Contributed by Ronda Ng

Singapore Sports School, Saturday November 21, 2009 - Singapore’s Tao Li missed out on a medal in the women's 100m butterfly when Jessicah Schipper out-touched her for the bronze. Felicity Galvez and Francesca Halsall took gold and silver respectively.

In the men’s 400m freestyle, fellow Singaporean Marcus Cheah clocked a personal best of 3:52:62.

Matthew Abood and Therese Alshammar wowed crowds when they broke two Swimming World Cup records on the first day of the FINA/Arena Swimming World Cup 2009.

Barely 15 minutes into the first day of the Singapore leg, Abood of Australia beat favourite Darian Townsend (RSA) with a time of 45:46s in the men’s 100m freestyle, the second event of the day.

When asked if he expected the record-breaking performance, Abood said, "Not really. I try not to think too much about times and concentrate on what I have to do to improve on what I did last time." Abood will be looking to do the same in the men's 50m freestyle event tomorrow.

Veteran swimmer, Therese Alshammar, was the second swimmer to break a World Cup record, clocking 23:27s in the women's 50m freestyle event. "I was very happy with my swim in Berlin and now I did the best time again. It's only two-hundredths off the world record and it's too small to mention. It's the luck of the finish, but I'm very happy."

The FINA/Arena Swimming World Cup is an international series of swimming meets, and Singapore is the last stop for this year's World Cup after Durban, South Africa; Moscow, Russia; Stockholm, Sweden; and Berlin, Germany. The prize money for the overall winners will also be presented in Singapore.

The last day of the FINA/Arena Swimming World Cup is tomorrow, 22 November, and will be held at the Singapore Sports School with heats at 8.30am, and the finals at 3.30pm. Tickets are almost sold out, but interested participants can purchase them at www.finaworldcup.com.sg or buy tickets at the door.

Results
Event 1: Women’s 800m Freestyle
1) EVANS Blair (AUS) – 8:17.21
2) MEAKLIM Kathryn (RSA) – 8:25.47
3) AU Hoi Shun Stephanie (HKG) – 8:25.47

Event 2: Men’s 100m Freestyle
1) ABOOD Matthew (AUS) – 45.46 (new World Cup record)
2) TOWNSEND Darian (RSA) – 46.63
3) PATTERSON Mitchell (AUS) – 46.91

Event 3:Women’s 200m Freestyle
1) GRANDLUND Petra (SWE) – 1:54.76
2) DEKKER Inge (NED) – 1:54.80
3) HALSALL Francesca (GBR) – 1:54.84

Event 4: Men’s 50m Breaststroke
1) SCHOEMAN Roland (RSA) – 25.58
2) VAN DER BURGH Cameron – 25.76
3) DA SILVA Felipe (BRA) – 25.88

Event 5: Women’s 100m Breaststroke
1) KATSOULIS Sarah (AUS) – 1:03.73
2) HARDY Jessica (USA) – 1:03.87
3) JONES Liesel (AUS) – 1:04.30

Event 6: Men’s 400m Individual Medley
1) MELLOULI Oussama (TUN) – 4:05.79
2) HONZAKI Tomohisa (JPN) – 4:06.96
3) THOMSON Jay-Cee (RSA) – 4:06.97

Event 7: Women’s 100m Butterfly
1) GALVEZ Felicity (AUS) – 56.07
2) HALSALL Francesca (GBR) – 56.91
3) SCHIPPER Jessicah (AUS) – 57.55

Event 8: Men’s 100m Backstroke
1) GUIDO Guilherme (BRA) – 49.63
2) MARSHALL Peter (USA) – 49.67
3) VYATCHANIN Arkady (RUS) – 50.09

Event 9: Women’s 50m Backstroke
1) SEEBOHM Emily (AUS) – 26.55
2) GUEHRER Marieke (AUS) – 26.57
3) SCHREUDER Hinkelien (NED) – 26.70

Event 10: Men’s 200m Butterfly
1) KANEDA Kazuya (JPN) – 1:51.54
2) D’ARCY Nicholas (AUS) – 1:51.99
3) STAPLES Lachlan (AUS) – 1:54.70

Event 11: Women’s 200m Individual Medley
1) MYERS Whitney (USA) – 2:06.20
2) MEAKLIM Kathryn (RSA) – 2:08.06
3) SEEBOHM Emily (AUS) – 2:08.39

Event 12: Men’s 400m Freestyle
1) MELLOULI Oussama (TUN) – 3:39.18
2) HURLEY Robert (AUS) – 3:39.42
3) THOMSON Jay-Cee (RSA) – 3:41.09

Event 13: Women’s 50m Freestyle
1) ALSHAMMAR Therese (SWE) – 23.27 (new World Cup record)
2) SCHREUDER Hinkelien (NED) – 23.53
3) JACKSON Lara (USA) – 24.04

Event 14: Men’s 200m Breastroke
1) SPRENGNER Christian (AUS) – 2:02.65
2) VERSFELD Neil (RSA) – 2:02.68
3) SUENAGA Yuta (JPN) – 2:04.43

Event 15: Men’s 100m Individual Medley
1) TOWNSEND Darian (RSA) – 52.11
2) ARNAMNART Daniel (AUS) – 54.17
3) BRODIE Leith (AUS) – 54.35

Event 16: Women’s 200m Backstroke
1) SIMMONDS Elizabeth (GBR) – 2:01.48
2) LOOTS Amanda (RSA) – 2:05.01
3) MYERS Whitney (USA) – 2:06.22

Event 17: Men’s 50m Butterfly
1) DOS SANTOS Nicholas (BRA) – 22.16
2) SCHOEMAN Roland (RSA) – 22.27
3) HUEGILL Geoff (AUS) – 22.50