Iles Cooks Up 50 Free Victory at Mediterranean Games

ALMERIA, Spain, June 25. LAST year, Salim Iles put together a strong campaign. The sprint freestyler from Algeria advanced to the 50 and 100 freestyle finals at the Olympic Games in Athens. And, a few months later, he earned silver in the 100 free at the World Short Course Championships in Indianapolis, where he also placed fifth in the 50 free.

Now, Iles is looking for a World Championship medal in the long-course format, an opportunity that will present itself next month in Montreal. At the very least, Iles will arrive at the World Champs in solid form, evident in his results from the Mediterranean Games. On Saturday, Iles set a Games record in the 50 free, as his time of 22.31 held off Spain’s Eduard Lorente (22.52).

While Iles blazed in the one-lap sprint, Italy enjoyed a strong showing. The Italians left the second day of the swimming competition with three victories, including a triumph from Cristina Chiuso in the 50 freestyle (25.40). Alessia Filippi added a gold-medal performance in the 200 backstroke (2:12.65) and Ambra Migliori won the 100 butterfly in 59.68.

In other action, Slovenia’s Blaz Medvesek was the victor in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:00.08 and countryman Peter Mankoc earned first place in the men’s 100 fly with a mark of 54.08.

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