By John Lohn
BEIJING, China, August 12. ALWAYS one of the most anticipated events on the program, the men's 100 freestyle got off to a roaring start with five individuals breaking the 48-second barrier, including world-record holder Eamon Sullivan. Fresh off his 47.24 leadoff in the 400 freestyle relay, the Australian cruised through his prelim swim in 47.80.
Sullivan led the way in a heat that featured three sub-48 efforts, including a 47.83 from Sweden's Stefan Nystrand. Meanwhile, two-time defending champion Pieter van den Hoogenband was timed in 47.97, a solid start for the Dutchman. Taking the third qualifying spot was Canadian Brent Hayden, who checked in at 47.84.
France's Alain Bernard was the other guy under 48, as he won the final heat of the preliminary round in 47.85. Bernard is the former world-record holder and was the man Jason Lezak chased down for gold in the 400 freestyle relay. Certainly, Bernard would like to soothe the pain of that defeat with an individual gold.
Servia's Milorad Cavic was sixth with a mark of 48.15 and was followed by Brazil's Cesar Cielo in 48.18 and American Garrett-Weber Gale in 48.19. South African Lyndon Ferns occupied the ninth slot in 48.26 and Italy's Filippo Magnini, the world champ in 2005 and 2007, was timed in 48.30. Lezak, who split 46.06 on the end of the 400 free relay, was 11th in 48.33.
Rounding out the field for the semifinals were Aussie Matt Targett (48.40), France's Fabien Gilot (48.42), Russia's Andrey Grechin (48.50) and Sweden's Jonas Persson (48.51).
Switzerland's Dominik Meichtry and Italy's Christian Galenda set themselves up for a swimoff for 16th with matching 48.55s. However, the pair were saved the trouble when Cavic withdrew from the 100 free to focus on medal opportunities in the 100 fly.
