Canada's Nadine Rolland Sets Three Masters World Records -- November 1, 2004

By Roy Smith

BROSSARD, Quebec, November 1. CANADIAN Olympian Nadine Rolland slashed three Masters short course world records (women 25-29) from the books at a Masters meet in Brossard, Quebec, on Saturday, October 30,according to Christian Berger, of Masters Swimming Canada.

Rolland, a member of Canada's 2000 Olympic team, sprinted the 50-meter freestyle in 26.13 seconds, five-hundredths under the previous mark set two years ago by Denmark's Sophia Skou.

The Quebecoise sprinter then blazed the 100 IM in 1:04.77, chopping four-tenths of a second off the old standard of 1:05.18 set by Japan's Hitani Maehara last year.

Finally, Rolland, 29, swam a blistering 27.80 for the 50m fly, a full eight-tenths of a second below Italian Irace Alfonisna's time of 28.60 set last February.

Rolland's times are not only world marks for women 25-29, they also are all faster than the records for these events in all other age groups.