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Olympic Swimming Recaps: 24 July (Day 5)

Men's 200m Breaststroke/Finals

Hungary Finishes One-Two

Norbert ROZSA (HUN), the silver medalist in Barcelona, returned to the Olympic finals and added a gold medal to his collection. ROZSA, the 1994 world champion in the event, missed the finals of the 100m breaststroke and tonight was his last opportunity to earn a medal in his specialty. He swam a first place time of 2:12.57. Karoly GUTTLER (HUN), the fastest qualifier in the preliminaries, finished second with a time of 2:13.03. GUTTLER returned to the awards podium after an eight-year absence. He won a bonze medal in 1988 and failed to medal in Barcelona. Andrey KORNEYEV (RUS) finished third at 2:13.17. The one-two finish for Hungary represented the first gold and silver medals won by that country in the swimming competition. Nick GILLINGHAM (GBR), 2:14.37; Philip ROGERS (AUS), 2:14.79; Marek KRAWCZYK (POL), 2:14.84; Eric WUNDERLICH (USA), 2:15.69; Kurt GROTE (USA), 2:16.05 rounded out the field. Gold, Norbert ROZSA (HUN), 2:12.57; Silver, Karoly GUTTLER (HUN), 2:13.03; Bronze, Andrey KORNEYEV (RUS), 2:13.17

"I feel really good because I didn't do as well in the 100m race," stated ROZSA. "I was a little bummed out, but I'm very happy that I could recuperate and everything went well. This was the only gold medal missing from my collection. I'm very happy."


Women's 200m Individual Medley/Final

Smith Three for Three

The story of the 1996 Olympics has been the performance of Michelle SMITH (IRL). She had never finished higher than 26th in Olympic competition, and now at age 26, has captured her third gold medal, winning every event she entered. Smith swam a national record time of 2:13.93 in the 200m individual medley to take the gold medal. A close second was the 1992 Olympic champion and world record holder LIN Li of China. LIN was clocked at 2:14.74 well below her world record time of 2:11.65, which she set in Barcelona. Marianne LIMPERT (CAN), the fastest qualifier in the preliminaries, collected the bronze in a national record time of 2:14.35. The remainder of the field and their order of finish included, Joanne MALAR (CAN), 2:15.30; Elli OVERTON (AUS), 2:16.04; Allison WAGNER (USA), 2:16.43; Minouche SMIT (NED), 2:16.73; Louise KARLSSON (SWE), 2:17.25. Gold, Michelle SMITH (2:13.93), Silver, Marianne LIMPERT (CAN), 2:14.35; Bronze LIN Li (CHN), 2:14.74.

"I considered not swimming this event yesterday because I have a 200m butterfly in two days, " stated SMITH. "I decided to swim the heats this morning; and when I saw that the times were not that spectacular, I thought I had a good chance and that I should go for it."


Men's100m Butterfly/Final

PANKRATOV Sets World Record

A Russian swimmer had never won gold in this event in Olympic history. Denis PANKRATOV, (RUS) did just that and did it in style. Famous for his 30m swim under water start, PANKRSTOV won the gold medal by breaking his own world record(52.32) with a time of 52.27. The gold was the second of this Olympics for PANKRATOV. He also won the 200m butterfly. Scott MILLER (AUS), who set the Olympic record during the qualifying heats (52.89), swam faster in the finals clocked at 52.53. Vladislav KULIKOV (RUS), placed third at 53.13. The remainder of the field and their order of finish included, JIANG Chengji (CHN), 53.20, NR/AR; Rafal SZUKALA (POL), 53.29, NR; Michael KILM (AUS), 53.30; Stephen CLARKE (CAN), 53.33, NR; Pavlo KHNYKIN (UKR), 53.58. Gold, Denis PANKRATOV (RUS), 52.27, WR/OR; Silver, Scott MILLER (AUS), 52.53, NR/AR; Bronze, Vladislav KULIKOV (RUS), 53.13.

"Everything happened the way I thought it would," stated PANKRATOV. "I was ready for it, I worked for it, and that's what happened."


Women's 4 X 100 Medley Relay/Final

United States Continues to Dominate Relays

Four gold medals have been awarde in relay competition and the United States has collected all four. The foursome of Beth BOTSFORD, Amanda BEARD, Angel MARTINO, and Amy van DYKEN blew away the rest of the competition by almost 10 meters with a time of 4:02.88. Australia, behind Nicole STEVENSON, Samantha RILEY, Susan O'NEILL, and Sarah RYAN was second at 4:05.08; The Chinese squad of CHEN Yan, HAN Xue, CAI Huijue and SHAN Ying was third at 4:07.34. The order of finish by the remainder of the field was South Africa (4:08.16) NR/AR; Canada (4:08.29); Germany (4:09.22); Russia (4:10.56); Italy (4:10.59) Gold, (USA), 4:02.88; Silver, (AUS), 4:05.08; Bronze, (CHN), 4:07.34.

"I knew we were going to win relay medals but we've done alot better than I thought individually, stated MATINO. "Our team as a whole is really stepping forward and showing the world that we really are the best swimming nation in the world."


