World Record for Sullivan in 100m Freestyle Semi

WAIS swimming star Eamon Sullivan has capped off a dramatic day in the water cube by re-claiming the world record in the 100m freestyle, minutes after France’s Alain Bernard had stolen the mark.

Sullivan has qualified fastest for the sprint final tomorrow after clocking a time of 47.05secs in his semi-final, whilst fellow Australian Matt Targett also qualified for the final, which promises to be one of the most thrilling races of recent memory.

Sullivan said he was aware of the new mark set by Bernard after hearing the Frenchman’s time over the loudspeakers.

“I was trying not to watch the (race) before, I didn’t really want to see what time they went, but you can’t help but hearing obviously with the loud speaker,” Sullivan said.

“It was only just by a little bit (and) I was feeling pretty good in the warm up to so I thought I’d have a go and try and go a little bit faster, and I’m really glad I did,” he said.

Following on from his amazing swim, Sullivan has moved into outright favouritism for the final, but the man himself doesn’t get caught up in the hype.

“Records don’t mean much, it’s all about medals at the end of the day.”

Sullivan’s main rival for the 100m crown was quick to praise Sullivan, but was not about to throw in the towel ahead of the Thursday morning swim-off.

“What Sullivan did was a great answer to the world record, but the main thing was to qualify for the final,” Bernard said.

The final will cap what has been an amazing week for the pair after Sullivan first claimed Bernard’s 100m world record in the lead off leg of the 4x100m relay with a time of 47.24secs.

After swimming first in the opening semi-final, Bernard snatched back his crown, shaving four hundredths of a second from Sullivan’s mark, but Sullivan nearly broke the 47 second barrier in the second semi-final, with that time in real jeopardy tomorrow morning.

Dutchman Pieter Van Den Hoogenband will also contest the final hoping to become the first man to win the 100m freestyle in three consecutive Olympics.

What ever the result, tomorrow’s final promises to be a genuine classic.

“(I will) just approach it like any other race,” Sullivan said.

“It is another race and if you do it any differently to how you do it before you’re probably not going to swim as well so you just shut out all the distractions and have fun.”