World Champs, Day 4 Evening Session: Warnecke Defies Age En Route to Title in 50 Breast

By John Lohn
Photos by Peter H. Bick

MONTREAL, Canada, July 27. THE old man got the job done. Mark Warnecke, long one of the world’s premier sprinters in the breaststroke, stood on the top step of the medal podium on Wednesday night. A 35-year-old, Dr. Warnecke prevailed in the 50 breaststroke with a time of 27.63. His win was one for the ages, considering the youth movement that is ruling the sport.

The United States’ Mark Gangloff made a strong push for gold, but settled for the silver medal with a time of 27.71. An Auburn University product, Gangloff actually produced the fastest time of the competition with a 27.49 effort in the preliminaries. Japan’s Kosuke Kitajima secured the bronze medal with a time of 27.78. Kitajima earlier won silver in the 100 breast.

France’s Hugues Duboscq, the top seed for the final, collected fourth place in 27.87. Duboscq was the bronze medalist in the 100 breast and was followed in the sprint event by Great Britain’s Chris Cook (28.00). Sixth place was shared by the Ukraine’s Valeriy Dymo and Slovenia’s Emil Tahirovic (28.03) and eighth went to Australia’s Brenton Rickard (28.27).

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use