World Champs Day 2: Russia’s Sludnov Lowers WR Again in the 100 Breast; Anthony Ervin Takes the 50 Free

50m freestyle men:

Anthony Ervin, of the Phoenix Swim Club, added the world title to his Olympic crown tonight with a masterful performance that left no doubt that, with teammate Gary Hall, Jr., enjoying a quieter aquatic life, he is now King of Sprinters.

The time was a championship record of 22.09 seconds, a touch slower than that in which he had shared Olympic glory with Hall Jr., but faster than Jager, Popov and Pilczuk's passages to gold had gone before him.

Victory was all the sweeter for keeping Pieter van den Hoogenband, the flying Dutchman, at bay on 22.16 seconds, with the bronze medal being shared between Roland Schoeman, of South Africa, and Tomohiro Yamanoi, of Japan, both on 22.18sec. Yamanoi's time was a national and Asian record.

Ervin said: "It feels really great to become a world champion for the first time in my life. The race felt great from start to finish. I loved being in there, the crowd, the atmosphere – everything felt just right."

Van den Hoogenband, who did not get the best of starts and lost in the game of catch-up that followed, said:
"I'm happy with the color of the medal because at the Olympics I got the bronze." The absence of Hall
appeared lost on him. "There are things to improve – the start, for example."

200m butterfly women:

Petria Thomas, the Australian who has spent the best part of her senior career as bridesmaid to Susan O'Neill, her former teammate and now retired world record holder, claimed her first world long-course crown over 200m butterfly last night – but only just, as Germany's Annika Mehlhorn gave her the fight and fright of her life.

Victory came in a championship record of 2:06.73, to the German's 2:06.97, a European record, while Kaitlin Sandeno, of the US and the woman with the busiest program in the pool – claimed the first of two bronze medals she won in 2:08.52 on Day Two of the World Championships. The other came in the 800 meter freestyle amidst a race program that could amount to more than 6,000 meters of racing this week.

"It is about time!" said Thomas alluding to her many silver and bronze medals behind O'Neill, and in Sydney both her teammate and Olympic champion Misty Hyman. "I knew it was going to be a tough race over the last 50
meters but I didn't expect it to be quite as fast as that – when I saw the clock I had to look twice. I really wanted that title so I'm really happy."

Melhorn described her effort in modest terms: "It was quite satisfactory for me." She assumed it was her best time but appeared to have no idea that she was the new European record holder.

Sandeno said that the three races she had competed in on Day One of the Championships had led her to believe that she had little chance of winning the butterfly title, but she added: "I'm really happy with the result but I have to run now – I've got another race…" And off she went to claim her second bronze medal.

100m backstroke men:

Matt Welsh, of Australia, made hay in the absence of Lenny Krayzelburg, the Olympic champion who kept him from the top spot in Sydney last year. The winning time, 54.31, a championship record, suggested that he would have pressed Krayzelburg even if the American had been present. Second place went to Orn Arnarson, the first Icelander to win a World Championship
medal, with the bronze going to Stefan Driesen, of Germany, in 54.91.

The USA's Randall Bal was fourth in 54.97 while Aaron Peirsol did not make it out of the semifinals.

100m breaststroke women:

China claimed its first title of the championships when Luo Xuejuan stormed to victory in 1min 07.18, a championship record, with Leisel Jones, of Australia, adding to her Olympic silver medal with a silver in 1:07.96, while the bronze medal went to Agnes Kovacs, of Hungary in 1:08.50.

The USA's Megan Quann, the Olympic champion, and kristy Kowal, the defending world champ, finished fifth and sixth, respectively.

800m freestyle women:

Hannah Stockbauer produced the best performance among a much recovered German team, with a fantastic
8:24.66 victory, well clear of US teammates Diana Munz and Kaitlin Sandeno in 8:28.84 and 8:31.45. Sandeno just out-touched China's Chen Hua for the bronze

4x100m freestyle relay women:

Until a British sprint quartet swam beyond hope and expectation here to win a silver medal last night, the top two places in the 4x100m freestyle relay in World Championship history had been jealously guarded by the
superfuelled and superpowers of the pool – the bulked up belles from Beijing and East Berlin, the United States and Germany.

"The tide has turned," asserted Bill Sweetenham, Britain's national performance director brought in to raise Britain's game, after Alison Sheppard, Melanie Marshall, Rosalind Brett and Karen Pickering battled
their way through a race in which they threatened beyond the medal positions until Pickering swept past Sweden and caught the US to snatch a shared silver medal behind Germany, 3:39.58 to 3:40.80.

