By John Lohn
Photos by Peter H. Bick
MONTREAL, Canada, July 29. THERE’S nothing he can’t do in the backstroke events. Furthering his already spectacular resume, Aaron Peirsol lowered his own world record in the 200-meter backstroke on Friday night, taking gold at the World Champs in 1:54.66. The overwhelming favorite, Peirsol’s former record stood at 1:54.74, set at last summer’s United States Olympic Trials.
Peirsol was under world-record pace during the entire race, building a sizable advantage over the opposition. The crown was Peirsol’s third consecutive world title in the event and complemented his earlier triumph in the 100 back. Training with Longhorn Aquatics, Peirsol has the six-fastest times in history and three under 1:55.
In a repeat of his Olympic showing in Athens, Austria’s Markus Rogan picked up the silver medal. Rogan, who competed collegiately for Stanford, turned on the power during the latter half of the race and caught American Ryan Lochte at the wall. Lochte earned the bronze medal, the same hardware he won on Thursday night in the 200 individual medley. Rogan was timed in 1:56.63 while Lochte checked in at 1:57.00.
Romania’s Razvan Florea, who won bronze in Athens, finished fourth. Florea nearly passed Lochte, but ended in 1:57.03. He was followed by Japan’s Takashi Nakano (1:58.03), Croatia’s Gordan Kozulj (1:58.28), Russia’s Arkady Vyatchanin (1:59.02) and Japan’s Tomomi Morita (1:59.34).
