FLASH!! Komornikov Breaks the World Record in the 200m Breaststroke

By Phillip Whitten

BARCELONA, June 14. RUSSIA'S Dmitri Komornikov, 22, set a world record in the 200 meter breaststroke today at the Mare Nostrum meet in Barcelona with a time of 2:09.52 on Saturday.

Komornikov's time betters the old record of 2:09.97 set by Kosuke Kitajima of Japan at the Asian Games in Busan, South Korea, last October.

Komornikov's splits:
Cumulative: 30.11 – 1:03.35 – 1:36.65 – 2:09.52
By 50s: 30.11 – 33.24 – 33.30 – 32.87.

"I went fast in the first 100 meters and as I was feeling good I decided to maintain the rhythm," Komornikov said. "I wasn't thinking about breaking the world record, though."

Komornikov's swim was not entirely a surprise, however. Only last Tuesday he set a new European record of 2:10.39 at the Mare Nostrum stop in Monte Carlo.

For more than ten years, Mike Barrowman's global standard of 2:10.16 from the 1992 Barcelona Olympics stood alone, untouchable, impervious to every challenge. For almost a decade there were few swims under 2:12 and none under 2:11. Then Ed Moses popped a few 2:10s, opening the door to 2000 Olympic champion, Domenico Fioravanti and 2001 world champion Brendan Hansen. Then, last fall, Kitajima made the big breakthrough, as he erased Barrowman's mark and busted through the 2:10 barrier.

With his swim today, Komornikov has raised the stakes and helped set the stage for next month's battle at the World Championships, where the 200m breaststroke should be one of the highlights of the meet.

Other events
The remaining events consisted of the 50s and 200s of each stroke, the 200 IM, the men's 800 and the women's 1500.

The 50s saw some fast sprinting. For the women, Finland's fast-rising Hanna Seppala won in 25.56, edging Holland's Marleen Veldhuis, 25.64. Third went to Austria's 33 year-old Judith Draxler, who punched in at 25.72.

Nina Zhivanevskaya, the Spaniard-turned-Russian, edged the Czech Republic's Ilona Hlavackova in the 50m back, 28.72 to 28.80.

Britain's Zoe Baker sped to the world's fastes 50 breast this year, as she touched in 31.38. Italy's Roberta Crescentini was second in a NR 31.80, while Russia's Elena Bogomazova followed in 31.89.

Slovakia's greatest athlete, Martina Moravcova, took the 50 fly in 26.46, with Spain's Angela San Juan precisely a half second behind.

Martina also emerged victorious in the 200 free with a 1:59.82, just hanging on to nip fast-closing Brit, Melanie Marshall, who touched in 1:59.91. Australia's Kasey Giteau notched another PR, finishing third in 2:00.81.

Sixteen year-old Russian Stanislava Komarova clocked a fine 2:11.50 to defeat Denmark's Louise Ornstedt (2:14.99) in the 200 back.

Hungary's Eva Risztov took the 200 fly in 2:09.16, about two seconds faster than Maria Pelaez of Spain, at 2:11.30

Olympic champion Yana Klochkova, Ukraine, served notice that she plans on regaining her World Championship crown in the 200 IM, as she clocked a world-leading 2:13.37, easily defeating Romania's Beatrice Coada-Caslaru (2:16.86).

On the men's side, the Czar — Alex Popov — won the 50 free in a breeze, as his 22.22-second effort was well clear of Britain's Mark Foster, the short course WR-holder, who followed in 22.87 with Algeria's Salim Iles third (23.00). Popov looks ready to pop a 49-low in the 100.

Foster, however, was undismayed, as he came roaring back to win the 50 fly in 23.87, well ahead of Finland's Jere Hard, at 24.31.

David Ortega gave the home crowd something to chher about, as he took the 50 back in 25.93.

The 50 breast saw Britain's James Gibson out-duel WR-holder Oleg Lisogor, 27.71 to the Ukrainian's 27.96.

The 200 fly was the day's most exciting race, as Russia's Anatoli Poliakov made it to the wall first in 1:57.45, five-hundredths ahead of Britain's Stephen Parry. Romania's Ioan Gherghel, who won the 200 yard fly for Alabama at the last two NCAA Championships, was third in 1:57.85.

The 200 IM was close as well, with Romania's Cezar badita touching first in 2:03.06, followed by Hungary's Istvan Bathazi (2:03.72) and France's Xavier Marchand (2:03.79).

Holland's Pieter van den Hoogenband recorded the fastest 200 free of the day, 1:48.36 in the prelims. He scratched the finals, however, leaving the race to the Czech Republic's Kvetoslav Svoboda in 1:50.59.

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