Flash! World Champs, Day 2 Evening Session: Schoeman Takes Gold in 50 Butterfly with World-Record Time

By John Lohn
Photos by Peter H. Bick

MONTREAL, Canada, July 25. HE did it again. A night after slashing the world record in the 50-meter butterfly, South Africa’s Roland Schoeman took the event to a new level on Monday night, as he won the championship race in 22.96. The swim made Schoeman the first man in history to crack the 23-second barrier and lowered his day-old standard of 23.01.

A triple-event medalist at last summer’s Olympic Games in Athens, Schoeman is a major threat to win gold in the 50 and 100 freestyle events at the World Champs. At last summer’s Olympics, Schoeman played a key role as the Springboks won gold in the 400 free relay and established a world record.

Ian Crocker, who entered the week as the world-record holder, delivered the finest effort his career, clocking in at 23.12. Crocker had a previous best of 23.30. The University of Texas product, however, couldn’t keep pace down the stretch of the one-lap sprint and settled for the silver medal. Certainly, though, the result bodes well for Crocker’s 100 fly later in the meet. Crocker is the defending world champ and world-record holder in that event.

The Ukraine’s Sergiy Breus claimed the bronze medal with a mark of 23.38, as he finished just ahead of South Africa’s Ryk Neethling (23.48). Brazil’s Fernando Scherer took fifth place in 23.74 and was followed by Russia’s Evgeny Korotyshkin (23.84), Croatia’s Duje Draganja (23.96) and Canada’s Mike Mintenko (23.99).

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