Spofforth Swims Under World Record Pace in 100 Back at World Championships
Monday, July 27, 2009 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Three broken UF records for Gator swimmers Gemma Spofforth, Shaune Fraser and Marco Loughran set the tone for a successful second day of FINA World Championship swimming Monday in Italy.
After swimming to a first-place finish in prelims of the 100-meter back (58.78), setting a Championship Record, Spofforth advanced to the evening session in Rome, racing to an even quicker 58.74 to finish second in semifinals under World Record pace and earn a trip to the Tuesday final of the event. Spofforth's mark was additionally a UF record. Spofforth, representing Great Britain, topped second-place prelims finisher, Anastasia Zueva of Russia, in the morning session, but was out-touched by Zueva in semifinals. The two will clash Tuesday in finals of the event.
Senior Shaune Fraser, representing Cayman at Worlds, swam two UF record-breaking races in the 200-meter freestyle, finishing 11th (1:46.89) in prelims and 10th (1:46.44) overall in semifinals, narrowly missing the eight-man final showdown.
“We are pretty pleased overall with our performances today,” head coach Gregg Troy said. “We're a little disappointed that Shaune didn't make top eight in the 200 free, but he lowered his time and had a good swim to finish 10th. Gemma was under World Record pace, finishing second in semifinals of her event and gets a chance to swim again tomorrow. Overall, we had some really good swims and we're happy with everyone's performance today.”
Spofforth's British teammate, Loughran, finished 24th in prelims of the 100-meter back (54.61), while several Gator newcomers also made their marks in Rome. Sarra Lajnef swam prelims of the 100-meter breast alongside Eva Lehtonen and sophomore-to-be Daniela Victoria, with Lehtonen finishing 38th, Lajnef finishing 44th and Victoria taking 57th.
Joining Fraser in the 200-meter free, younger brother Brett Fraser and incoming Gator Pholien Systermans finished 24th and 39th, respectively, while Anna-Liisa Pold (55th; 1:04.14) and Omar Pinzon (30th; 54.97) swam the 100-meter backstroke prelims.
The 13th FINA World Championships continue Tuesday. Morning sessions are scheduled to take place from 9-12:30 p.m. local time in Rome (3-5:30 a.m. ET), while finals span from approximately 6-8:30 p.m. (12-2:30 p.m. ET). Gator fans can follow swimming sessions live from the Stadio del Nuoto through the Omega Live Timing website here. For more information on the 2009 FINA World Swimming Championships, click here.
Fans in the United States can follow all of the action from the World Championships on NBC and Universal Sports. NBC will broadcast the final two days of the meet on August 1 and 2 from 12 – 2 p.m. EDT. Universal Sports will broadcast the remainder of the competition (July 27-July 31) at both 12 p.m. and 7 p.m. EDT. A webcast of the World Championships will also be available online at www.universalsports.com.
EVENING SESSION RESULTS
Women's 100-meter backstroke (semifinals)
Gemma Spofforth (Great Britain), 2nd, 58.74, Florida Record (advances to finals)
Men's 200-meter freestyle (semifinals)
Shaune Fraser (Cayman), 10th, 1:46.44, Florida Record
MORNING SESSION RESULTS
Women's 100-meter backstroke
Gemma Spofforth (Great Britain), 1st, 58.78, Championship Record (advances to semifinals)
Anna-Liisa Pold (Estonia), 55th, 1:04.14
Men's 200-meter freestyle
Shaune Fraser (Cayman), 11th, 1:46.89, Florida Record (advances to semifinals)
Brett Fraser (Cayman), 24th, 1:48.18
Pholien Systermans (Belgium), 39th, 1:49.03
Women's 100-meter breaststroke
Eva Lehtonen (Finland), 38th, 1:10.28
Sarra Lajnef (Tunisia), 41st, 1:10.60
Daniela Victoria (Venezuela), 57th, 1:11.70
Men's 100-meter backstroke
Marco Loughran (Great Britain), 24th, 54.61, Florida Record
Omar Pinzon (Colombia), 30th, 54.97
-UF-
