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US duo blitz world records
02/07/2008 07:40 - (SA)
Omaha - Natalie Coughlin and Aaron Peirsol blitzed to back-to-back world records in the 100m backstroke to highlight another breathless day of action at the US Olympic swimming trials on Tuesday.
Coughlin sparked the record demolition when she stormed to
the wall in a time of 58.97 seconds, trimming .06 seconds off
her own mark to become the first woman to dip under 59 seconds.
It marked the third time in two days the record had been
lowered, with Hayley McGregory and Coughlin swapping the mark
in successive preliminary heats on Monday.
With the crowd still buzzing over Coughlin's performance,
Peirsol brought them to their feet again powering home in a
time of 52.89 seconds to beat his own record of 52.98 set at
last year's world championships in Melbourne.
Six world records have now tumbled in the first three days
of the trials.
Michael Phelps narrowly missed sharing in the world record
blitz, clinching his second Olympic berth cruising to victory
in the 200m freestyle in 1:44.10, the third fastest time ever.
Less than 40 minutes later, the six-time Olympic gold medal
winner was back in the spotlight clocking the top qualifying
time of 1:54.02 in the 200m butterfly.
In the night's only other final, Jessica Hardy booked a
ticket to her first Olympics winning the 100m breaststroke in
1:06.87 ahead of 2000 Sydney gold medallist Megan Jendrick.
Katie Hoff, who has already claimed one world record (400
IM) and two Olympic spots (400 IM, 400 free) looks poised to
add to more events to her Beijing programme posting the top
times in both the 200m free and 200m individual medley.
- Reuters
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