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Zim's Coventry shines
11/04/2008 15:34 - (SA)
Jason Mellor
Manchester - Kirsty Coventry continued her stunning form at the world short-course swimming championships as the Zimbabwean eased into the final of the 200m backstroke on Friday.
Fresh from claiming 400m individual medley gold in a world record time, the Zimbabwean posted a new championship best of 2:03:69, more than half a second ahead of her nearest challenger, Britain's Elizabeth Simmonds.
Coventry admits her punishing competition schedule at the five-day meeting is taking its toll, but is proving vital to her preparations for the rapidly approaching Olympic Games.
She said: "I'm a bit tired and these last couple of days have felt longer because of all the events, but it's making me stronger as part of my preparations for Beijing."
Venezuela's Albert Subirats produced one of the morning's most eye-catching displays on the third morning of competition, qualifying well ahead of the field for the semi-finals of the 50m butterfly in 23:01.
Further success for the US
Home favourite Liam Tancock rewarded a partisan crowd, qualifying second-fastest for the semi-finals of the 50m backstroke behind the United States' Randall Bal, who clocked an impressive 23:55, narrowly outside the championship record.
The US's Jessica Hardy earned her place in the 100m breaststroke semi-finals with the fastest qualifying time of 1:05:31.
And there was further success for the States as Robert Margalis beat Poland's Pawel Korzeniowski in a swim-off for a place in the 400m freestyle final.
Margalis said: "That's my first swim-off so I guess I'm undefeated."
- SAPA
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