By Norbert Agh
ATHENS, August 17. HUNGARIAN teen phenom Dani Gyurta, 15, retained his #1 ranking in the men's 200m breaststroke from prelims by posting the fastest semifinal time, a national record 2:10.75.
It is believed that Gyurta is the youngest man to qualify first for an Olympic swimming final.
The confident 15 year-old swam his race with an amazing 1:06.21 back half of the race — the fastest second 100 of a 200 breast ever swum.
We first encountered the precocious Dani when he was 11. Then he matter-of-factly explained to Swimming World that he was going to win the 200 breast at the 2004 Olympic Games, "probably in 2:08."
In April each year — when he turned 12, 13, 14 and 15 — he repeated his prediction. But despite the large leaps in time that he made every year, no one took seriously the possibility he might win a medal. In 2008? You bet. But in '04? No way.
Now, everyone is taking him seriously indeed. That includes WR-holder Brendan Hansen, second in 2:10.81 and his nemesis, Kosuke Kitajima, third in 2:10.86.
The final shapes up as an exciting one, as the remaining qualifiers, save Aussie Jim Piper, are all up-and-coming youngsters.
Among the nonqualifiers: South African Terence Parkin, silver medalist in this event in Sydney.
Men 200m Breaststroke Semifinals
Record Splits Name NOC Location Date
WR 2:09.04 29.22 1:01.88 1:35.38 HANSEN Brendan USA Long Beach (USA) 11 JUL 2004
OR 2:10.16 30.43 1:03.91 1:37.12 BARROWMAN Mike USA Barcelona (ESP) 29 JUL 1992
Event No: 18
Rank Heat Lane Name NOC R.T. 50m 100m 150m Time Time
Behind
1 2 4 GYURTA Daniel HUN 0.83 30.64 1:04.54
33.90 1:37.59
33.05 2:10.75
33.16
2 2 3 HANSEN Brendan USA 0.70 29.61 1:02.83
33.22 1:36.92
34.09 2:10.81
33.89 0.06
3 1 4 KITAJIMA Kosuke JPN 0.72 29.41 1:02.58
33.17 1:36.36
33.78 2:10.86
34.50 0.11
4 2 5 BOSSINI Paolo ITA 0.84 30.17 1:03.73
33.56 1:37.88
34.15 2:11.76
33.88 1.01
5 2 2 USHER Scott USA 0.73 30.04 1:03.42
33.38 1:37.60
34.18 2:12.00
34.40 1.25
6 1 5 BROWN Mike CAN 0.82 30.49 1:03.85
33.36 1:37.83
33.98 2:12.14
34.31 1.39
7 1 3 POLYAKOV Vladislav KAZ 0.79 29.67 1:03.38
33.71 1:37.82
34.44 2:12.19
34.37 1.44
8 1 2 PIPER Jim AUS 0.80 29.79 1:03.21
33.42 1:37.46
34.25 2:12.22
34.76 1.47
9 1 6 FALKO Grigori RUS 0.87 30.67 1:04.43
33.76 1:38.31
33.88 2:12.42
34.11 1.67
10 1 1 BODOR Richard HUN 0.79 30.08 1:03.49
33.41 1:37.78
34.29 2:12.76
34.98 2.01
11 2 7 IMAMURA Genki JPN 0.72 30.54 1:04.48
33.94 1:38.76
34.28 2:12.86
34.10 2.11
12 1 7 PARKIN Terence RSA 0.79 30.46 1:04.43
33.97 1:38.85
34.42 2:13.58
34.73 2.83
13 2 1 PODOPRIGORA Maxim AUT 0.85 30.80 1:05.49
34.69 1:39.87
34.38 2:14.66
34.79 3.91
14 2 8 LAI Zhongjian CHN 0.82 30.86 1:05.32
34.46 1:40.18
34.86 2:14.94
34.76 4.19
15 1 8 COOK Christopher GBR 0.78 30.19 1:05.00
34.81 1:39.88
34.88 2:15.91
36.03 5.16
2 6 EDMOND Ian GBR 0.80
DSQ