World Short Course Championships: Rebecca Adlington Scares Kate Ziegler’s World Record, Wins 800 Free With Meet, National, European Record

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MANCHESTER, England, April 10. REBECCA Adlington of Great Britain took a serious run at Kate Ziegler's world record in the women's 800 free, but came up just short at the FINA World Short Course Championships.

Adlington clocked an awe-inspiring time of 8:08.25 to finish just shy of Ziegler's 8:08.00 set back in October at the Essen Invitational.

Adlington crushed Laure Manaudou's European record of 8:11.25 set back in 2005, and completely smashed the national record of 8:15.50 set by Joanne Jackson in 2007. She also wiped out the 8:11.99 meet record set by Anastasia Ivanenko back in 2006.

Adlington returned the title to Great Britain for the first time since Sarah Hardcastle won the event with an 8:26.46 back in 1995.

"I'm so tired from last night but I wasn't going to let anyone beat me in this one," Adlington told meet organizers. "Damn it! Didn't have a clue I was that close – I never expected to go that quick. This is the strongest British team we've ever had and we're going to have so much fun in Beijing."

Here is the split comparison between Adlington and Ziegler:
Ziegler: 59.22, 2:00.48, 3:01.96, 4:03.73, 5:05.46, 6:07.13, 7:08.48, 8:08.00
Adlington: 59.62, 2:01.47, 3:20.79, 4:04.19, 5:05.24, 6:06.50, 7:08.00, 8:08.25

Adlington actually moved under world-record pace at the 500-meter mark and held firm through the 700-meter mark. Ziegler, however, had a stronger finish.

Australia's Kylie Palmer finished second in 8:12.32, while Spain's Erika Villaecija took third in 8:13.93. Palmer's time lowered her national record of 8:14.11 set last August.

Romania's Camelia Potec finished fourth with a national-record time of 8:17.08 to lower her 8:22.89 from 2003, while South Africa's Kathryn Meaklim wiped out her own national record with a time of 8:25.53 for eighth. Meaklim's previous record had been an 8:29.23 from 2007.

Event Results

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