Hye Ra Choi dominates Women’s 200m IM: Day one – 2011 Swimming World Cup, Singapore
Hye Ra Choi of Korea proved her talent by dominating the final round of Women’s 200m Individual Medley (IM) on the opening day of the 2011 Swimming World Cup Series in Singapore on Friday, November 4.
The Singapore World Cup is fifth of the seven-stop series, organised by the international aquatics sport governing body, Federation Internationale de Natation (FINA).
Choi qualified as the fifth best finalist into the 200m playoff, but the Korean showed her eagerness towards the gold crown by overwhelming her competitors in the final.
The 20-year-old Choi experienced strong competition from Tomoyo Fukuda of Japan in the initial lap of the event, where the Japanese remained prominent for the title by clocking a time of 28.42 seconds. She was followed by Choi, who was just 0.03 seconds slower than Fukuda and covered the same distance in 28.45 seconds.
The arena turned wild with the neck-to-neck efforts of both swimmers. Nevertheless, Choi escaped the reach of her strongest rival in the second-lap, where she completed her first round in a time of 1 minute and 00.54 seconds. She was trailed by Fukuda, who posted 1 minute and 00.79 seconds while Australia’s Ellen Fullerton surfaced third with an effort of 1 minute and 01.39 seconds.
Choi cemented her place for the top finish in the third-lap by reporting a time of 1 minute and 38.16 seconds. She was chased by Fukuda and Fullerton, who engaged each other in a stiff battle by producing 1:39.39 and 1:39.63 minutes, respectively.
With her stupendous efforts, Choi continued her reign in the final-lap of the swim. She completed her lap in a time of 30.24 seconds to post 2 minutes and 08.40 seconds for gold medal.
In the meantime, Fullerton managed to overpower Fukuda’s effort and clocked a time of 2 minutes and 09.81 seconds for silver medal. The podium was completed by Fukuda, who submitted a time of 2 minutes and 09.89 seconds for bronze medal.
The session ended after scintillating efforts of all position holders whereas the championship will conclude on November 5 after the completion of all swimming events in Men's and Women's category..
Tags: