Yes, not at all surprising. Schoeman has broken 10 world records in his swimming career and he has broken the 50 Free SCM no less than four times. In 2000 he broke the world record going 21:31, then he broke it twice in 2008 going 20:98 and 20:64 respectively. Now he has done it again going 20:30. He is well known for his dedication to training (particularly to his starts) that even his coaches find exhausting! He is the perfect example of a drop dead sprinter. He has always done better over the shorter distances and by his own admission only knows one speed (even for the 100 Free LCM) and that: as fast as he can. He narrowly missed gold in the 100m Free in Athens. He went out hell-for-leather and turned first at the 50m (in what, I think, at the time was the world record for the fastest 50 split) but couldn't hold on in the last 15m and got the silver after Van den Hoogenbrand.
I know all this. I also know that at World Champs he got smoked by 14 other swimmers. Look for his name in the finals. You won't see it there. Maybe what I should have said was Schoeman was off at World Champs...
I know all this. I also know that at World Champs he got smoked by 14 other swimmers. Look for his name in the finals. You won't see it there. Maybe what I should have said was Schoeman was off at World Champs...
Yes, you're right, he was off at Worlds. He said so himself:
Schoeman said the Fina World Championships in Rome had been "disappointing" for him.
"I just didn't have it going for me in Italy," he said. "I am very happy to have broken the record in front of a South African crowd, as people at home have high expectations of me and I wanted to please them."
It is the tenth world record of Schoeman's career and he said the World Cup in Durban in ten weeks' time was a big focus for him.
Here is the full article.
