Leiston Pickett claims Women’s 50m breast-stroke gold: Day two – 2011 Swimming World Cup, Tokyo
Australian breast-stroke star, Leiston Pickett impressed crowd by claiming the title of Women’s 50m breast-stroke final on final day of the 2011 Swimming World Cup in Tokyo, Japan on Sunday, November 13.
Tokyo is the concluding stop of 2011 Swimming World Cup series, organised by the international aquatics sport managing body, Federation Internationale de Natation (FINA).
Pickett qualified as the second best swimmer into the final behind her team-mate, Olivia Halicek. The 19-year-old Australian experienced strong resistance from her team-member, Halicek and Korea’s Hye Jin Kim in the final round.
Halicek entered the final round with a top ranked time of 30.81 seconds while Pickett clocked a time of 31.01 seconds for second best berth. Unlike the preliminary rounds, Pickett looked evidently strong for the top spot in playoff.
She had a wonderful start that placed her slightly ahead of her competitors. Pickett’s unimaginably strong stroke and tremendous efforts played a vital role in her victory. With her commendable efforts, she kept on enhancing her lead over her opponents.
Pickett sprinted her way towards the finishing wall with a phenomenal time of 30.28 seconds. She remained 1.48 seconds slower from improving the world record of 28.80 seconds, made by Jessica Hardy of USA in 2009.
The gold medallist was trailed by Kim, who was just 0.14 seconds slower than Pickett and reached the podium for silver medal with a superb timing of 30.42 seconds. Similarly, Kim was followed by Halicek, who failed to sustain her fastest spot in the final round and ended third.
In the meantime, Halicek remained 0.29 seconds slower than her former finisher and clocked a nice time 30.71 seconds for bronze medal. She was trailed by Mina Matsushima of Japan, who also stayed 0.29 seconds behind and ended fourth in a time of 31.00 seconds.
The arena applauded for irresistible swims of all participants, who tried their best to secure a podium finish in the Women’s discipline. In addition, the session ended after the completion of 50m event while the winners were called upon the medal rostrum for their outstanding efforts and awarded accolades after the conclusion of session.
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