Paul Smith Nets Masters World Record in Flying Visit Down Under

By Stephen J. Thomas

HOBART, Australia, April 13. COLORADO Masters swimmer Paul Smith made some waves at the Hobart Aquatic Centre where he took in a few races at the AUSSI Masters (LCM) Nationals during a short vacation Down Under. Smith, who has just moved up to the 45-49 age group, blasted 25.94 for the 50-meter butterfly to trim .18 off Paul Carter’s 2002 mark. Smith (pictured in warm-up mode) still holds the 40-44 global standard for this event at 25.87.

After the race AUSSI masters officials approached our popular visitor and explained it was an Australian requirement that all swimmers breaking a world record must submit a urine sample and promptly offered Smith an empty water bottle. Our Colorado-based visitor was a little perplexed but kindly accepted the request only to see his wife Laura breaking up into laughter – the date after all was April 1st!

Overall Smith produced some world-class swims despite complaining of a chronic shoulder problem that may need surgery in the near future.

"We enjoyed our quick visit to Australia, everyone we met was incredibly friendly and we hope to rekindle some of the new friendships we made next year in Stanford," Smith told SwimInfo.

Just what Masters Swimming is all about.

For all results from the 2005 AUSSI Nationals go to:

www.aussimasters.com.au/html/national_swim_2005.html

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