“But clearly I had something left in the tank, so this medal is fantastic.”
Zimbabwe’s Kirsty Coventry (right) broke her third world record of the week on her way to winning a fourth gold medal at the world short-course championships here Saturday.**
Coventry smashed American Allison Wagner’s 200m Individual Medley record, which was the oldest short-course world record at 15 years, by 1.66 seconds to set a new best of 2:06.13.
In an exciting session of finals, the Netherlands 4x100m freestyle team also set a new world record of 3:29.42 on their way to gold, beating the previous best by nine tenths of a second.
American Ryan Lochte set a new world record of 51.25 in the semi-final of the men’s 100m individual medley – his third world best of the event.
Elsewhere, Jessica Hardy of the United States added the 100m breaststroke title to her 50m crown and compatriot Peter Marshall took gold in the men’s 50m backstroke final, with Australian Adam Pine winning a first individual title of his career with a gold in the 50m butterfly.
But it is the performance of Coventry, who is the only swimmer representing her country at the event, that continues to captivate as she continues to take on the United States and Australia teams in the medals table on her own.
Coventry held off the impressive Spaniard Mireia Belmonte, who also beat the old record by 0.32 seconds, in the 200m medley.
**Kirsty Coventry no longer lives in Zimbabwe but the U.S.A.