Cameron van der Burgh Breaks Championship Record, Wins 100 Breast Gold

2018 FINA SHORT COURSE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

  • Tuesday, December 11th – Sunday, December 16th
  • Hangzhou, China
  • Tennis Centre, Hangzhou Olympic & International Expo Center
  • SCM (25m)
  • Prelims: 9:30 am local, 8:30 pm ET / Finals: 7:00 pm* local, 6:00* am ET
  • *The final night of finals will be one hour earlier, starting at 6:00 pm local and 5:00 am ET
  • Live Results (Omega)

South African Cameron van der Burgh swam to a new World Championship Record in the final of the men’s 100 breaststroke at day 2 finals in Hangzhou, putting up a time of 56.01 to break the 56.29 set by Brazilian Felipe Franca da Silva in 2014.

van der Burgh played to his strength (speed), going out fast with an opening 50 split of 25.91, under his world record pace of 25.98. He held the field at bay coming home in 30.10, holding off Belarusian Ilya Shymanovich (56.10) and Japan’s Yasuhiro Koseki (56.13) who ended up setting National and Continental Records respectively in winning silver and bronze.

This is van der Burgh’s second title in this event, reclaiming the gold medal he won back at the 2010 Championships in Dubai. This is the 30-year-old’s first medal in the event since then, and he also won silver in 2008 in Manchester. At the 2016 Championships in Windsor, he missed the final in this event by finishing 9th in the semis (57.67), but did go on to win gold in the 50 breast.

All-time, this swim stands up as the 4th fastest performance ever, as van der Burgh now owns three of the top-four. Shymanovich’s swim made him the 4th fastest performer of all-time, and Koseki is now 5th.

van der Burgh set the world record back in 2010 in 55.61.

ALL-TIME PERFORMANCES, MEN’S 100 BREASTSTROKE

  1. Cameron van der Burgh, RSA, 55.61
  2. Adam Peaty, GBR, 55.94
  3. Cameron van der Burgh, RSA, 55.99
  4. Cameron van der Burgh, RSA, 56.01
  5. Kirill Prigoda, RUS, 56.02
  6. Ilya Shymanovich, BLR, 56.10
  7. Cameron van der Burgh, RSA, 56.11
  8. Yasuhiro Koseki, JPN, 56.13
  9. Fabio Scozzoli, ITA, 56.15
  10. Oleg Kostin, RUS, 56.16

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About James Sutherland

James Sutherland

James swam five years at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, specializing in the 200 free, back and IM. He finished up his collegiate swimming career in 2018, graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics. In 2019 he completed his graduate degree in sports journalism. Prior to going to Laurentian, James swam …

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