Dale Oen v Duboscq: 59.76 ER to 59.78, 100 Breast
2008-03-19
Craig Lord
Dale Oen scores first for Norway as Duboscq joins him inside minute; Cavic (SRB) sets 50 butterfly European record at 23.11; Manaudou moves closer with 2:07.99 200m back

Norway has its first European record holder and the world of sprint breaststroke has two more men inside the minute - and how. Alexander Dale Oen (NOR) and Hugues Duboscq (FRA) raced stroke for stroke on their way to a fingernail finish of 59.76 to 59.78 in favour of the Scandinavian at the European Championships here in Eindhoven.

That made Dale Oen the first Norwegian man to win a European title (Irene Dalby in 1991 was the last woman), two years after he had fallen the same tiny margin - 0.02sec - shy of becoming a national pioneer: in Budapest 2006, he finished second to Sludnov 1:00.61 to 1:00.63.

Both Dale Oen and Duboscq raced inside the previous European standard, which had stood to Roman Sludnov (RUS) at 59.94 since 2001. Sludnov was the first to crack the minute, with 59.97 in June 2001. Kosuke Kitajima (JPN) and Brendan Hansen (USA) followed, the American having taken the world record down to 59.13 since. Now there are five men inside the minute. Dale Oen was first to the 50m, on 28.17, with Duboscq on 28.32.

Dale Oen, coached by Stig Leganger Hansen in Bergen, is a shipyard worker, according to his official biography. Not sure how he fits all that in but if the info is good, then clearly all that panel beating and fresh air are doing him alot of good. His previous best was a 1:00.11 from the semis here, and before that he had swum seven times between 1:00.13 and 1:01, 2006-2008. Duboscq's previous best of 1:00.05 dates back to 2005. The bronze in Eindhoven went to Oleg Lisogor (UKR) in 1:00.53, which qualified him for Beijing 2008.

The top of the all-time list now reads:59.13 Hansen; 59.53, Kitajima; 59.76, Dale Oen; 59.78, Duboscq; 59.94 Sludnov. Dale Oen said: 'I felt awesome looking up at the scoreboard and recognising a time below a minute and a European record! It's a fantastic feeling being the fourth swimmer crashing the minute barrier. I wanted to achieve that feat already last year at the Worlds in Melbourne. A very fast pool here in Eindhoven.'

Duboscq, who was a touch ahead for most of the way home after a great turn, said: 'My goal in this final was to master my technique, and swim in state of the art.' He certainly did that: the Frenchman has not looked as good in a long time. 'Any additional result is a bonus. I'm happy to be back at top level after a couple of difficult years. I saw myself as the winner, but I have to admire Alex's last stroke and touch.'

The session had started with Milorad Cavic (SRB) setting his second European record of the championships to lift the 50m butterfly crown in 23.11sec. Cavic clocked 23.25 in the semis yesterday.

The time is 0.01sec inside the previous second-best time ever, of Ian Crocker (USA), while Roland Schoeman (RSA) remains the only sub-23sec man, on 22.96.

The silver went to Sergiy Breus (UKR) in 23.48, the bronze to Rafael Munox (ESP) in 23.60. The R-Evolution-clad Cavic said: 'That's a fantastic time. But I could have been even faster, perhaps setting a new world record. The touch wasn't right - I had to stretch too far. I'm optimistic for my other events, especially the 100 'fly, in which I want to swim under 51.7sec.'

Laure Manaudou (FRA) entered the realm of potential triple Olympic gold medal winner when she clocked 2:07.99 to win the 200m backstroke crown. The time, second-best so far this year to Kirsty Coventry's world record of 2:06.39, represented Manudou's third personal best time in the event after a heats time of 2:12.50 and a semi of 2:09.23. Before that, her best, from 2007, had been 2:14.39. She has the potential to be a 2:05-2:06 swimmer.

Manaudou said: 'That was a bit of a surprise. I was aiming to get inside the time I did yesterday but I didn't expect such a big improvement - it's about 1.5sec inside.' Ahead of her on the all-time list are Coventry (2:06.39), Krisztina Egerszegi, Margaret Hoelzer and the Golden Flower herself He Cihong. Second in Eindhoven went to Anastasia Zueva (RUS), on 2:09.59, with Nikolett Szepesi (HUN) third on 2:09.90.

The 100m backstroke final saw Italy-based Markus Rogan (AUT), Olympic medallist, defeat defending champion Arkady Vyatchanin (RUS) 54.03 to 54.45. In the middle of the two was Aristeidis Grigoriadis (GRE) on a best time of 54.27, equal 20th best ever.

The world record is safe for now, but Marleen Veldhuis (NED) may well take the 100m freestyle mark down in the final tomorrow, after easing off in the semis for a 53.67 result.

At 50m she was 0.1sec inside world-record pace, on 25.74. With 25m to go, she eased off the gas and did enough to keep teammate Inge Dekker at bay, on 54.13. Dekker was back within 10 minutes to win the silver in the 50m butterfly behind Dutch teammate Chantal Groot, 26.03 to 26.30. The bronze went to Sviatlana Khakhlova (BLR) in 26.52. In fourth was world champion Therese Alshammar (SWE), on 26.94. Like Dekker, Alshammar had just raced in the 100m free semi, qualifying for the final in sixth place in 54.96, her results so far reflecting the discrepancy in standards at a meet where some have rested, others have not.

The 100m free record has stood to Britta Steffen (GER) at 53.30 since she became European champion in Budapest in August 2006.

Lisbeth Lenton (AUS) clocked 52.99 at the USA v AUS Duel in the Pool in Sydney in Apri, 2007 in the wake of winning five gold medals at the World Championships, but FINA refused to ratify the time as a world record because the world champion had raced in a lane next to Michael Phelps (USA) in a fun mixed relay. No such event exists on the list of races that qualify for world-record status.

Lazslo Cseh (HUN) looked smooth in the 200m medley semi, his 1:57.90 a championship record that fell 0.98sec shy of his European record. Cseh was 0.26sec inside his record pace at half-way but lost all of the 0.98sec deficit on breaststroke as he raced a pool apart from opponents.

Fastest through to the final of the 100m breaststroke was Mirna Jukic (AUT) in 1:07.98. The time indicates that her comeback from illness is going well. her previous best was 1:08.53 from the University Games last summer, while you have to go back to 2003 to find her best before that, a 1:08.62.

The 200m freestyle semis witnessed a 1:47.57 best time from Paul Biedermann, fastest qualifier and a German who has a way to go to threaten today's giants of the event but is getting very close to confining a giant of yesteryear to history: the German record stands to Michael Gross - former Olympic and World Champion and record holder, at 1:47.44, from 1984.