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De Bruijn breaks 50-meter world record
Posted: Tuesday June 06, 2000 09:42 AM
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -- Dutch swimmer Inge de Bruijn has taken sole possession of the last individual world record of ex-world champion Le Jingyi, continuing a record-breaking spree which has made her hot favorite for multiple swimming gold at the Sydney Olympics. De Bruijn clocked 24.48 seconds for the 50-meter freestyle at the Dutch national championships to shave 0.03 seconds from the record Le set in September 1994 and matched by the 26-year-old Dutchwoman in Sheffield, England, May 26. De Bruijn broke three other world records in Sheffield, lowering her own six-day-old 50-meter butterfly mark, carving an incredible 1.19 seconds from the 100 butterfly record and bettering the 100 freestyle standard set by Le at the 1994 world championships in Rome, where China bagged 12 of the 16 women's titles. "I'm not doing anything special. It's just a matter of standing on the blocks, starting and sprinting away," De Bruijn, who is based in the United States, said. "I seem to have taken out a subscription on world records." De Bruijn, who swam in her first world championships back in 1991, did not win a major title until last year's European championships in Istanbul, where she sprinted to victory in the 50 freestyle and 50 butterfly. She flies to Rio de Janeiro this week and will compete in the European championships in Helsinki, which begin later this month. Her record-breaking feats have installed her as an early favorite for the 50 and 100 meters freestyle and 100 butterfly in Sydney. The 50 butterfly is not an Olympic event. But she can expect strong competition for gold from American Jenny Thompson and Sweden's Therese Alshammar, who demolished Le's world short-course 50 and 100 freestyle records last December. De Bruijn is wary of predictions. "I'll be happy when I'm standing on the podium in Sydney. Everyone can have their expectations. I've got to go out and do it," she said.
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