FINA World Short Course Championships: Mireia Belmonte Garcia Sets Meet Record in 200 IM Triumph

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, December 18. SPAIN's Mireia Belmonte Garcia clipped China's Ye Shiwen in the women's 200 IM for the win at the FINA World Short Course Championships.

Belmonte Garcia nabbed the victory, 2:05.73 to 2:05.94, in front of Ye to break Kirsty Coventry's meet mark of 2:06.13 set two years ago. The time cleared her national record of 2:06.44 set in Nov. 2009. Ye, meanwhile, took second in the 2:05.94 for an Asian record. That swim broke the record of 2:07.34 set by Li Jiaxing in Nov. 2009.

USA's Ariana Kukors rounded out the top three with a 2:06.09. That time beat the ratified American record of 2:07.64 set by Julia Smit during the Berlin stop of the World Cup in October. Smit, however, owns the world record with the top time by an American of 2:04.60. USA Swimming elected to not recognize techsuit swims done after implementing the techsuit ban domestically in Oct. 2009. Even swims done legally under FINA rules prior to FINA's worldwide ban of techsuits on Jan. 1, 2010, were rejected by USA Swimming leading to some record-keeping confusion.

Hungary's Katinka Hosszu (2:06.88), Hungary's Evelyn Verraszto (2:07.81), Italy's Francesca Segat (2:08.38), USA's Missy Franklin (2:08.38) and Australia's Kotuku Ngawati (2:09.32) earned fourth through eighth in the finale.

Day Four Finals Results

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