Liu shatters butterfly record

By Lei Lei (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-10-22 13:26

JINAN, Shandong province: After smashing the world record by nearly two seconds in the women's 200m butterfly Wednesday, China's Olympic champion Liu Zige sent out another fearful warning to her international rivals, claiming she can do much better.

Olympic champion Liu Zige powers to victory in the women's 200m butterfly at the National Games Wednesday. The Chinese swimming sensation finished in an amazing time of 2:01.81, shaving more than a second and a half off the previous world mark of 2:03.41 set by Australian Jessica Schipper at the Rome World Championships in August. [Xinhua]

"I was prepared to break the record before the race," said 20-year-old Liu from Shanghai after blitzing her Chinese foes at the National Games' pool in Jinan last night.

"Compared with my result in the 100m butterfly here, today's time in the 200m is not very good. I can still improve it," she said.

In a sensational swim, Liu clocked two minutes, 1.81 seconds to win the gold, well ahead of archrival Jiao Liuyang, the Olympic runner-up who finished a distant second in 2:05.57. It was the first world record broken in the pool at the Games.

Liu regained her world record by obliterating the mark of 2:03.41 set by Jessica Schipper of Australia at the Rome World Championships in August, where Liu, of the Chinese Army team, had to settle for silver.

Liu set her first world record of 2:04.18 on her way to gold in Beijing. It was rewritten by Mary DeScenza of the US in the heats of the Rome Worlds before Schipper upped the mark in the final.

Liu has been in sizzling form at the National Games and was just 0.01 outside Swede Sarah Sjostrom's world-record time of 56.06 in the 100m butterfly three days ago.

However, she set an Asian record in the event, crusing past the time of 56.86, which was set by Jiao at the 2009 Worlds.

"After coming back from the Rome World Championships I didn't stop training for a single day," said Liu. "I'm still young and on the rise. If I can continue to improve, more records will fall."

Liu stuck with her Speedo LZR Racer suit in Jinan, an outfit which has been banned by the sport's governing body, FINA, from next year. She shrugged off talk about how much it helped her.

"Wearing a special type of swimming suit is not important; the real power is in the swimmer," Liu said. "Over the next year, the suit ban will offer a fair stage for all."

Featuring Liu and Jiao, the world's two top swimmers in the event, the women's 200m butterfly final was dubbed a battle for the crown of "Butterfly Queen".

However, the two young swimmers played down their rivalry and praised each other for pushing the level of China's swimming forward.

"I thank Liu for setting a new world record for China," said 18-year-old Jiao after the race. "We are good friends. Although I'm not in my best form now and seem to be always beaten by her, I am still young and have a long way to go. I believe there is no ever-lasting No 1. Both of us have the opportunity to be victorious in the future."

Liu agreed.

"There is no fierce competition between us in national events. The foreign swimmers are our main rivals," said Liu. "Like what she said, no one can win all the time. Both of us will strive for more glory for China."

Liu's coach has already set his sights on gold at the 2012 London Olympics.

"Writing Liu's name into the list of world-record holders again is what we planned before the final. Now, it has been realized. The next goal for us is the gold medal at the London Games," coach Jin Wei told Xinhua. "No swimmer has defended the women's 200m butterfly title in Olympic history. I hope Liu can achieve that."

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