Benko Sets World Mark, Thorpe Just Misses in World Cup Finale

By Phillip Whitten

BERLIN, January 26. THE USA's Lindsay Benko became the first woman to crack the four-minute barrier for the 400 meter freestyle, slashing a full half-second from Claudia Poll's 1997 standard of 4:00.03 with her 3:59.53 on the final day of the final stop in the 2002-03 FINA World Cup tour.

Benko's feat earned a bonus of a $20,000 car.

"It's fantastic to be the first woman under the four-minute mark," said Benko, 26, after a frenzied sell-out crowd of 2,500 cheered her to a sensational final 100 meters.

"I have really worked long and hard for this," she said. "I've narrowly missed it often, but I knew that I was in great shape coming in here. The crowd was great and cheered me home to that magical record."

Germany's Thomas Rupprath, who set a world record in the 100 meters individual medley on Saturday, won the $50,000 first prize as top performer in the seven World Cup meets.

He quipped: "My wife's birthday is coming up in two weeks and I won't have to worry about having enough money to buy her something nice this year."

Rupprath added an exclamation mark to his superb overall World Cup performance with a convincing 23.53-second victory in the 50m back, leading teammate Toni Helbig to the wall.

Britain's Alison Sheppard topped the women's overall standings, collecting the $50,000 top prize. On Saturday, she won the 50 meter freestyle in a worldw-leading 24.06.

In an eagerly-anticipated match-up, Australia's Thorpedo, Ian Thorpe, out-duelled Holland's Pieter van den Hoogenband in the 200 meter freestyle. Thorpe touched in 1:41.69 — about half a second from his own world record of 1:41.10, set in this same pool in December of 2000.

The two arch rivals immediately jumped out ahead of the rest of the field, swimming ahead of record pace through ther first 50 and match each other stroke for stroke through the 150.

But nobody in the world can match the Thorpedo over the final 50 meters. The Aussie took off like he was attached to an outboard motor and pulled away for the win. Hoogie followed in a Euro record 1:42.45.

The Dutchman paid homage to Thorpe after the race: "I really need him in the race to get the best results out of me. It was a very exciting race."

There were other very fast swims here today. In the women's 200 meter butterfly, China's Yang Yu set an Asian record of 2:04.90, about three-fourths of a second behind the world mark of 2:04.16 held by Australia's Madame Butterfly, Susie O'Neill. Germany's Annika Mehlhorn set a national mark in finishing second in 2:05.98.

The USA's Gabrielle Rose finally won a World Cup race this season in her final attempt. Rose, who has been swimming brilliantly throughout the tour has collecterd one silver medal after another.

She began the day with another second-place performance, finishing behind Britain's Zoe Baker in the 50m breaststroke. But in her final event, the 100 IM, the Stanford graduate put it all together for a gold medal swim, clocking 1:00.66 to Mehlhorn's 1:01.30.

Britain's Mark Foster won the 50 meter freestyle in 21.28, the season's fastest time and within hailing distance of his own WR of 21.13 set two years ago in Paris. Teammate James Hickman took the 200 IM in 1:56.73, 16-hundredths ahead of Kiwi Dean Kent, the 400 IM champ.

Another winning brit was Zoe Baker, who clocked 30.73 to take the 50m breast while Sarah Price won the 100 back in 59.08.

Russian men notched four big victories. Roman Sloudnov took the 100 breast in 57.96; Igor Martchenko was the winner in the 100 fly with a blistering 51.38, beating out Hickman; Evgueni Alechine set a national record with his 1:52.80 swim in the 200m back, 1.225 seconds ahead of the USA's Lenny Krayzelburg, the Olympic champion; and 18 year-old Yuri Prilukov enhanced his rep as the new Salnikov with a very strong 14:38.72 winning swim over 1500 meters.

Austria's Mirna jukic swam a national record 2:20.28 to win the 200m breaststroke, only 4-tenths off Emma Igelstrom's Euro mark.

Sweden's Anna-Karin Kammerling blazed a 25.51 50m fly, 7-tenths ahead of Therese Alshammar, to extend her reign in that event.

Ukraine's Yana Klochkova won the 400 IM in 4:34.80 and Belarus' Aliaksandre Herasimenia concluded a successful tour with a 53.94 victory in the 100m free.

