Men’s 100m Backstroke Semis: Peirsol Leads a Tightly-Bunched Pack

By Phillip Whitten

ATHENS, August 15. THERE were no surprises in the semifinal round of the men's 100 meter backstroke: everyone who was expected to advance did so, with the favorites holding back a bit for tomorrow's final.

Aaron Peirsol, the 2003 world champion and the favorite, clocked 54.34 to take the top spot. He'll be shooting for Lenny Krayzelburg's world record of 53.60 tomorrow.

Austria's Markus Rogan, a Stanford student, was a strong second today in 54.42, followed by Japan's Tomomi Morita, 54.62; the defending Olympic champ, Lenny Krayzelburg, at 54.63; and Germany's Steffen Driesen, 54.64.

Aussie Matt Welsh, the 2000 silver medalist, is sixth in 54.69; Laszlo Cseh seventh at 54.86 and Germany's Marco Di Carli, eighth in 55.03, setting up what should be a very close contest tomorrow — though the battle probably will be for silver and bronze behind Peirsol.

Men 100m Backstroke Semifinals

Record Split Name NOC Location Date
WR 53.60 25.97
KRAYZELBURG Lenny USA Sydney (AUS) 24 AUG 1999
OR 53.72 25.99
KRAYZELBURG Lenny USA Sydney (AUS) 18 SEP 2000

Event No: 10

Rank Heat Lane Name NOC R.T. 50m Time Time
Behind
1 1 4 PEIRSOL Aaron USA 0.68 26.39 54.34
27.95
2 1 5 ROGAN Markus AUT 0.73 26.68 54.42
27.74 0.08
3 2 4 MORITA Tomomi JPN 0.53 26.34 54.62
28.28 0.28
4 2 3 KRAYZELBURG Lenny USA 0.62 26.42 54.63
28.21 0.29
5 1 3 DRIESEN Steffen GER 0.70 26.67 54.64
27.97 0.30
6 2 2 WELSH Matt AUS 0.66 26.45 54.69
28.24 0.35
7 2 5 CSEH Laszlo HUN 0.62 26.53 54.86
28.33 0.52
8 2 7 di CARLI Marco GER 0.57 26.57 55.03
28.46 0.69

9 2 6 VYATCHANIN Arkady RUS 0.89 26.55 55.20
28.65 0.86
10 2 8 FLOREA Razvan ROM 0.63 26.84 55.27
28.43 0.93
11 1 2 OUYANG Kunpeng CHN 0.53 26.99 55.28
28.29 0.94
12 1 1 TAIT Gregor GBR 0.61 26.75 55.31
28.56 0.97
13 1 7 ZANDBERG Gerhard RSA 0.76 26.93 55.76
28.83 1.42
14 1 8 KOZULJ Gordan CRO 0.68 27.31 56.02
28.71 1.68
15 1 6 ALEX LIM Keng Liat MAS 0.66 26.80 56.08
29.28 1.74
16 2 1 DUFOUR Simon FRA 0.68 27.66 56.15
28.49 1.81

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