World Championships: Qualifying First for 50 Breaststroke Final, Leisel Jones Chasing History

By John Lohn

MELBOURNE, Australia, March 31. THE stage is set for a little bit of history to go down tomorrow night. Swimming in the second semifinal, Leisel Jones moved a step closer to completing a sweep of the breaststroke events, something that's never been accomplished, by posting the top qualifying time for the championship final, a 30.91. No swimmer in any stroke has won the 50 through 200 distances at a World Champs.

Jones, who was dominating on her way to 100 and 200 breast crowns, will have her hands full in the final of the sprint. Jessica Hardy, who tied her American record in the preliminaries, is the second seed for tomorrow night after a time of 31.09. Hardy was the silver medalist in the 50 breast in Montreal two years ago and her prelim time was 30.85.

"I loved it," Jones said, obviously loose. "I was out there smiling, having a bit of a laugh downstairs (in the ready room). It's so great to have competitors like I do. We have a laugh."

Australia's Tarnee White slipped in as the third-fastest qualifier, thanks to a swim of 31.14. Checking in for the fourth and fifth positions were Germany's Janne Schafer (31.23) and American Tara Kirk (31.27). New Zealand's Zoe Baker was sixth in 31.49 and the field was rounded out by Sweden's Rebecca Ejdervik (31.71) and Great Britain's Kate Haywood (31.72). Kirk was fourth in 2005.

Click Here to view event results PDF file.

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