Thiago Pereira wins Men’s 200m IM heats: Day four – 2011 FINA World Championships
Thiago Pereira of Brazil dominated the qualifying rounds of Men’s 200m Individual Medley (IM) category, on fourth day of the Federation Internationale de Natation organised 2011 World Championships on Wednesday, July 27, in Shanghai, China.
Pereira earned the top fastest spot of the 200m IM into the semi-finals, by producing a phenomenal time of 1 minute and 57.82 seconds. His time was 3.72 seconds away from the world and championship mark of 1 minute and 54.10 seconds, set by Ryan Lochte at
the 2009 Rome World Championships.
He was followed by Hungarian swimmer, David Verraszto, who remained nearly one second behind him and reported on the finishing wall, with a timing of 1 minute and 58.69 seconds. Kenneth To of Australia was the third best swimmer to qualify into the semi-final,
as he ended his swim in a time of 1 minute and 59.02 seconds.
The arena’s favourite swimmer, Lochte, entered into the semi-finals as the fourth finest qualifier of the 200m event. Lochte stayed only 0.02 seconds behind the third finisher and clocked a time of 1 minute and 59.04 seconds. He was trailed by Austrian swimmer,
Markus Rogan, who was just 0.18 seconds behind him and qualified into the semi-final as the fifth fastest swimmer, with a timing of 1 minute and 59.22 seconds.
Yuya Horihata of Japan was the sixth fastest qualifier, as he completed his race, by posting a time of 1 minute and 59.25 seconds. Vytautas Janusaitis of Lithuania followed Horihata on the finishing wall as the seventh qualifier, by producing a time of 1
minute and 59.43 seconds. Moments later, Michael Phelps of USA claimed the eighth fastest spot of the swim, as he stayed just 0.05 seconds behind and finished his swim in 1 minute and 59.48 seconds.
Pereira was extremely delighted after overwhelming the efforts of the world record holder in the preliminary rounds. His stupendous efforts in the first round have aroused hopes of Brazilian fans, as Pereira is now the top contender to secure the gold medal.
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