9th FINA World Swimming Championships
Fukuoka, Japan
Day 2: July 23, 2001

Men's 50m Freestyle

1. Anthony Ervin, USA 22.09
2. Pieter Van Hoogenband, NED 22.16
3. Tomohiro Yamanoi, JPN 22.18 NR
3. Roland Schoeman, RSA 22.18
5. Brett Hawke, AUS 22.39
6. Vyacheslav Shyrshov, UKR 22.42
7. Stefan Nystrand, SWE 22.44
7. Mark Foster, GBR 22.44

Women's 200m Butterfly

1. Petria Thomas, AUS 2:06.73
2. Annika Melhorn, GER 2:06.97 ER
3. Kaitlin Sandeno, USA 2:08.52
4. Yuko Nakanishi, JPN 2:09.08
5. Mette Jacobsen, DEN 2:09.57
6. Eva Risztov, HUN 2:10.11
7. Mireia Garcia, ESP 2:10.42
8. Shelly Ripple, USA 2:11.09

Men's 100m Backstroke

1. Matt Welsh, AUS 54.31
2. Orn Arnarson, ISL 54.75 NR
3. Stefan Driesen, GER 54.91
4. Randall Bal, USA 54.97
5. Markus Rogan, AUT 55.23
6. Peter Horvath, HUN 55.43
7. Gordon Kozulj, CRO 55.60
8. Josh Watson, AUS 55.98

Women's 100m Breaststroke

1. Luo Xuejuan, CHN 1:07.18 NR
2. Leisel Jones, AUS 1:07.96
3. Agnes Kovacs, HUN 1:08.50
4. Sarah Poewe, RSA 1:08.52
5. Megan Quann, USA 1:08.80
6. Kristy Kowal, USA 1:08.92
7. Mirna Jukic, AUT 1:09.48 NR
8. Rhiannon Leier, CAN 1:09.90

Women's 800m Freestyle

1. Hannah Stockbauer, GER 8:24.66
2. Diana Munz, USA 8:28.84
3. Kaitlin Sandeno, USA 8:31.45
4. Chen Hua, CHN 8:31.66
5. Flavia Rigamonti, SUI 8:33.79
6. Rebecca Cooke, GBR 8:36.67
7. Jana Pechanova, CZE 8:39.32
8. Sachiko Yamada, JPN 8:45.05

Women's 4x100m Freestyle Relay

1. Germany 3:39.58
2. USA 3:40.80
2. Great Britain 3:40.80
4. Sweden 3:41.18
5. China 3:41.32
6. Australia 3:42.01
7. Japan 3:43.07
8. Italy 3:44.67

SEMIFINALS

Men's 100m Breaststroke

1 Roman Sloudnov RUS 59.94 WR
2 Ed Moses USA 1:00.55
3 Kosuke Kitajima JPN 1:00.61 NR
4 Domenico Fioravanti ITA 1:00.66
5 Oleg Lisogor UKR 1:01.24 NR
6 Morgan Knabe CAN 1:01.25 NR
7 Darren Mew GBR 1:01.47 NR
8 Hugues Duboscq FRA 1:01.96
9 Jamo Pihlava FIN 1:02.02
10 Daniel Malek CZE 1:02.10
11 Jose Couto POR 1:02.17
12 Karoly Guttler HUN 1:02.18
13 Maxim Podoprigora AUT 1:02.22
14 Simon Cowley AUS 1:02.35
15 Ryosuke Imai JPN 1:02.49
16 Eduardo Aquiles Fischer BRA 1:03.08

Men's 200m Butterfly

1 Tom Malchow USA 1:55.03
1 Franck Esposito FRA 1:55.03 ER
3 Michael Phelps USA 1:56.41
4 Denys Sylantyev UKR 1:56.51
5 Takashi Yamamoto JPN 1:56.85
6 Justin Norris AUS 1:56.98
7 Anatoli Poliakov RUS 1:57.34
8 Andrew Livingston PUR 1:57.94 NR
9 Ioan Stefan Gherghel ROM 1:57.96
10 Thomas Rupprath GER 1:58.15
11 Christian Galenda ITA 1:58.20
12 Viktor Bodrogi HUN 1:58.60
13 Juan J Veloz MEX 1:59.06
14 William Kirby AUS 1:59.52
15 Ioannis Drymonakos GRE 1:59.56
16 Tero Valimaa FIN 2:01.37

Women's 50m Backstroke

1 Natalie Coughlin USA 28.49 NR
2 Sandra Volker GER 28.51
3 Antje Buschschulte GER 28.66
4 Dyana Calub AUS 28.74 NR
5 Haley Cope USA 28.78
6 Nina Zhivanevskaia ESP 28.83
7 Diana Juliana Mocanu ROM 29.19
8 Hinkelien Schreuder NED 29.22
9 Hanae Ito JPN 29.23
10 Giaan Rooney AUS 29.28
11 Mai Nakamura JPN 29.30
12 Anu Koivisto FIN 29.41
13 Dominique Diezi SUI 29.48
14 Allaksandra Herasimenia BUL 29.50
15 Michelle Lischinsky CAN 29.52
16 Sarah Price GBR 29.57

