Flash! Ian Crocker Obliterates Popov's 100m Free World Record  -- March 27, 2004

By Phillip Whitten

EAST MEADOW, New York, March 27. Ian Crocker destroyed one of the most hallowed records in the record book tonight at the men's NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships in East Meadow, New York.

Crocker, a University of Texas senior, swam the short course 100-meter freestyle in 46.25 seconds, erasing Russia's Alex Popov's global standard of 46.74 that had lasted for ten years.

Crocker, the world record-holder for 100 meter butterfly, trailed Cal's Duje Draganja at the halfway mark, 22.06 to 22.17, but came storming back on the final 50 meters to shatter Popov's mark. A stunned Draganja clocked 46.64, also under Popov's former record.

A beaming Texas coach Eddie Reese commented: "That's a heck of a record!"

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