Records fall as body suits ban date set

by John Kenny

The world records kept coming at the World Championships in Rome and FINA - the world swimming's governing body - has finally decided that the new generation body suits will be banned from competition from the 1 January next year.

FINA had announced the ban might not take effect until April or May 2010 with the 100% Polyurethane suits replaced by textile versions.

Male swimmers will be now restricted to suits that extend from the waist to the top of the knees, and females to suits that cannot go past the shoulders or beyond the knees.

In the pool, Michael Phelps took a gold medal as part of the US 4x200 metres freestyle relay squad who set the final world record of the night, cutting one hundredth of a second off their Beijing time winning in six minutes 58.55 seconds.

Olympic champion Britta Steffan produced a storming last 50 metres to win the women's 100 metres freestyle, setting a new world's best for the event for the second time this week with a winning time of 52.07 seconds.

Other records were set by American Aaron Piersol, smashing the men's 200 metres backstroke time, and in the semi-finals of the women's 50 metres butterfly by Magdalena Veldhuis of the Netherlands in 25.28 seconds only for the time to be beaten by Therese Alshammer of Sweden in the next semi in a time of 25.07.

Serbian Milorad Cavic took Phelps' world record in the second semi-final of the 100 butterfly in 50.01 seconds.

Earlier in the day, Ireland's Barry Murphy narrowly failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the men's 50 metres freestyle, despite swimming a world class time of 22.14 seconds - his fastest ever.

His finish left him in 19th position overall, four places shy of making the last 16.

Murphy won his heat impressively and waited for the remaining heats to pass, but the time was just not good enough for him to make his second semi-final of the week.

Murphy has had a long week and swimming the Worlds in Rome on the back of the recent World University Games in Belgrade is, perhaps, beginning to tell.

Conor Leaney - swimming in an earlier heat - broke the Irish junior record in the 50 frees, but swam outside his best in one of the heats of the men's 100 butterfly.

Melanie Nocher went in her top event of the women's 200 butterfly, but despite winning her heat, she was outside her own Irish record. It was a record she would have had to have broken in order to have made the top 16.

Nuala and Grainne Murphy failed to get to the final of the women's 800 freestyle.

Irish swimmers in action tomorrow are Fiona Doyle and Clare Dawson in the women's 50 freestyle, while Karl Burdis and Donal O'Neill compete in the men's 50 backstroke.

The Irish women's 4x100m medley relay squad of Aisling Cooney, Fiona Doyle, Grainne Murphy and Clare Dawson will also competing.