Tao Li wins 100m Butterfly silver at FINA Swimming World Cup

Singapore Sports School, Saturday, October 16. 2010 — Tao Li won a silver in the 100m Butterfly to earn Singapore’s lone medal on the first day of the two-day meet. She touched home in 56.78 seconds, just behind in-form Swede Therese Alshammar, who picked up another gold medal in the series with a finishing time of 56.32. Natalie Coughlin, on the comeback trail to the sport after taking more than a year off after the 2008 Beijing Olympics, took the bronze in 58.09.

The first day of the FINA/Arena Swimming World Cup 2010 (Singapore) saw many of the world’s best swimmers take to the pool at the Singapore Sports School. 17 races were contested in the short-course meet today.

The finals, which took place this evening from 6pm to 8pm, started with the women’s 800m freestyle event which saw Jessica Pengelly (RSA) win the gold, edging out Kida Yumi (JPN) and compatriot Katheryn Meaklim.

Brazilian swimming star Thiago Pereira was undoubtedly the star performer of the day as he claimed three gold medals in the men’s 400m Individual Medley, the men’s 200m Butterfly and the men’s 100m Individual Medley.

Two powerhouses from South Africa went head-to-head in the Men’s 50m Breaststroke event. Up against compatriot Roland Schoeman (RSA), Cameron van der Burgh (RSA) clinched first place, displaying the form that saw him win two gold medals in the 2010 Commonwealth Games and one gold in the Beijing leg of the series which took place this past week. Schoeman later powered his way to the men’s 50m Butterfly gold.

Meanwhile, Australia made it a one-two finish in the women’s 50m Backstroke, with Rachel Goh and Marieke Guehrer finishing ahead of Hinkelien Schreuder (NED). It was all smiles for Schreuder however, as she finished ahead of Therese Alshammar (SWE) and Guehrer in the women’s 50 Freestyle with a timing of 23.98 seconds. In the 400m freestyle, Singapore’s Clement Lim missed out on a medal position, coming in fourth in the men’s 400m freestyle.

FINA/Arena Swimming World Cup is an international series of swimming meets, and Singapore is the third stop for this year’s World Cup. The series began with the legs in Rio de Janeiro and Beijing. The four additional legs of the series will be held in Tokyo, Berlin, Moscow and Stockholm.

The second and last day of the FINA/Arena Swimming World Cup will take place tomorrow at the Singapore Sports School with heats from 9am to 11am and the finals from 6 to 8pm. Interested participants can purchase tickets to watch the finals at www.finaworldcup.com.sg or at the door.

Full results of today’s race events can be found at – http://www.omegatiming.com/swimming/racearchives/index.htm.

Results
Men’s 50m Breaststroke
Gold – Cameron van der Burgh (South Africa)
Silver – Roland Schoeman (South Africa)
Bronze – Joao Gomes Junior (Brazil)
Women’s 100m Breaststroke
Gold – Jessica Hardy (United States of America)
Silver – Nanaka Tamura (Japan)
Bronze – Jennie Johansson (Sweden)

Men’s 400m Individual Medley
Gold – Thiago Pereira (Brazil)
Silver – Brian Johns (Canada)
Bronze – Toblas Oriwol (Canada)

Women’s 100m Butterfly
Detailed Results
Gold – Therese Alshammar (Sweden)
Silver – Tao Li (Singapore)
Bronze – Natalie Coughlin (United States of America)

Women’s 50m Backstroke
Gold – Rachel Goh (Australia)
Silver – Marieke Guehrer (Australia)
Bronze – Hinkelien Schreuder (The Netherlands)

Women’s 50m Freestyle
Gold – Hinkelien Schreuder (The Netherlands)
Silver – Therese Alshammar (Sweden)
Bronze – Marieke Guehrer (Australia)

Men’s 100m Individual Medley
Gold – Thiago Pereira (Brazil)
Silver – Darian Townsend (South Africa)
Bronze – Sergey Fesikov (Russia)