Tao Li sets personal best in 50m Butterfly at FINA Swimming World Cup

Singapore Sports School, Sunday, October 17, 2010 — Singapore’s Tao Li delivered a personal time 25.47 seconds in the 50m Butterfly on the final day of the third leg of the 2010 FINA/Arena Swimming World Cup.
Swimming in the final race of the day, Tao Li finished second to Therese Alshammar of Sweden who clocked 25.24.

Tao Li, whose next big race is at the 2010 Asian Games, said that she still has to improve on her starts and her turns. On how she is gearing up for the Asian Games, she said: “I tell myself I will do it one step at a time; I swim well for this race and train harder for the next four weeks and hopefully get a medal [at the Asian Games]. I will definitely hope to do better in Asian Games as I will be tapering for the competition.”

South African star swimmer Cameron van der Burgh clinched yet another gold medal in the only event that he participated in today – the men’s 100m Breaststroke – with a timing of 57.82 seconds.

Another key performer was Thiago Pereira of Brazil who achieved his fourth gold medal in the Singapore leg, touching in at 1:53.45 for the men’s 200m Individual Medley. Happy with his performance in the Singapore leg of the FINA/Arena Swimming World Cup, Pereira shared his expectations of his performance in the 2011 FINA World Champions, saying: “I have been getting fourths and fifths for eight years; this time, I will strive to get a medal. These races help me practise and stay focused.”

Backstroke specialist Natalie Coughlin of the USA, who took a one-year hiatus after her stellar performance at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, came in first in the women’s 100m Backstroke with a timing of 57.78 seconds. She was followed closely by Rachel Goh of Australia and Melissa Ingram of New Zealand. Coughlin also secured an unexpected bronze medal in the 100m Individual Medley after Holland’s Hinkelien Schreuder was disqualified despite finishing third.

The overall male and female champions, based on the most number of points, will be awarded USD102,000 each. The competition will now move on to Tokyo from October 20th to 21st for the fourth leg. The FINA Swimming World Cup is a seven-series championship.

FULL RESULTS

Day Two Results

Men’s 100m Backstroke
GOLD — VAN DER BURGH Cameron (RSA – South Africa)
SILVER — TOMITA Naoya (JPN – Japan)
BRONZE — OTSUKA Kazuki (JPN – Japan)

Women’s 100m Backstroke
GOLD — COUGHLIN Natalie (USA – Untied States of America)
SILVER — GOH Rachel (AUS – Australia)
BRONZE — INGRAM Melissa (NZL – New Zealand)

Men’s 200m Individual Medley
GOLD — PEREIRA Thiago (BRA – Brazil)
SILVER — TOWNSEND Darian (RSA – South Africa)
BRONZE — JOHNS Brian (CAN – Canada)

Women’s 100m Individual Medley
GOLD — SMIT Julia (USA – United States of America)
SILVER — NGAWATI Kotuku (AUS – Australia)
BRONZE — COUGHLIN Natalie (USA – United States of America)

Women’s 50m Butterfly
GOLD — ALSHAMMAR Therese (SWE – Sweden)
SILVER — TAO Li (SIN – Singapore)
BRONZE — GURHRER Marieke (AUS – Australia)