FINA 2002-2003 WORLD CUP VII
Berlin, Germany
January 25-26, 2003

25 meter pool

RESULTS
DAY TWO: January 26, 2003

Women's 100m Freestyle
1. HERASIMENIA Aliaksandre 1985 BLR 53.94
2. DALLMANN Petra 1978 GER 54.14
3. MARSHALL Melanie 1982 GBR 54.22
4. VELDHUIS Marleen 1979 NED 54.36
5. VOELKER Sandra 1974 GER 54.37
6. FIGUES Solenne 1979 FRA 54.76
7. LEGG Karen 1978 GBR 54.87
8. MYSKOVA Jana 1977 CZE 54.98

Men's 200m Freestyle
1. THORPE Ian 1982 AUS 1:41.69
2. VAN DEN HOOGENBAND Pieter 1978 NED 1:42.45 ER
3. SVOBODA Kvetoslav 1982 CZE 1:44.91
4. HERBST Stefan 1978 GER 1:45.09
5. LIU Yu 1982 CHN 1:45.59
6. HAYDEN Brent 1983 CAN 1:46.59
7. BINEVICIUS Saulius 1979 LTU 1:46.72
8. MAGNINI Filippo 1982 ITA 1:47.52

Women's 50m Breaststroke
1. BAKER Zoe 1976 GBR 30.73
2. ROSE Gabrielle 1977 USA 31.45
3. SCHAEFER Janne 1981 GER 31.55
4. LEIER Rhiannon 1977 CAN 31.67
5. WHITE Tarnee 1981 AUS 31.76
6. WEILER Simone 1978 GER 31.92
7. JUKIC Mirna 1986 AUT 32.06
8. BOEHM Caroline 1986 GER 32.08

Men's 100m Breaststroke
1. SLOUDNOV Roman 1980 RUS 57.96
2. KITAJIMA Kosuke 1982 JPN 58.56
3. LISOGOR Oleg 1979 UKR 58.64
4. GIBSON James 1980 GBR 59.14
5. COOK Chris 1979 GBR 59.27
6. PIPER Jim 1981 AUS 1:00.05
7. LORENZ Timo 1982 GER 1:00.16
8. EDMOND Ian 1978 GBR 1:00.25

Women's 400m Individual Medley
1. KLOCHKOVA Yana 1982 UKR 4:34.80
2. FUJINO Maiko 1983 JPN 4:35.85
3. WARDEN Elizabeth 1978 CAN 4:37.23
4. NORFOLK Helen 1981 NZL 4:39.20
5. ABBOTT Jessica 1985 AUS 4:40.20
6. CARBALLIDO Paula 1979 ESP 4:41.44
7. ROHMANN Teresa 1987 GER 4:42.12
8. JARLAND Elisabeth 1985 NOR 4:45.19
9
Men's 100m Butterfly
1. MARTCHENKO Igor 1975 RUS 51.38
2. HICKMAN James 1976 GBR 51.71
3. LAGOUN Pavel 1979 BLR 52.07
4. KEIZER Joris 1979 NED 52.57
5. MEEUW Helge 1984 GER 52.71
6. DIETRICH Johannes 1985 GER 52.77
7. SALCIUS Rimvydas 1985 LTU 52.97
8. PUNINSKI Alexei 1985 CRO 53.11

Women's 100m Backstroke
1. PRICE Sarah 1979 GBR 59.08
2. INADA Noriko 1978 JPN 59.37
3. NAKAMURA Mai 1979 JPN 59.41
4. MCLEAN Hannah 1981 NZL 59.54
5. BUSCHSCHULTE Antje 1978 GER 59.66
6. ZHAN Shu 1985 CHN 1:00.07
7. ORNSTEDT Louise 1985 DEN 1:00.16
8. WITTSTOCK Charlene 1978 RSA 1:00.97

Men's 50m Backstroke
1. RUPPRATH Thomas 1977 GER 23.53
2. HELBIG Toni 1982 GER 24.20
3. GILLIAM Michael 1979 USA 24.49
4. GRIGALIONIS Darius 1977 LTU 24.60
5. MORITA Tomomi 1984 JPN 24.79
6. ZANDBERG Gerhard 1983 RSA 24.92
7. DRIESEN Steffen 1981 GER 24.96
7. NISHIKORI Atsushi 1978 JPN 24.96

Women's 200m Butterfly
1. YANG Yu 1985 CHN 2:04.90 AR
2. MEHLHORN Annika 1983 GER 2:05.98 NR
3. GALVEZ Felicity 1985 AUS 2:07.34
4. YANO Yurie 1988 JPN 2:07.38
5. DAVENPORT Lara 1983 AUS 2:08.03
6. KLOCHKOVA Yana 1982 UKR 2:08.04
7. SKOU Sophia 1975 DEN 2:12.54
8. VIVES Roser 1984 ESP 2:14.09

