Felicity Galvez, the Australian much wounded by the first shiny suit year in 2008, made use of the death throes of performance-enhancing apparel to claim the 100th shiny suit world record of the year, a 55.46 100 'fly on the first day of action at the world cup in Stockholm. The 101st fell to Zhao Jing of China and the 102nd, for 210 since February 2008 marked the woeful start of the shiny suit era, fell to Kaio Almeida of Brazil.
Galvez went through in 26.05, 0.28sec ahead of the schedule set by her Aussie teammate Jess Schipper on her way to the previous shiny suit best, of 55.68, set in Hobart in August soon after Schipper's 200m victory at world championships in Rome. Second to Galvez was Diane Bui Duyet (FRA), on 55.83, with Brazil's Daynara de Paula on 56.52. Galvez's mark is the 208th global standard to be set (a few never ratified) since the woeful advent of non-textiles in race suits in February 2008.
The best textile standard ever set was the 55.95 of Libby Trickett, also Australian. Before Stockholm, Galvez had a best time of 55.82. And in the days of textile, aged 22, she stood at 57.75.
A little later in the finals session in the splendid Swedish capital, Zhao Jing (CHN) wiped another chunk off her best time over 50m back to set a world mark of 25.82. In heats, she had lowered the mark to 26.08. The world mark in the days of textile suits had stood at 26.83 to Li Hui (CHN). Zhao is first under 26. Li was the first inside 27sec, back in 2002, when her best the previous season had been a 28.19. That was astonishing. Zhao has no textile-suit form to look back on.
Next up was Kaio Almeida, Brazil, on 1:49.11 in the 200m butterfly. The 25-year-old had a best time of 1:56.74 last year but had a textile best of 1:53.27 from 2006. Second tonight in Sweden was the man who lost the record (1:50.53), Nikolay Skvortsov (RUS), on 1:50.75, with third place going to Britain's Michael Rock, on 1:51.32. The best swimming time, in a textile-suit, seen so far is the 1:50.73 at which Frenchman Franck Esposito held the global standard before shiny suits arrived.
Many races in Stockholm produced world-cup best times, which comes as no surprise, given that the past two seasons cannot be compared to each other, let alone what was called swimming in 2007 and before.
The best effort, given the suit being worn, came from Leisel Jones (AUS), who went through to the 100m breaststroke on 30.42 and finished on 1:03.74. That kept at bay Rikke Moller Pedersen (DEN), on 1:04.52, with Japan's Nanaka Tamura third in 1:05.18.
Lotte Friis (DEN), clocked 8:07.94 in the 800m freestyle to win ahead of Kristel Kobrich (CHI), on 8:09.25. The 24-year-old from Chile has enjoyed something of a leap in form in 2008-09: before 2008 her best ever was 8:29.30. A year ago she reduced that to 8:16.36 in three swims on the world cup circuit, starting with an 8:20 effort in Stockholm 2008. Stockholm 2009 and third place went to 16-year-old American youth team member Amber McDermott in 8:24.83.
Stefan Nystrand (SWE) won the 100m free in 45.54, ahead of Brent Hayden (CAN), on 45.75 and Danila Izotov (RUS), on 45.87. Phelps, Sullivan, Bousquet and Magnini were among those who missed the final in an event that showed how those who wear shiny suits have clear, artificial advantage over those who do not. The uneven playing field and skewed result sheets of the past two years come to an official close on January 1, 2010, when bodysuits and non-textiles joined the list of banned things.
In the 50m breaststroke, Cameron Van Der Burgh (RSA) fell just 0.1sec shy of his world record to win in 25.68 ahead of Brazil's Felipe Silva, on 25.87, with the winner's teammate, Roland Schoeman third on 25.88.
Coralie Balmy (FRA) clocked 1:53.71 to win the 200m free ahead of Finland's Hanna Maria Seppala, on 1:54.71, and Alexandra Gabor (CAN), on 1:55.06.
Joe Roebuck, of Britain, won the 400m medley in 4:03.20, second place going to South African Chad Le Clos, on 4:04.19 and young American Kyle Whitaker third on 4:08.15 in his 18th year. Peter Marshall (USA) stormed to a 49.29 win in the 100m backstroke, ahead of Russian teammates Stanislav Donets and Arkady Vyatchanin, on 49.81 and 49.95 respectively.
The 200m medley went to Spain's Mireia Belmonte in 2:06.44, a touch outside the shiny suit world mark of 2:06.01 set by Hungarian Evelyn Verraszto in Moscow last weekend. Second went to South African Melissa Franklin, on 2:07.16, with third place going to her teammate Kathryn Meaklim, on 2:07.54.
Other winners were Therese Alshammar (SWE), in the 50m free, on 23.75, Neil Versfeld (RSA) on 2:02.67 in the 200m breaststroke, Gerhard Zandberg (RSA) in 51.77 in the 100m medley (in which Michael Phelps, having missed two other finals in morning heats, finished third in 52.14, just over half a second outside the best ever time set in a textile suit); Elizabeth Simmonds (GBR0, with a 2:02.01 in the 200m backstroke; and Roland Schoeman (RSA) with a 22.08 in the 50m 'fly.
