Kirk, Kitajima Post Wins at Mare Nostrum Series

CANET, France, June 10. A pair of well-established names on the international scene claimed gold medals in the 100 breaststroke as the Canet stop on the Mare Nostrum Tour came to a close Sunday. American Tara Kirk and Japan's Kosuke Kitajima picked up first-place finishes, with Kirk turning in a quality time for this point in the season.

En route to her victory, Kirk was clocked in 1:07.75, the only time under 1:09. Kirk, who won the 50 breast on Saturday, placed ahead of Australian Tarnee White, who was timed in 1:09.17. As for Kitajima, the reigning Olympic champion in the event, he went 1:01.10 to narrowly defeat Valeriy Dymo of the Ukraine, who finished in 1:01.15.

Coming off a victory in the 400 freestyle, Club Wolverine's Peter Vanderkaay made it a pair of gold medals when he easily won the 200 freestyle in 1:47.28, more than a second clear of Australia's Andrew Mewing (1:48.86). Vanderkaay wasn't the only Club Wolverine star to prevail as Erik Vendt set a meet record in the 800 freestyle, going 7:54.87 to dispatch France's Nicolas Rostoucher (7:58.04).

In the 50 freestyle events, Marleen Veldhuis (Holland) and Stefan Nystrand (Sweden) were quickest in the one-lap sprint. Veldhuis touched the wall in 25.03 while Nystrand reversed his finish from the 100 freestyle on Saturday by defeating France's Alain Bernard, 22.30 to 22.34. Sticking with the freestyle events, Germany's Annika Lurz, the silver medalist at the World Champs in the 200 free, won that discipline in 1:58.91, ahead of the 1:59.65 of Australia's Linda Mackenzie.

The sprint backstroke on the women's side produced a meet record when Aussie Sophie Edington touched in 28.50, faster than the 28.89 of Japan's Reiko Nakamura. For the men, Ashley Delaney was swiftest in 25.85. In the 200 backstroke, Nakamura set a meet record of 2:10.74 to complement her win in the 100 back a day earlier. On the male side, Russia's Arkady Vyatchanin dipped under the two-minute barrier to win in 1:59.53.

Inge Dekker (Holland) and Felicity Galvez (Australia) dueled in the 100 butterfly, with Dekker securing the triumph in 58.38, ahead of the 58.51 of Galvez. For the men, Ryan Pini of Papua New Guinea was the winner in 53.05. The 200 individual medley races resulted in wins for Great Britain's Hanna Miley (2:14.57) and Brazil's Thiago Pereira, who went an impressive 1:59.21.

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