World record for Bovell
trinidadexpress.com
...sets new 200m IM mark at NCAA Championships
By MARK POUCHET
IT WAS double the pleasure and double the joy for Trinidad and Tobago's star swimmer George Bovell III yesterday on the first night of the the three-day National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1 Men's Swimming and Diving Championships.
In front of a packed audience—which included his father George, mother Barbara, local coach Anil Roberts, family friend Christian Maingot and former national swimmers Shawn and Franz Pouchet—at the Nassau County Aquatic Center, the Athens-bound athlete helped set a world best time in the 200m freestyle relay, then smashed the world mark and successfully defended his title when he posted a very quick 1:53.93 in his pet event, the 200-metre individual medley (IM).
In the first final of the night, Bovell led off in a blistering 21.40 seconds to set the tone for the rest of the race, which saw his teammates Derek Gibb, Ryan Wochomurka and Fred Bousquet bring it home in 1:23.75, which is a world best, a new NCAA record, and a new US Open mark, beating the previous time of 1:24.83 set by the 2000 Auburn squad.
California were second (1:24.99) and Stanford and Arizona tied for third (1:25.69).
Then in the main event, the 200 IM finals, the T&T standout swimmer finished like a train to smash the old mark.
That time was much better than the efforts of Finland's Jani Sievinen, who first established the mark in 1994 in his homeland, and Hungary's Atilla Czene, who tied it in the 2000 NCAA championships in Minneapolis, are were co-holders of the world mark of 1:54.65.
In the morning heats, T&T's Pan Am Games four-time medallist barely missed the mark with his 1:54.68 that was easily better than the effort of 2002 NCAA IM champion, Markus Rogan from Stanford (1:56.78), in the sixth and final heat of that race.
That time was a mere three-hundredths of a second off the world mark.
In the previous heat, Florida's Ryan Lochte, ranked second coming into the NCAAs, stayed true to his rank, registering a 1:56.49 with Bovell's Auburn University teammate Eric Shanteau coming in behind him in 1:56.63 for third overall.
But everyone in the stands watched on as Bovell split the fly 25.82, the back in 28.22, the breast in 33.44 to be ahead of world record pace at the three-quarter mark, before finishing the final freestyle leg in 27.20 to just miss out on the mark.
"I had no idea I was below the record pace," George told the Express as he received a massage after the 200m IM prelims swim. "Had I known, I would have sprinted that last free leg."
Asked if he had something in the tank for the evening finals, Bovell said: "If I don't get it, I'll never forgive myself, so I'm going to try very, very hard."
At the end of the night, Bovell needed no self pity.
Previous world marks for 200m IM
Jani Sievinen FIN 1:54.65 (25.92, 55.08, 1:27.88, 1:54.65 )26 April 21, 1994 Kuopio, FIN
Atilla Czene HUN 1:54.65 (25.34, 53.84 , 1:26.93 ,1:54.65) equalled March 23, 2000 Minneapolis, USA
New world record for 200m IM
George Bovell III TRI 1:53.93 (25.64, 53.93, 1:26.92) March 25, Long Island, 2004 |
