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SHANGHAI, China, July 29. FOR the second time this meet, a world title will be shared as Jeanette Ottesen of Denmark and Aliaksandra Herasimenia of Belarus tied for the women's 100 free crown at the FINA World Long Course Championships.
The duo posted matching times of 53.45 to share the title. That shared-victory is the second time this week a gold medal went to two swimmers in the same event. Jeremy Stravius and Camilla Lacourt dead heated for the men's 100 back title. It is the third tie in world championships action, as Italy's Filippo Magnini and Canada's Brent Hayden shared the win in the men's 100 free title at the 2007 Melbourne Championships.
The win is the first individual world title for both Ottesen and Herasimenia.
"I am really excite and surprised [about the outcome]," Ottesen said. "I did not expect to win the gold medal tonight."
Ottesen joins Lotte Friis as world titlists from Denmark, while Herasimenia joins Alena Popchanka. Britta Steffen's textile best of 53.30 survived all comers this meet.
"I'm happy," Herasimenia said. "I'm surprised about the tie, but I believed I could win and i did."
Herasimenia has bounced back from two-year doping ban for testing positive for norandrosterone as a 17 year old back in 2003. She originally had been scheduled for a four-year ban, but FINA reduced the ban to two years.
The Netherlands' Ranomi Kromowidjojo rounded out the podium with a third-place 53.66, for her first individual world championship medal.
"I'm really happy, and that was a good race," Kromowidjojo said. "I'm proud of the girls who tied for the gold."
Great Britain's Fran Halsall (53.72), The Netherlands' Femke Heemskerk (53.72), Australia's Alicia Coutts (53.81), USA's Dana Vollmer (54.19) and USA's Natalie Coughlin (54.22) completed the championship heat.
"I was ready for the final, but I don't know why I didn't win," Heemskerk said. "I have the ability to win, and it was so close. In the last 10 meters, I lost that race. I can do better than I did here. I am so disappointed that it didn't work out. When I saw the winning time, I knew that I could have also swam that time."
