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World Tex Best For Globetrotting Hosszu

Dec 14, 2012  - Craig Lord

Istanbul, World Short-Course Championships, day 3 finals: 

Women's 100m medley

Katinka Hosszu, 28km of world cup racing and $150,000 and more of prizes in tow this season, withdrew from lane 4 of the 400m freestyle final to focus on the smallest medley race possible. It paid off with a 58.49 world textile best and triumph ahead of Lithuanian 15-year-old Olympic 100m breaststroke champion Ruta Meilutyte, on 58.79, the bronze going to China’s Zhao Jing in 58.80, Alia Atkinson (JASM) locked out by 0.05sec. The podium shuffled the all-time textile top 5 with new entries at No1, 3 and 4th equal alongside American Natalie Coughlin's 2002 former world record.

The first Hungarian woman to win a world s/c crown when she claimed the 200m butterfly crown earlier this week, Hosszu, now back in Budapest after a few years in California, was joined on the list of new lines in the history book by Meilutyte: at 15 years and 270 days she became the youngest medallist ever on medley. If Zhao was the first Chinese woman to stand on the 100IM podium, then two of her teammates produced the first China 1-2 in the 50m butterfly.

Lu Ying in 25.14, while Olympic 200m champion Jiao Liuyang clocked 25.23 for silver, the bronze going to Denmark's Jeanette Ottesen In 25.55. Just 0.05sec away from the podium was 16-year-old Canadian promise Noemie Thomas.

"I’m so happy," said Lu after rolling to China's first gold of the meet. "The level of us three medallists is similar. I’m not better than the others, perhaps I was able to pay attention to some little details a bit more than them."

100IM: History in the making:

World s/c Podiums

  • 2012: 58.49; 58.79; 58.80 
  • 2010: 58.95; 59.27; 59.53
  • 2008: 59.58; 59.62; 59.77
  • 2006: 1:00.16; 1:00.74; 1:01.41

Most world titles in this event:  3 - Martina Moravcova (SVK) 1999, 2000, 2002

World Records

  • WR: 57.74 Hinkelien Schreuder (NED) 15.11.10
  • TB: 58.49 Katinka Hosszu (HUN) 14.12.12 Istanbul 

All-time textile rankings top 5:

  • 58.49 Hosszu
  • 58.65 Kukors 
  • 58.79 Meiluytyte
  • 58.80 Coughlin 
  • 58.80 Zhao