World Championships: The Other South African, Gerhard Zandberg, Wins Gold in 50 Backstroke

By John Lohn

MELBOURNE, Australia, April 1. HE had the world-record holder and top seed to deal with, but Gerhard Zandberg didn't have a problem mining gold in the championship final of the 50 backstroke. The South African, obviously not as well known as counterparts Roland Schoeman and Ryk Neethling, clocked a time of 24.98 to prevail comfortably.

The only athlete to crack the 25-second mark, Zandberg knocked off Germany's Thomas Rupprath (25.20) and Great Britain's Liam Tancock (25.23). Rupprath holds the global standard and is known as one of the premier sprint specialists in the world. As for Tancock, the Commonwealth Games champion entered the final as the No. 1 seed.

"I am so happy. It's been a real struggle for the little swim team that we have," Zandberg said. "It's an amazing feeling. I have been training really hard. It's great swimming in front of a crowd like this. I spent so many years in the pool giving up so many things. Here and now, it is all worth it."

Tancock got off to a poor start and couldn't recover, not surprising for a one-lap sprint. Germany also finished fourth, thanks to the 25.29 of Germany's Steffen Driesen. Great Britain's Matt Clay was fifth in 25.32 and Greece's Aristeidis Grigoriadis, the defending champ, was sixth in 25.52. Rounding out the field were Japan's Junya Koga (25.56) and Aussie Matt Welsh (25.61).

Click Here to view event results PDF file.

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