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MANCHESTER (England), April 13: Ryan Lochte and Kirsty Coventry hoisted the world record tally to 11 at the World Short-course swimming championships on Saturday before Netherlands made it a dozen in the women’s 4x100 metres freestyle relay.
Lochte won his 100 metres individual medley semi-final in 51.25 seconds to better the 51.52 mark set by Ryk Neethling of South Africa in New York on Feb 11, 2005.
It was Lochte’s third world record of the championships following the U.S. 4x100 freestyle relay and 200 individual medley. He has also retained the 400 individual medley crown.
Zimbabwe’s Coventry, with two world records already secured, broke the women’s 200 metres individual medley world mark to collect her fourth gold medal of the championships.
She clocked two minutes 06.13 seconds to beat the 2:07.79 set by Allison Wagner of the U.S. at the inaugural world short-course championships in Palma de Mallorca on Dec. 5, 1993, the oldest record in the book.
Coventry has now won the 100 and 200 backstroke, 200 and 400 individual medley and the bronze in the 100 individual medley.
Netherlands broke their own women’s 4x100 freestyle relay mark when Hinkelien Schreuder, Femke Heemskerk, Inge Dekker and Marleen Veldhuis clocked three minutes 29.42 seconds to beat the 3:30.85 the Dutch team set in Eindhoven on Dec. 9, 2007.
THIRD GOLD
The U.S. had earlier collected the first two titles of the fourth day of the five-day championships, thanks to Jessica Hardy and Peter Marshall.
Hardy claimed her third gold with victory in the women’s 100 breaststroke to add a championship record 1:04.22 to her world records in the 50 breaststroke and 4x100 medley relay.—Reuters
