FINA World Short Course Championships: Flash! Ryan Lochte Demolishes World Record in 200 IM

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, December 17. AFTER taking down the men's 400 IM world record earlier in the meet, USA's Ryan Lochte added the men's 200 IM global standard to his meet resume at the FINA World Short Course Championships.

Lochte beat Darian Townsend's world record by a body length with a ridiculous time of 1:50.08. That swim demolished Townsend's effort of 1:51.55 set during the Berlin stop of the World Cup last year.

Here are the comparative splits:
Lochte: 24.07, 51.42 (27.35), 1:23.49 (32.07), 1:50.08 (26.59)
Townsend: 23.96, 51.96 (28.00), 1:25.41 (33.45), 1:51.55 (26.14)

Lochte fell behind the world record pace after the butterfly leg, but more than made up for it during his backstroke leg. Then, the key leg in the world record performance came during the breaststroke as he out-split Townsend, 32.07 to 33.45, before coasting home in the freestyle.

Austria's Markus Rogan took second overall in 1:52.90, short of his national record of 1:51.72 set last year, while USA's Tyler Clary grabbed the final podium spot with a bronze-winning effort of 1:53.56.

Brazil's Henrique Rodrigues (1:54.20), Lithuania's Vytautas Janusaitis (1:54.79), Australia's Kenneth To (1:55.64), Austria's Dinko Jukic (1:56.51) and Australia's Tommaso D'Orsogna (1:57.12) participated in the historic swim.

Day Three Finals Results

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