Schoeman Leads 50m Free Sprinters into the Final; Lezak and Hall Qualify Too

By Phillip Whitten

ATHENS, August 29. THE 50 free can be a cruel mistress. Fast? Yes. Exciting? No doubt. But never faithful. No way.

In the prelims, WR-holder and double Olympic 50 champ Alex Popov was eliminated. So too was two-time 100 free Olympic gold medalist Pieter van den Hoogenband. Bye, bye Alex. Hit the road, Hoogie. It was great knowing you but,…hit the road, jack.

The semifinals brought more of the same. Bart Kizierowski, who looked so good in prelims was out. It was "adios" to Ricky Busquets, Fernando Scherer and Javier Noriega; "au revoir" to Fred Busquet.

Left still standing, though, were some of the biggies.

Roland Schoeman, who sparked South Africa to a WR in the 400 free relay and who placed second to Hoogie in the 100 free, posted the fast 50 of the day, 21.99.

Brett Hawke set an Aussie national record with his 22.07 while Jason Lezak qualified third in 22.12.

Algeria's Salim Iles was fourth with a NR 22.16.

Gary Hall, the top prelim sprinter, finished in a three-way tie for fifth at 22.18.

Who will win tomorrow night?

WE'll have to wait and see. Just remember, the 50 is oh so fickle…


Men 50m Freestyle Semifinals

Record Name NOC Location Date
WR 21.64 POPOV Alexander RUS Moscow (RUS) 16 JUN 2000
OR 21.91 POPOV Alexander RUS Barcelona (ESP) 30 JUL 1992

Event No: 25

Rank Heat Lane Name NOC R.T. Time Time
Behind
1 1 6 SCHOEMAN Roland Mark RSA 0.65 21.99

2 1 2 HAWKE Brett AUS 0.69 22.07
0.08 OC
3 2 6 LEZAK Jason USA 0.72 22.12
0.13
4 1 5 ILES Salim ALG 0.70 22.16
0.17
5 2 4 HALL Gary USA 0.74 22.18
0.19
5 2 2 VOLYNETS Oleksandr UKR 0.84 22.18
0.19
5 2 7 NYSTRAND Stefan SWE 0.71 22.18
0.19
8 2 3 DRAGANJA Duje CRO 0.72 22.19
0.20

9 2 5 KIZIEROWSKI Bartosz POL 0.71 22.22
0.23
10 1 3 SICOT Julien FRA 0.76 22.26
0.27
11 2 8 SCHERER Fernando BRA 0.74 22.27
0.28
12 1 4 BOUSQUET Frederick FRA 0.71 22.29
0.30
13 1 1 NORIEGA Javier ESP 0.78 22.36
0.37
14 1 8 FERNS Lyndon RSA 0.69 22.46
0.47
15 1 7 BUSQUETS Ricardo PUR 0.65 22.52
0.53
16 2 1 NOVY Karel SUI 0.81 22.63
0.64

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