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29 March 2024

Russians steal thunder from the US

Ryan Lochte of the US during the finals of 400m individual medley at the 10th Fina World Swimming Championship (25m) in Dubai on Thursday.(PATRICK CASTILLO)

Published
By Allaam Ousman

American star Ryan Lochte raised the bar at the 10th Fina World Swimming Championship (25m) by claiming a world record in the 400 metre individual medley at the Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Sports Complex on Thursday.

But the Russian quartet of Nikita Lobintsev, Danila Izotov, Evgeny Lagunov and Alexander Sukhorukov stole the thunder on the second day of the competition when they won the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay final in a world record time after a nerve-tingling contest against the Americans to deny Lochte another gold.
It was a thrilling climax to another record-breaking day during which eight Championship marks were eclipsed while United States surged to the top of the leaderboard with four gold medals followed by Russia and Spain who have three golds apiece.
Lochte claimed his 17th short course medal, another record, with a sensational effort in the 400m IM clocking three minutes 55.50 seconds to erase Hungarian Laszlo Cseh’s world record of 3:57.27.
Cseh led the opening leg of the race while Lochte’s team mate Scott Clary edged ahead in the back stroke segment of the medley.
But Lochte who had warmed up for his favourite event by setting a new championship mark of 4:01.76 in the morning, eased past his rivals with powerful breaststrokes before pulling away to record a monumental victory.
“I wasn’t really expecting that. I was going out there, racing the field, and I had no idea where I was during the race. I’m really happy it was a world record,” said Lochte, 26, who had eight gold medals in the short course championship prior to coming here.
Tunisia’s Oussama Mellouli, winner of a bronze in the men’s 200m freestyle on day one, delighted his vocal fans by edging out Clary to win silver while Cseh finished sixth.
“I dedicate this victory my country. It was a very tough competition and this is definitely my best record so far. I’m extremely happy and the crowds are wonderful,” said Mellouli who clocked 3:57.40 just a fraction ahead of Clary (3:57.56).
“It’s almost bittersweet, to get a world record (Lochte) and come third,” said Clary. “It’s absolutely the best I’ve ever swum but Ryan’s having an amazing year and he deserves it.”
Team America appeared to be on a roll with Rebecca Soni winning gold in the women’s 50m breaststroke while Natalie Coughlin beat China’s Zhao Jing and Gao Chang to win the women’s 100m backstroke in a championship record of 56.08 second eclipsing the mark of 56.58 set in the semifinals by Chang.
“I was faster than yesterday but it’s funny doing the 50m because it’s just such a faster tempo (compared to stronger events such as 100m and 200m breaststroke). I definitely knew it was close but I felt better than yesterday and I’m personally very happy. A great 50 metres sets me up nicely for the rest of the meet for the 100 and 200 metre breaststroke as I like it the longer it gets,” said Soni, 23, the record holder in both the shortcourse 100 and 200 metre breaststroke events whose winning time was 29.83.
Coughlin on the other hand was in control throughout the race. “I just tried to keep the momentum going and be fearless in the race. The pads are quite slippery for some reason but I put it all in the pool and tonight I had no hesitation,” said Coughlin.
Their triumph was interrupted by the victorious performance of Russia’s Stanislav Donets (men’s 100m backstroke) and South Africa’s Cameron Van der Burgh (men’s 100m breaststroke) with both setting new championship records.
“After the last turn I noticed on the screen that my head on the same level as the record line. I wanted to break the world… I wanted it too much. But I still had the third best result in the world,” said Donets who clocked 49.07 in the finals bettering his championship record time of 49.62 made in the semifinals.
“This is a great wrap up to the season. It’s been long but a great season and fantastic to at least defend my title as world record holder. Records are meant to be broken but medals last forever and I’ll be the world champion for the next two years,” said Van der Burgh who clocked a new championship mark of 56.80.
Russia clinched their second gold when Evgeny Korotyshkin won the men’s 100m butterfly by one hundredth of a second from Venezuela’s Albert Subirats after clocking 50.23.
“It’s a tough break (losing by .01 of a second) but that’s sport,” said Subirats. “I swam OK… I felt I was tough but I didn’t get the touch. I’m happy with my time, I’m proud of the race I swam but I just wish I’d done enough for the gold.”
The women’s 800m freestyle turned out to be a thriller with France’s Cyrielle Ophelie Etienne, Spain’s Erika Garcia Villaecija and Denmark’s Lotte Friis battling it out for much of the race. But when double gold medallist Mireia Garcia Belmonte made her move in the last 200 metres of the 32-lap race, her team mate hung on but others fell by the wayside although Kate Ziegler of the US took the bronze.
It was the perfect prelude to the high octane contest which followed between the US and Russia for gold in the final event of the day.
Yannick Agnel gave France the lead while Lochte closed the gap for US after doing the second lap. But with Russia’s Izotov, Lagunov and Sukhoroukov setting a scorching pace, the US were always playing catch up though both under the world record mark of 6:51.05. The Russian gold medal quartet in the 4x200m freestyle final clocked 6:49.04 while the US stopped the clock at 6:49.58.