World Short Course Championships: Finland’s Hanna-Maria Seppala Cracks One-Minute Barrier in 100 IM, Breaks National Mark

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MANCHESTER, England, April 10. COMING off of a fifth-place showing in the 100 freestyle, Finland's Hanna-Maria Seppala cracked the one-minute barrier in the 100 IM and set a Finnish national record in the 100 IM semifinals at the FINA World Short Course Championships.

Seppala's time of 59.73 reset her own 2007 national record of 1:00.23.

Martina Moravcova of Slovakia (1999, 2000, 2002) and Brooke Hanson of Australia (2004, 2006) are the only two women to have ever claimed gold in the event at the World Championships.

Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe blasted her former national mark of 1:00.62 in the event, which she set this morning. Coventry posted the second-fastest time in the event.

Femke Heemskerk of the Netherlands joined the national record-setting bonanza with her third-place time of 1:00.40. That mark bettered her 1:00.74 time that she swam in the preliminary heats.

Sviatlana Khakhlova from Belarus slid into fourth-place with her 1:00.95 performance. Kristy Morrison of Australia touched fifth in 1:01.08.

Li Jiaxing from China (1:01.15), Daria Belyakina of Russia (1:01.16) and Shayne Reese of Australia (1:01.17) completed list the top eight finishers.

Belyakina's performance lowered her national record of 1:01.40 in the event.

Event Results

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