Speedo athletes shine in world tiff

MANILA, Philippines - The 14th FINA World Championships came to a thrilling climax in Shanghai, China recently, marking the end of a golden week of swimming for Speedo-sponsored athletes and teams.

The “Best Male Swimmer” award for the championships went to Speedo sponsored USA swimmer Ryan Lochte, who secured his fifth gold medal in the 400m Individual Medley in a time of 4:07.13 to cap a memorable week in Shanghai. Earlier in the championships, Lochte achieved a world record in the 200m Individual Medley, reinforcing his position as one of the most outstanding competitors in swimming.

Elsewhere within Team Speedo USA, Michael Phelps won in the 100m butterfly race with a time of 50.71. While delighted to claim the medal, Michael immediately set his sights on even better performances to come: “I want to be faster. I will work on my next game. I will watch some races and think about that, how I can be faster.” 

Michael later swam as part of Team Speedo USA’s 4x100m Medley Relay team to secure his fourth gold medal of the championships following successes in the 200m butterfly and the 4x200m freestyle relay.

A second record breaking swim was achieved by Team Speedo China’s Yang Sun on the final day of competition as he smashed the 10-year-old world record in the 1500m freestyle with a time of 14:34.14. The result marked Sun’s second gold of the week, having already won the 800m freestyle event.

Sun’s phenomenal achievement capped a fine week for Team Speedo China, which enjoyed a number of successes in front of a passionate home crowd. Ye Shiwen collected gold in the women’s 200m Individual Medley, which was followed by a women’s 100m freestyle triumph courtesy of Zhao Jing. Jiao Liuyang completed the quartet of Chinese gold medallists following the women’s 200m butterfly.

The week got underway with success for the Speedo sponsored Netherlands team in the 4x100m freestyle relay. Team Speedo USA dominated the race with Speedo-sponsored Natalie Coughlin first in the water and making impressive headway at the first lap. The race looked like it belonged to the USA until Speedo-sponsored Femke Heemskerk took the last lap for Netherlands team and touched the wall with a time of 3:33.96.

Despite settling for silver in that race, there was plenty to cheer for the Speedo-sponsored USA women. Dana Vollmer topped the podium on the third day of swimming in the women’s 100m butterfly, with Melissa Franklin, Jessica Hardy and Elizabeth Beisel each taking gold in the 200m backstroke, 50m breaststroke and 400m individual medley, respectively. The USA also emerged victorious in the women’s 4x200m freestyle and 4x100 medley events.