Grote Is Golden; USA Relay Wins, Sets American Record -- January 16, 1998

From www.usswim.org - PERTH, AUSTRALIA - USA's Kurt Grote won the 200m breaststroke at the World Championships here tonight and the U.S. women's 4x100m medley relay blazed to another gold, setting an American record and nearly a world record.

Grote, 23, of San Diego, Calif., lunged in the final meter of his 200m race to just edge Jean-Christophe Sarnin of France, 2:13.40 to 2:13.42. Hungarian Norbert Rozsa was third in 2:13.59. USA's Tom Wilkens, 21, Middletown, N.J., placed seventh in 2:15.41.

The U.S. women's 400m medley relay of Lea Maurer (26/Crestwood, N.Y.), Kristy Kowal (18/Reading, Pa.), Jenny Thompson (24/Dover, N.H.), and Amy Van Dyken (24/Lone Tree, Colo.), blazed to gold in 4:01.93, the second fastest time in history and a new American record. The world record, 4:01.67, was set at the 1994 World Championships in Rome by China.