World Championships: Fastest Prelim of 100 Butterfly Belongs to Ian Crocker

By John Lohn

MELBOURNE, Australia, March 29. THE first step toward the head-to-head battle for gold in the 100 butterfly between Ian Crocker and Michael Phelps went down smoothly in the preliminary round. Crocker and Phelps posted the No. 1 and No. 3 times in the morning and will be next to one another in the semifinals tonight.

Crocker, the world-record holder and two-time defending champion, turned in an effort of 51.44, looking comfortable the whole way. As for Phelps, the reigning Olympic champ who has already set three world records this week, he was timed in 51.95. Phelps was in the middle of the pack during his heat, then overcame South Africa's Lyndon Ferns at the touch. Ferns was fifth in 52.26.

Without a seed time, former Cal standout Michael Cavic (Serbia) was placed in the first heat, where there was only one other swimmer. Cavic, though, produced a sterling performance despite not having anyone push him to the wall. Checking in at 51.70, Cavic grabbed the second seed for the semifinals and figures to be the leading player for the bronze medal. Cavic is the former world-record holder in the short-course version of the event.

Taking the fourth spot was Venezuela's Albert Subirats, who recorded a mark of 52.15. Subirats recently won the NCAA championship in the 100 fly while representing the University of Arizona. Sixth went to Ryan Pini of Papua New Guinea in 52.27 and Peter Mankoc of Slovenia was seventh in 52.30. Taking eighth with a time of 52.34 was Lars Frolander of Sweden.

Click Here to view event results PDF file.

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