Men's 200m Individual Medley
1. HICKMAN James 1976 GBR 1:56.73
2. KENT Dean 1978 NZL 1:56.89
3. JOHNS Brian 1982 CAN 1:57.21
4. DEICMANS Guntars 1983 LAT 1:57.96
5. JANUSAITIS Vytautas 1981 LTU 1:58.19
6. KELLER Christian 1972 GER 1:59.42
7. KOKKODIS Ioannis 1981 GRE 1:59.53
8. MIKI Jiro 1983 JPN 2:01.18

Women's 400m Freestyle
1. BENKO Lindsay 1976 USA 3:59.53 WORLD RECORD
2. STOCKBAUER Hannah 1982 GER 4:04.90
3. VILLAECIJA Erika 1984 ESP 4:05.84
4. TANG Jingzhi 1986 CHN 4:06.19
5. CABALLERO Melissa 1985 ESP 4:06.78
6. LYMPERTA Marianna 1979 GRE 4:09.66
7. DIMOSCHAKI Zoi 1985 GRE 4:13.09
8. YANG Yu 1985 CHN 4:22.91

Men's 50m Freestyle
1. FOSTER Mark 1970 GBR 21.28
2. SCHOEMAN Roland 1980 RSA 21.42
3. MEOLANS Jose 1978 ARG 21.82
4. ILES Salim 1975 ALG 21.85
5. GIMBUTIS Rolandas 1981 LTU 21.96
6. VISMARA Lorenzo 1975 ITA 22.01
7. SOUZA Jader 1982 BRA 22.03
8. KIZIEROWSKI Bartosz 1977 POL 22.20

Women's 200m Breaststroke
1. JUKIC Mirna 1986 AUT 2:20.28 NR
2. LEIER Rhiannon 1977 CAN 2:26.08
3. HISSAMUTDINOVA Natalia 1983 EST 2:26.55
4. WEILER Simone 1978 GER 2:26.75
5. WHITE Tarnee 1981 AUS 2:27.96
6. ABBOTT Jessica 1985 AUS 2:28.45
7. KUC Marina 1985 GER 2:29.68
8. JARLAND Elisabeth 1985 NOR 2:30.19

Men's 1500m Freestyle
1. PRILUKOV Yuri 1984 RUS 14:38.72
2. COMAN Dragos 1980 ROM 14:46.94
3. LURZ Thomas 1979 GER 14:56.50
4. KALTEIS Hannes 1982 AUT 15:06.98
5. MANGANAS Dimitrios 1978 GRE 15:07.10
6. MEDRANO Albert 1982 ESP 15:18.57
7. BARSCH Sebastian 1983 GER 15:20.91
8. PLATEL Yves 1977 SUI 15:25.64

Women's 100m Individual Medley
1. ROSE Gabrielle 1977 USA 1:00.66
2. MEHLHORN Annika 1983 GER 1:01.30
3. MORAVCOVA Martina 1976 SVK 1:01.57
4. HLAVACKOVA Ilona 1977 CZE 1:02.61
5. ROUBA Tatiana 1983 ESP 1:02.84
6. SCHOEBER Sonja 1986 GER 1:03.15
7. JOVANOVIC Sanja 1986 CRO 1:04.04
8. BOESING Britta 1984 GER 1:04.17

Men's 200m Backstroke
1. ALECHINE Evgueni 1979 RUS 1:52.80 NR
2. KRAYZELBURG Lenny 1975 USA 1:54.05
3. ZWERING Klaas Erik 1981 NED 1:54.57
4. SANCHEZ Jorge 1977 ESP 1:54.97
5. DUFOUR Simon 1979 FRA 1:55.98
6. FLOREA Razvan 1980 ROM 1:56.00
7. ROLFF Ethan 1982 AUS 1:56.11
8. MEEUW Helge 1984 GER 1:57.57

Women's 50m Butterfly
1. KAMMERLING Anna-Karin 1980 SWE 25.51
2. ALSHAMMAR Therese 1977 SWE 26.22
3. HERASIMENIA Aliaksandre 1985 BLR 26.68
4. SCHREUDER Hinkelien 1984 NED 26.75
5. ZHENG Xi 1982 CHN 26.80
6. HOFMANN Nele 1986 GER 27.06
7. VELDHUIS Marleen 1979 NED 27.29
8. KAPACHENIA Hanna 1980 BLR 27.41

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