Australia stunned the US at the world championships’ men’s 4x100m relay as Michael Phelps got off to a slow start.
James Magnussen had the better of Phelps in the first-leg as Australia held off France to finish in 3 minutes and 11 seconds, with the defending champions US ending up third. It was a resounding finish to the first day of pool competition after China sealed a 10-title diving sweep and South Korea’s Park Tae-Hwan won his 400m freestyle duel with Chinese ace Sun Yang.
The Netherlands defended their women’s 4x100m crown and Italy’s Federica Pellegrini sealed her second 400m freestyle world title.
But it was Australia that stole the show and gave 14-time Olympic gold medallist Phelps something to think about as he embarks on his final year.
China seal sweep
China delivered a magnificent 10-out-of-10 diving performance.
Qiu Bo collected 585.45 points, more than 40 ahead of American David Boudia with Germany’s Sascha Klein taking bronze.
British defending champion Tom Daley, 17, who was competing despite the death of his father, finished fifth.
“There’s a big gap between me and Qiu Bo,” admitted Daley.
Meanwhile, Park sneaked down the outside lane almost unnoticed to win the 400m freestyle shootout.
“I’m glad to swim in lane one, which allowed me to concentrate on my own tempo,” said Park.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 25th, 2011.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