PRELIMS

Men's 100m Breaststroke

1 Roman Sloudnov RUS 1:00.40
2 Kosuke Kitajima JPN 1:00.95 NR
3 Ed Moses USA 1:01.12
4 Domenico Fioravanti ITA 1:01.29
5 Morgan Knabe CAN 1:01.50 NR
6 Darren Mew GBR 1:01.93
7 Oleg Lisogor UKR 1:02.03
8 Ryosuke Imai JPN 1:02.21
9 Hugues Duboscq FRA 1:02.34
10 Daniel Malek CZE 1:02.38
11 Simon Cowley AUS 1:02.42
12 Jamo Pihlava FIN 1:02.49
13 Karoly Guttler HUN 1:02.50
13 Jose Couto POR 1:02.50
15 Eduardo Aquiles Fischer BRA 1:02.51
16 Maxim Podoprigora AUT 1:02.52
17 Jens Kruppa GER 1:02.54
18 Davide Rummolo ITA 1:02.60
19 Dmitri Komornikov RUS 1:02.62
20 Regan Harrison AUS 1:02.65
21 Vanja Rogulj CRO 1:02.83
22 Elvin Chia MAS 1:02.88
23 Anthony Robinson USA 1:02.98
24 Martin Gustavsson SWE 1:03.33
25 Remo Lutolf SUI 1:03.56
26 Alvaro Fortuny Lopez GUA 1:04.11
27 Raiko Pachel EST 1:04.36
28 Jakob johann Sveinsson ISL 1:04.41
29 Dov Malnik ISR 1:04.71
30 Qiliang Zeng CHN 1:04.93
31 Chi Kin Tam HKG 1:04.94
32 Wickus Nienaber SWZ 1:05.10
33 Vladimir Labzin EST 1:05.15
34 Ansel T Jin A Tam SUR 1:05.24
35 Val Kalmikous USA 1:05.36
36 Shang-hsuan Yang TPE 1:05.60
37 Michael Williamson IRL 1:05.78
38 Malick Fall SEN 1:06.09
39 Cho-yi Chen TPE 1:06.83
40 Jean Luc Razakarivowy MAD 1:07.07
41 Abdul Hafiz Salleh MAS 1:07.20
42 Rainiui Teriipaia TAH 1:07.36
43 Sergey Voytsekhovich UZB 1:07.88
44 Graham Smith BER 1:08.13
45 Baktash Gheidi IRI 1:08.40
46 Andrei Zaharov MKD 1:08.72
47 Guilleemo Heneiqez DOM 1:08.90
48 Chan Wai Ma MAC 1:08.98
48 Khaly Ciss SEN 1:08.98
50 William Kang GUM 1:10.73
51 Onan Thom GUY 1:12.48
52 Khurlee Enkhmandakh MGL 1:14.03
53 Joao Carlos Da s.Paquet Aguiar ANG 1:14.71
53 Zie Ahmed Oyattara CIV 1:14.71
55 Seung gin Lee NMA 1:15.65
56 Alice Shrestha NEP 1:17.11
57 Ganbold Urnultsaikhan MGL 1:17.92
58 Iyad Housheya PLE 1:18.02
59 Dean Palacios NMA 1:18.43
60 Fahd Bayusuf KEN 1:20.73
61 Mamadou Diallo GUI 1:25.29
Bounchanh Khamchanh LAO DNS
Juan Jose Madrigal CRC DNS
Oday Mohammad IRQ DQ

