Chad Le Clos captures Men’s 100m IM gold: Day one – 2011 Swimming World Cup, Singapore
Short Course butterfly world champion, Chad Le Clos of South Africa continued his winning streak by capturing the title of Men’s 100m Individual Medley (IM) on first day of the 2011 Swimming World Cup Series in Singapore on Friday, November 4.
The Singapore World Cup is the third last stage of seven-stop series, organised by Federation Internationale de Natation (FINA), which is the international aquatics sport governing body.
Markus Rogan of Austria was the top contender for gold medal while Le Clos qualified as the second finest swimmer into the final round. Nevertheless, the South African swimmer geared up his efforts in the playoff and devastated hopes of his competitors by winning the gold medal of the IM discipline.
With the participation of Australian comeback king, Ian Thorpe in the 100m IM, the event was one of the crucial events of the two-day Singapore competition.
Le Clos gained a significant lead over his competitors in the first half of the race, as he clocked a time of 23.99 seconds in the first round. He was trailed by Kyle Richardson of Australia, who covered the same distance in 24.35 seconds. Omar Pinzon of Columbia remained prominent for third position as he ended his initial round in 24.47 seconds.
Meanwhile, Richardson demonstrated his smothering efforts in the final round, where he completed his second half of the race in a fastest time of 29.05 seconds. His effort in the second half was 0.02 seconds faster than Le Clos’s 29.07 seconds effort, but the Australian failed to elevate to the top finishing spot.
Le Clos’s magnificent effort in the first half played a vital role in placing him on the top of podium, as he reported a time of 53.06 seconds for gold medal. Richardson remained 0.34 seconds slower than him and submitted 53.40 seconds for gold medal. The third spot was secured by Pinzon, who posted a time of 53.78 seconds for bronze medal.
On the other hand, Thorpe met the expectations of his fans by finishing seventh with a timing of 56.33 seconds. Furthermore, the crowd appreciated superb efforts of all podium finishers while the session ended after the completion of 100m event.
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