Lochte Grabs World Record as Member of 800 Free Relay; Finishes Third in 200 Back
Friday, July 31, 2009 | Men's Swimming & Diving
The Gators closed out yet another successful day from the Stadio del Nuoto in Rome, site of the 2009 FINA World Swimming Championships Friday. With two days of competition remaining in the World Championship meet, Ryan Lochte and the U.S. 800 free relay reeled in a gold medal, World Record performance in the event, while Lochte rallied for a bronze medal in the men's 200-meter backstroke, clocking a 1:53.82 to finish third overall. Former Gator Gabriel Mangabeira and rising senior Gemma Spofforth each qualified for finals in their respective events Friday.
“Ryan had a best time in 200-meter backstroke and overall, we had a good day,” head coach Gregg Troy said. “Gemma's 200 backstroke was pretty good and she'll get to swim again tomorrow. All of our athletes continue to do well and we really look forward to the last two days of competition. We'd also like to continue to recognize UF associate head coaches Anthony Nesty and Martyn Wilby. They're over in Rome doing a great job with our athletes.”
After swimming the 200 back, Lochte joined Michael Phelps, Ricky Berens and David Walters to eclipse the World Record in the 800-meter freestyle relay. Lochte swam the second-fastest leg as the anchor, bringing the United States home one hundredth of a second under the World Record. In the same championship heat, incoming freshman Sabastien Rousseau and South Africa finished eighth overall in the 800 free relay.
Mangabeira started the morning off clocking a 51.11 in the 100 fly to qualify for the semifinal, where he maintained a sixth-place seed with his 51.02 swim. Spofforth swam a 2:07.69 in preliminaries of the 200-meter back, finishing second overall behind Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry, who holds the World Record in the event. Spofforth returned Friday evening in Rome to swim a slightly quicker 2:07.64, solidifying a spot in finals with a 5th place semis finish. Both Mangabeira and Spofforth will compete in finals of their events Saturday.
In men's 50-meter freestyle action, five Gators took to the water with junior Brett Fraser (Cayman) leading the way. Fraser swam a 22.80 to place 45th overall, his mark good for a UF record in the race. Fraser was followed by Roberto Gomez (Venezuela) (55th), Raul Martinez (Puerto Rico) (65th) and Rodion Davelaar (90th) in the 50 free.
Joining Mangabeira in the 100 fly, Shaune Fraser (Cayman) and Jose Crescimbeni (Peru) placed 55th and 70th overall with times of 53.07 and 54.08, respectively. Former Gator JB Walsh rounded out the UF competition finishing 96th for the Philippines.
In other individual action, Gator great Dara Torres and current sophomore Jemma Lowe swam prelims of the women's 50-meter butterfly, Torres clocking a 26.41 for the U.S., good for 17th, and Lowe turning in a 26.71 (26th) for Great Britain.
In preliminary relay swimming, incoming freshman Pholien Systermans and sophomore Roberto Gomez swam the men's 800-meter freestyle relay for Belgium and Venezuela, respectively, Systermans and Belgium finishing 14th, Gomez and Venezuela taking 16th.
The final weekend of the 13th FINA World Championships commences Saturday. 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
Men's 200-meter backstroke (finals)
Ryan Lochte (U.S.), 3rd, 1:53.82
Men's 100-meter butterfly (semifinals)
Gabriel Mangabeira (Brazil), 6th, 51.02 (advances to finals)
Women's 200-meter backstroke (semifinals)
Gemma Spofforth (Britain), 3rd, 2:07.64, UF Record (advances to finals)
Men's 800-meter free relay (finals)
Ryan Lochte and teammates (U.S.), 1st, 6:58.55, World Record
Sabastien Rousseau and teammates (South Africa), 8th, 7:08.51
MORNING SESSION RESULTS
Men's 50-meter freestyle
Brett Fraser (Cayman), 45th, 22.80, UF Record
Roberto Gomez (Venezuela), 55th, 22.99
Raul Martinez (Puerto Rico), 65th, 23.38
Rodion Davelaar (Curacao), 90th, 23.79
Women's 50-meter butterfly
Dara Torres (U.S.), 17th, 26.41
Jemma Lowe (Britain), 26th, 26.71
Men's 100-meter butterfly
Gabriel Mangabeira (Brazil), 6th, 51.11 (advances to semifinals)
Shaune Fraser (Cayman), 55th, 53.07
Jose Crescimbeni (Peru), 70th, 54.08
JB Walsh (Philippines), 96th, 56.38
Women's 200-meter backstroke
Gemma Spofforth (Britain), 2nd, 2:07.69, UF Record (advances to semifinals)
Anna-Liisa Pold (Estonia), 37th, 2:17.82
Men's 800-meter free relay
Sabastien Rousseau and teammates (South Africa), 7th, 7:08.01 (advances to finals)
Pholien Systermans and teammates (Belgium), 14th, 7:17.43
Roberto Gomez and teammates (Venezuela), 16th, 7:20.56
-UF-
