HYDERABAD, India, October 15. THE first day of competition witnessed a pair of World Military Games records as the meet commenced in Hyderabad, India today. China's Zhou Yafei and Russia's Darya Belyakina broke records in the 100 fly and 200 IM, respectively.
Zhou was the first into the record books with a time of 59.05 in the 100 fly to shave some time off her previous record of 59.32 set in 2003. Meanwhile, a pair of Russians followed her in the race as Irina Bespalova (1:00.18) and Natalia Sutyagina (1:00.19) comprised the rest of the top three.
Belyakina hit the wall in 2:15.92 to break the women's 200 IM standard. The previous record of 2:17.40 had stood since 1995 as set by China's Yiqi Pu Qi Hui. China's Yu Yao (2:19.17) and Russia's Olga Shulgina (2:19.37) finished second and third, respectively.
Russia's Evgeny Lagunov opened up the meet with a win in the men's 100 free when he touched in 50.06. Germany went 2-3 in the event with Robert Koenneker finishing second in 50.29 and Stefan Herbst took third in 51.01.
Germany bounced back in the women's 100 free as Daniela Samulski pocketed the gold medal in the event with a time of 55.66. Romania's Camelia Potec finished second in 57.52, while Austria's Birgit Koschischek placed third in 57.62.
In the 100 breaststroke, Russia's Grigory Falko topped all comers in the men's race with a time of 1:01.71, while Ukraine's Oleg Lisogor finished second in 1:02.96. China's Huang Yunkun rounded out the top three in 1:03.09. For the women, Russia's Elena Bogomazova touched out China's Qi Hui, 1:09.51 to 1:09.52, for gold, while Ukraine's Yuliya Pidlisna wound up third in 1:11.64.
Russia's Nikolay Skvortsov walked away with the men's 100 fly title in 52.78, while Ukraine's Sergiy Advena took second in 54.07 and Italy's Paolo Villa placed third in 54.80. Meanwhile, China dominated the men's 200 IM as Zhao Tao (2:03.70) and Qu Jingyu (2:05.20) snared gold and silver, respectively. Russia's Andrey Krylov took third in 2:05.74, while a pair of Americans went 4-5 with Chris Knaute (2:06.52) and Paul Parmenter (2:06.88) providing the top finishes for the U.S. on the day.