And Peirsol makes three
Aaron Peirsol has become the first man in history to go under 53 seconds for the 100m backstroke, setting a new world mark of 52.98 seconds in retaining the world title he won in Montreal in 2005.
Peirsol became the third American for the night to set a new world mark, as the 12th FINA World Championships hit a new high. It was his third straight world title in the 100m, while he will be pursuing his fourth straight 200m title on Friday.
Peirsol cam from third place at the turn to take gold, 0.52 ahead of comaptriot Ryan Lochte, while Great Britain's Liam Tancock capped the giant leaps he has made at this meet with a bronze medal in 53.61.
At the 50m mark, it was Tancock who held the advantage over Lochte, while Piersol looked to be off the pace in third. But just as Lochte was being hailed the winner with 25 metres remaining, Peirsol charged by, chasing down the world record of 53.17 he set in Indianapolis in 2005.
Not only did he win with remarkable ease, he smashed the mark, breaking the 53-second mark, previously thought unreachable. So stunned was Peirsol by his time, that he tossed off his swimming cap.
The world mark followed in the footsteps of Michael Phelps in the 200m freestyle and Natalie Coughlin in the 100m backstroke, while Italy's Federica Pellegrini dropped the women's 200m freestyle mark in the semi-finals soon after.
Russian Arkady Vyatchanin (53.69) was fourth, Markus Rogan (53.78) of Austria was fifth, while Gerhard Zandberg (54.59) of South Africa, Australian veteran Matt Welsh (54.65), and Japan's Tomomi Morita (55.04) rounded out the final three placings.
Peirsol became the third American for the night to set a new world mark, as the 12th FINA World Championships hit a new high. It was his third straight world title in the 100m, while he will be pursuing his fourth straight 200m title on Friday.
Peirsol cam from third place at the turn to take gold, 0.52 ahead of comaptriot Ryan Lochte, while Great Britain's Liam Tancock capped the giant leaps he has made at this meet with a bronze medal in 53.61.
At the 50m mark, it was Tancock who held the advantage over Lochte, while Piersol looked to be off the pace in third. But just as Lochte was being hailed the winner with 25 metres remaining, Peirsol charged by, chasing down the world record of 53.17 he set in Indianapolis in 2005.
Not only did he win with remarkable ease, he smashed the mark, breaking the 53-second mark, previously thought unreachable. So stunned was Peirsol by his time, that he tossed off his swimming cap.
The world mark followed in the footsteps of Michael Phelps in the 200m freestyle and Natalie Coughlin in the 100m backstroke, while Italy's Federica Pellegrini dropped the women's 200m freestyle mark in the semi-finals soon after.
Russian Arkady Vyatchanin (53.69) was fourth, Markus Rogan (53.78) of Austria was fifth, while Gerhard Zandberg (54.59) of South Africa, Australian veteran Matt Welsh (54.65), and Japan's Tomomi Morita (55.04) rounded out the final three placings.