By Phillip Whitten
EAST MEADOW, New York, March 25. AFTER Auburn sophomore George Bovell just missed breaking the world record in the 200m IM by .03 in prelims, the pool deck was abuzz with anticipation that the 19 year-old would smash the long-standing mark in the finals. But Bovell, himself, was less sure.
“I felt a lot of pressure, most of it self-imposed,” he said. “In the past I’ve done well in prelims but then didn’t come through in the finals. I didn’t want to do that again.
Bovell – the first swimmer from Trinidad and Tobago to set a world record – was pushed all the way, particularly by Stanford’s Markus Rogan. At the end of the fly, Bovell was fourth in 25.64 as Texas’ Rainer Kendrick set the pace (25.18). Rogan took a commanding lead on the backstroke leg with an impressive 27.68 split. Bovell fell farther behind Rogan, but vaulted ahead of Kendrick and Florida’s Ryan Lochte into second. At the halfway mark Rogan led 52.97 to 53.93.
Bovell made his move on the breaststroke leg, splitting 32.99. Rogan stayed close with his 34.30. At the 150 turn Bovell was ahead of world record pace at 1:26.92, 35-hundredths in front of Rogan.
On the final leg, Bovell uncorked a 27.01 split. Cheered on by the crowd, he touched in 1:53.93. The time shattered the former world record of 1:54.65 by Finland’s Jani Sievinen in 1994 and equaled at this meet four years ago by Hungarian Olympic champion Attila Czene swimming for Arizona State. Rogan finished second in a very fast 1:55.51
“I wasn’t really thinking about the record until the final 25 (meters),” he said. “Then I heard the crowd and saw I had a lead and I thought to myself, ‘maybe I’m going fast.’”
Afterwards, Bovell said: “I haven’t really comes to terms with [the world record] yet. I think maybe I’ll wake up in the middle of the night and realize it’s real.”
FINALS RESULTS
EVENT: 3 MEN's 200 Meter Individual Medley
NCAA Record: 1:54.65 Atilla Czene Arizona State 2000
World Record: 1:54.65 Sievinen / Czene FIN / Arizona 1994/2000
American Record: 1:54.85 Michael Phelps USA 2003
US Open Record: 1:54.65 Atilla Czene Arizona State 2000
QUALIFYING FOR "A" Cut: 1:46.69
QUALIFYING FOR Meet Qualifying: 1:47.94
RESULTS of FINALS
RANK NAME YEAR TEAM PRELIM TIME
CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL
1) BOVELL, GEORGE SO AUBURN 1:54.68 1:53.93**
:25.64 :28.29 :32.99 :27.01
** World Record: NCAA Record: US Open Record:
2) ROGAN, MARKUS SR STANFORD 1:56.78 1:55.51
:25.29 :27.68 :34.30 :28.24
3) LOCHTE, RYAN SO FLORIDA 1:56.49 1:55.62
:25.25 :28.81 :34.50 :27.06
4) SHANTEAU, ERIC SO AUBURN 1:56.63 1:55.94
:26.09 :29.31 :33.07 :27.47
5) GANGLOFF, MARK SR AUBURN 1:56.69 1:56.64
:25.73 :30.28 :32.61 :28.02
6) VAN WIE, DOUG SO AUBURN 1:58.29 1:59.08
:26.01 :28.64 :36.80 :27.63
7) MITCHELL, ADAM SO MINNESOTA 1:58.57 1:59.34
:26.03 :29.72 :36.02 :27.57
8) KENDRICK, RAINER JR TEXAS 1:58.48 1:59.71
:25.18 :29.94 :36.06 :28.53
CONSOLATION FINAL
9) DORR, JOHN JR CAL. BERKELEY 1:58.77 1:57.80
:26.42 :29.46 :33.74 :28.18
10) HANSEN, BRENDAN SR TEXAS 1:59.31 1:58.31
:26.36 :30.55 :32.51 :28.89
11) ALEXANDROV, MIKE FR NORTHWESTERN 1:58.62 1:59.00
:25.98 :31.58 :33.82 :27.62
12) BATHAZI, ISTVAN SR SOUTH CAROLINA 1:58.91 1:59.03
:26.71 :30.50 :34.21 :27.61
13) ROLLINS, DAVE SO ARIZONA 1:58.58 1:59.58
:26.82 :30.42 :33.51 :28.83
14) NATALIZIO, JEFF SR CAL. BERKELEY 1:59.01 1:59.71
:26.03 :29.33 :34.43 :29.92
15) SWANSON, TONY SR NORTHWESTERN 1:59.10 1:59.73
:25.96 :30.71 :34.82 :28.24
16) PAUL, LOUIS JR PURDUE 1:58.72 2:00.27
:26.30 :30.43 :35.15 :28.39