DURBAN, South Africa, November 14. IF the weekend is any indication of what awaits for Ryk Neethling during the next few months, the South African standout is staring at an unreal run through the FINA World Cup circuit. As the World Cup got rolling in Durban, South Africa, Neethling claimed six victories during the three-day, short-course event.
The bronze medalist in the 100 and 200 freestyle events at the World Championships in Montreal last summer, Neethling prevailed in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyles, captured top honors in the 50 and 100 butterfly events and bested the competition in the 100 individual medley. In 2004, Neethling helped South Africa to a gold medal and world record in the 400 free relay at the Athens Olympics.
Neethling opened the Durban stop by capturing victories in the 100 free (47.63) and hitting the wall first in the 100 I.M. with a mark of 53.03. He followed by taking first in the 100 fly (51.11) and 50 free (21.56) and closed out the weekend by winning the 50 fly (23.33) and 200 free (1:44.74). His 200 free decision arrived over Poland’s Pawel Korzeniowski, who clocked in at 1:45.90. Korzeniowski, the reigning world champ in the 200 fly, won that event in 1:53.76 and was the victor in the 400 I.M. (4:08.25).
The Netherlands’ Marleen Veldhuis swept through her freestyle events, as she won the 50 (24.07), 100 (53.13) and 200 (1:56.38). Meanwhile, Australia’s Jade Edmistone was stellar in her breaststroke outings. The world champ in the 50 distance, Edmistone went 30.36 for a triumph in the 50 breast and won the 100 breast in 1:05.93. She was joined as a double-winner by Hungary’s Katarzyna Baranowska, who earned first-place finishes in the 200 I.M. (2:10.96) and 400 I.M. (4:35.71).
Romania’s Camelia Potec swept the 400 and 800 freestyle races in 4:05.32 and 8:30.11 and Sweden’s Anna-Karin Kammerling was the swiftest in the 50 fly with a mark of 26.37. Other wins were supplied by Slovakia’s Martina Moravcova in the 100 fly (58.71), the Ukraine’s Oleg Lisogor in the 100 breast (59.17) and South Korea’s Tae-Hwan Park in the 400 free (3:42.78).