Trinidad and Tobago's George Bovell picked up silver in the men's 100 metres individual medley at the FINA/ARENA Swimming World Cup 2012 meet in Moscow, Russia, yesterday.
Bovell touched the wall in 51.81 seconds to secure the runner-up spot behind Australia's Kenneth To (51.66). South African Darian Townsend (53.19) finished a distant third.
Yesterday's silver was Bovell's seventh item of precious metal in the 2012 World Cup series—his haul also includes two gold medals and five silver. The four-time Olympian was on fire in the third leg in Stockholm, Sweden last weekend, striking gold in the 100 IM and 50m freestyle. In each event, he established a new national short course record—51.56 seconds in the 100 IM and 20.82 in the 50 free.
In yesterday's 100 IM qualifying round, Bovell topped heat four in 53.80 seconds, for a comfortable cushion on second-placed Thiago Simon (55.01), of Brazil. Bovell was third fastest in the heats.
Townsend led all qualifiers into the final, the South African winning heat five in 53.49 seconds. To was second to Townsend in 53.73. In the championship race, however, To produced his "A" game, forcing Bovell and Townsend to settle for silver and bronze, respectively.
Bovell will be back in the pool today in the 50 free heats. The 2004 Olympic Games 200 IM bronze medallist has been drawn in heat five. His arch-rival, American Anthony Ervin, will swim in the sixth and final heat. The final will also be contested today.
Source: www.trinidadexpress.com