Medal Standings After Day 05

United States - Gold (8), Silver (8), Bronze (2), Total (18)

Germany - Gold (0), Silver (3), Bronze (5), Total (8

Australia - Gold (0), Silver (2), Bronze (4), Total (6)

Russia - Gold (3), Silver (1), Bronze (2), Total (6)

Peoples Republic of China - Gold (1), Silver (2), Bronze (2), Total (5)

Hungary - Gold (1), Silver (1), Bronze (2), Total (4)

Ireland - Gold (3), Silver (0), Bronze (0), Total (3)

South Africa - Gold (2), Silver (0), Bronze (1), Total (3)

Brazil - Gold (0), Silver (1), Bronze (1), Total (2)

Canada - Gold (0), Silver (1), Bronze (1), Total (2)

Cuba - Gold (0), Silver (1), Bronze (1), Total (2)

New Zealand - Gold (2), Silver (0), Bronze (0), Total (2)

Belgium - Gold (1), Silver (0), Bronze (0), Total (1)

Costa Rica - Gold (1), Silver (0), Bronze (0), Total (1)

Netherlands - Gold (0), Silver (0), Bronze (1), Total (1)

Sweden - Gold (0), Silver (1), Bronze (0), Total (1)

Great Britain - Gold (0), Silver (1), Bronze (0), Total (1)


Men's 200m Breaststroke/Preliminaries

Wide Open Final

The 1992 silver medalist Norbert ROZSA (HUN) and the 1992 bronze medalist Nick GILLINGHAM (GBR) have returned to the men's 200m final. They will be chasing Karoly GUTTLER (HUN) who qualified with the fastest time of 2:13.89 ROZSA swam the fourth fastest time at 2:14.66, while GILLINGHAM was fifth, clocked at 2:14.96. Andrey KORNEYEV (RUS), Kurt GROTE (USA), and Philip ROGERS (AUS) are also considered strong medal contenders. KORNEYEV was the second fastest qualifier at 2:14.11. GROTE was just behind swimming a 2:14.63, while ROGERS clocked the sixth fastest time of 2:14.97. The remainder of the field consists of Marek KRAWCZYK (POL), 2:15.17 and Eric WUNDERLICH (USA), 2:15.18.


Women's 200m Individual Medley/Preliminaries

LIN Looking to Repeat

China's LIN Li, the 1992 gold medalist, is in position to become the first women in Olympic history to be a repeat winner in this event. LIN set both the world record and Olympic records (2:11.65) in Barcelona. Two Canadians Marianne LIMPERT and Joanne MALAR, along with Allison WAGNER (USA) and Elli OVERTON (AUS) will challenge LIN. LIMPERT qualified with the fastest time of 2:15.12. Ireland's Michelle SMITH has also qualified for her third Olympic final. Already with two gold medals, a medal by SMITH in this event will allow her to be the first female swimmer to collect three medals in 1996. Minouche SMIT (NED) completes the field with the third fastest time of 2:16.30.


Men's 100m Butterfly/Preliminaries

Stage set for PANKRATOV-MILLER Final

Denis PANKRATOV (RUS), the world record holder in this race (52.32) and Scott MILLER (AUS), who has swam the fastest time in 1996 (52.56). Miller is currently ranked number one in the world while PANKRATOV is number two. Tonight they will have their chance to who really is number one. MILLER swam the fastest qualifying time of 52.89 just 0.07 seconds ahead of PANKRATOV. Completing the fastest final in swimming history will be Pavlo KHNYKIN (UKR), 53.25, NR; JIANG Chengji (CHN), 53.40, AR,NR; Stephen CLARK (CAN), 53.42, NR; Rafal SZUKALA (POL), 53.41; Michael KLIM (AUS), 53.42; Vladislav KULIKOV (RUS), 53.54.


Women's 4 X 100m Medley Relay/Preliminaries

United States Could win Fourth Relay Gold

Only two nations have ever won this event: East Germany and the United States. The Americans have six golds while East Germany has won three in a race which became an Olympic event in 1960. The United States will be heavily favored tonight. They qualified three full seconds ahead of the rest of the field in the qualifying heats. The United States was clocked at 4:05.80. Australia (4:08.87) and Germany (4:08.95) are the only teams which may have an outside shot at upsetting the United States this evening. The remainder of the field includes China (4:09.23), South Africa (4:09.47), AR/NR, Canada (4:09.50), Italy (4:10.57), and Russia (4:10.65). If the United States wins gold, it will be the fourth in Atlanta.


Women's 800m Freestyle Preliminaries

EVANS Reaches Third 800m Final

A sigh of relief could be heard by the 15,000 spectators at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center when the score board flashed the eight finalists for the 800m freestyle. Janet EVANS name was on the board but with the sixth fastest time. Failing to qualify for the 400m freestyle, EVANS finished third in her heat with a mark of 8:38.08. Brooke BENNETT (USA) was the top qualifier (8:32.38) followed by the German duo of Dagmar HASE (8:33.55) and Kerstin KIELGASS (8:36.33). Sarah HARDCASTLE (GBR), 8:37.54, Irene DALBY (8:37.73) and a pair of swimmers for the Netherlands, Kirsten VLIEGHUIS (8:39.73) and Carla Louise GEURTS (8:39.85) complete the field. If EVANS wins the gold in Thursday nights final, she will become the first women in OLYMPIC history to win three gold medals in the same event. Krisztina EGERSZEGI (HUN) is attempting to do the same in the 200m backstroke. Prelims and finals for the 200m backstroke will also be held on Thursday.


This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department.


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