200m, 0.26sec outside the Australian's pace, and was still only 0.65sec shy of mark by the 300m, on 2:40.90. The Tunisian did not have the edge at this stage in his year to bring it home, stopping the clock in 3:36.75, 2.17sec shy of Hackett's standard but still fourth best ever, behind Olympic champions bygone and current, Ian Thorpe (SWE) and Park Tae-hwan (KOR). Behind Mellouli were Paul Biedermann (GER), on 3:40.29, and Mads Glaesner (DEN), on 3:41.30.
Mellouli said: "I didn't want to rest on my laurels after winning the Olympic gold. I wanted to stay focussed on my swimming. I've enjoyed racing a lot over lots of days during the cup and those races are the very reason why I've been able to stay in shape. I'm really happy to have had such a good start to the season."
Alain Bernard (FRA) reminded rivals of his status as Olympic champion with a lifetime best and French record of 46.28 in the 100m freestyle. The time left him fourth fastest ever. Bernard turned fourth in 46.28, South Africans Lyndon Ferns and Darian Townsend leading the way in a line with Stefan Nystrand (SWE). The second turn and third length were decisive, Bernard ploughing ahead and turning for the homeward sprint with a lead that he would only lengthen until the clock confirmed that Ferns had taken second in 46.71, Evgeny Lagunov (RUS) third in 47.06. Nystrand, world record holder on 45.83, nursing fourth place in 47.11.
The 200m freestyle also produced a French triumph, Coralie Balmy claiming victory in 1:54.05, fourth fastest ever. That left her just 0.57sec shy of Laure Manaudou's French record and within 0.8sec of the 1:53.29 world record of Libby Trickett (AUS). We can expect much more from Balmy, who kept at bay Swedish teammates Petra Granlund, on 1:54.45, and Josefin Lillhage, on 1:55.57.
In Stockholm, Tao Li (SIN) placed herself on the doorstep of the all-time top ten in the 100m butterfly, with a 56.85 effort. In Berlin, she wiped another chunk off her best, thumping rivals with a knockout blow of 56.28, third fastest ever and just 0.54sec away from Trickett's world record. Amanda Loots took second in 58.05, with Granlund third in 58.21.
Cameron Van der Burgh (RSA) rolled to another speedy breaststroke win, clocking 26.05 in the 50m. That left him a fraction shy of the 25.94 world record that he set at the Stockholm round of the cup on Tuesday but left no doubt that he is in a class of his own on this season's short-course circuit. Second went to Vladislav Polyakov (KAZ), in 26.85, with Christian Sprenger (AUS) third in 27.04. Van der Burgh raced in a Blueseventy bodysuit that looks like a west suit and contains neoprene for those rightfully counting asterisks at a time when the standardisation of the sport is under attack from the very people who are supposed to ensure standardisation of conditions for all athletes - FINA.
Robert Margalis (USA) took the lead in the 400m medley on the last length of breaststroke and went on to win in 4:13.30. The lead had been held by British teenager Xavier Mohammed, who gave a hint of the potential gradually being unlocked. He tightened in the second half of the race but hung on for second in 4:15.88, third going to Yannick Lebherz (GER), just a year older than the Brit, in 4:16.54. The London 2012 generation is picking up pace. Lotte Friis (DEN) took the 800m freestyle in 8:14.41, ahead of Kristel Koebrich (CHI), on 8:16.36.
The last world cup 100m breaststroke race for women this year went to Sarah Katsoulis (AUS) in 1:05.07, ahead of Tara Kirk (USA), on 1:05.56, and Sanja Jovanovic (CRO), world record holder, got the better of rivals in the 50m backstroke, in 27.19, well shy of her 26.37 global mark but enough to keep Daniela Samulski (GER), on 27.29, and Fabiola Molina (BRA), on 27.41.
The 200m butterfly produced a swift 1:51.78 victory by Nikolai Skvortsov (RUS). That left him a second outside best after he fell just 0.01sec shy of the world record in Moscow in 2007.
The women's 200m medley threw up some new names to conjure for the future. The touch went to Theresa Michalak (GER) in 2:10.92, ahead of Sophie Allen (GBR), in 2:11.55. Both are just 16, while fourth to 17-year-old Emma Smithurst (GBR) in 2:12.41. Amanda Loots (RSA) took third in 2:11.68. Therese Alshammer (SWE) got the edge on Marieke Guehrer (AUS) in the 50m freestyle, 24.16 to 24.42.