Women's 50m Backstroke

1 Haley Cope USA 28.60 NR
2 Antje Buschschulte GER 28.62
3 Sandra Volker GER 28.72
4 Natalie Coughlin USA 28.77
5 Nina Zhivanevskaia ESP 28.93
6 Mal Nakamura JPN 29.00
7 Diana Juliana Mocanu ROM 29.21
8 Dyana Calub AUS 29.24
9 Hinkelien Schreuder NED 29.29
10 Hanae Ito JPN 29.31
11 Anu Koivisto FIN 29.38
12 Allaksandra Herasimenia BUL 29.44
13 Giaan Rooney AUS 29.46
14 Michelle Lischinsky CAN 29.47
15 Dominique Diezi SUI 29.48
16 Sarah Price GBR 29.49
17 Ilona Hlavackova CZE 29.67
17 Min Ji Shim KOR 29.67
19 Shu Zhan CHN 29.89
20 Louise Oernstedt DEN 29.92
21 Jennifer Carroll CAN 30.02
22 Ekaterina Kibalo RUS 30.04
23 Maria Santos POR 30.29
24 Alenka Kejzar SLO 30.40
25 Ania Gustomelski ISR 30.56
26 Urska Slapsak SLO 30.89
27 Alessandra Cappa ITA 30.95
28 Chin-kuei Yang TPE 31.40
29 Deirdre Hughes ISR 31.41
30 Saida Iskandarova UZB 31.60
31 Chia Hsien Kuan TPE 31.89
32 Ayeisha Collymore TRI 31.90
33 Jacqueline Lim SIN 32.39
34 Valeria Silva PER 32.42
35 Khadisa Ciss SEN 32.60
36 Denyse Tan SIN 32.70
37 Nicole Hayes PLW 32.93
38 Reshma Millet IND 32.97
39 Martinez Perla HON 33.02
40 Xenavee Pangelinan NMA 33.20
41 Weng Tong Cheong CHN 34.13
42 Monika Bakale CGO 34.82
43 Miriam Nakolo KEN 38.01
44 Lasm Meledje CIV 38.23

Men's 200m Butterfly

1 Franck Esposito FRA 1:56.05
2 Michael Phelps USA 1:56.11
3 Tom Malchow USA 1:56.13
4 Takashi Yamamoto JPN 1:57.76
5 Justin Norris AUS 1:57.79
6 Thomas Rupprath GER 1:57.80
7 Anatoli Poliakov RUS 1:58.27
8 Denys Sylantyev UKR 1:58.41
9 Ioan Stefan Gherghel ROM 1:58.71
10 Andrew Livingston PUR 1:58.72
11 Juan J Veloz MEX 1:58.85 NR
12 Christian Galenda ITA 1:59.31
13 Ioannis Drymonakos GRE 1:59.41
14 Tero Valimaa FIN 1:59.77
15 William Kirby AUS 2:00.12
16 Viktor Bodrogi HUN 2:00.54
17 Alessio Boggiatto ITA 2:01.32
18 Xufeng Xie CHN 2:01.37
19 Mickey Halika ISR 2:01.67
20 Simao Morgado POR 2:02.10
21 Hisayoshi Tanaka JPN 2:02.72
22 Dean Kent NZL 2:03.09
23 Zoran Lazarevski MKD 2:03.71
24 Jacob Fraire MEX 2:03.72
25 Jae Hyon Joe KOR 2:03.95
26 Jeong Nam Yu KOR 2:03.96
27 Benjamin Gan SIN 2:04.19
28 Aleksandar Miladinovski MKD 2:04.22
29 Raazik Nordien RSA 2:05.29
30 Georgi Palazov BUL 2:05.31
31 Sergio Moises Cabrera PAR 2:06.51
32 Sergei Rafael De Leon Alfaro GUA 2:06.81
33 Bing-ru Jiang TPE 2:08.73
34 Jul-chen Chen TPE 2:08.97
35 Oleg Lyashko UZB 2:09.90
36 Carlos Melendez ESA 2:11.38
37 Bertrand Bristol SEY 2:12.28
38 Ali Zulfiqar PAK 2:15.78
39 Obaid Ahmed Al Jassimi UAE 2:17.03
40 Zaid Seed IRQ 2:29.74

Men's 800m Freestyle

1 Ian Thorpe AUS 7:52.74
2 Grant Hackett AUS 7:54.22
3 Graeme Smith, GBR 7:56.73 NR
4 Alexei Filipets RUS 7:56.89
5 Chris Thompson USA 7:57.11
6 Shunichi Fujita JPN 7:57.99 NR
7 Andrea Righi ITA 8:00.46
8 Heiko Hell GER 8:00.55
9 Christian Minotti ITA 8:00.70
10 Adam Faulkner GBR 8:01.15
11 Dragos Cristian Coman ROM 8:01.20
12 Igor Chervynskyi USA 8:01.52
13 Masato Hirano JPN 8:01.69
14 Ricardo Monasterio VEN 8:02.19
15 Robert Margalis USA 8:02.39
16 Alexei Boutsenine RUS 8:02.63
17 Nicolas Rostoucher FRA 8:02.92
18 Spyridon Gianniotis GRE 8:07.53
19 Andrew Hurd CAN 8:10.56
20 Shilo Ayalon ISR 8:13.49
21 Shibin Zheng CHN 8:16.57
22 Leonardo Salinas MEX 8:22.63
23 Giancarlo Zolezzi CHI 8:22.79
24 Jorge Carral MEX 8:23.28
25 Kuo Tung Hsu TPE 8:58.48