Texas-Ex Peirsol tops own world record at FINA World Championships
MELBOURNE, Australia -- Several former University of Texas men's swimmers continue to make their mark in the international swimming world, as evidenced by their outstanding performances thus far at the 2007 FINA World Championships at Rod Laver Arena. Highlighting the former Longhorns' performances is Aaron Peirsol, who re-wrote his own world record Tuesday evening in the 100-meter backstroke. Peirsol became the first man to break the 53-second barrier in the event, clocking 52.98 to top his previous world record mark of 53.17 set at the 2005 FINA World Championships in Montreal. He topped Team USA's Ryan Lochte, a former University of Florida standout, by over one-half of a second to capture the gold medal. Texas-Ex Neil Walker, who co-owns the 400-meter freestyle relay world record, won gold by swimming the second leg of the relay in Sunday evening's finals. Walker clocked 48.31 in the second leg to help Team USA win gold in 3:12.72. UT senior Garrett Weber-Gale (Fox Point, Wis.), who completed his collegiate eligibility earlier this month at the NCAA Championships, helped that relay reach the finals by swimming the relay's opening leg in the preliminary round. Weber-Gale clocked 49.77 to help Team USA to third place in the preliminary round. Texas-Ex Brendan Hansen outlasted Japan's Kosuke Kitajima once again in the 100-meter breaststroke, taking gold in 59.80 during Monday's evening session. Kitajima took a close second in 59.96. Texas-Ex Ian Crocker added a silver medal in the 50-meter butterfly in 23.47.
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