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NORTH CAROLINA (SwimSwam) — Two-time Olympic gold medalist and former World Record holder, Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe, is making a splash in her comeback season in swimming. After more than a two-year hiatus from the sport, Coventry is back to her record-breaking ways.
On the second day of the 2015 Arena Pro Swim meet in Charlotte, Coventry broke the Zimbabwean record in the finals of the 50m backstroke with her time of 28.23 at the weekend.
She missed the previous record of 28.86 by .03 in preliminaries with her morning time of 28.89. She set the previous record at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.
Coventry explained that doing something like that might help her get into the sprint group under head coach David Marsh at SwimMAC.
“I swam my fastest time (ever) in the 50m backstroke last night!
“Winning is great but that’s not my only motivation — I want to find out how far I can push myself,” Coventry wrote on her Facebook wall at the weekend.
In addition to the national record, she also broke the African continental record of 28.55. The previous record was set in 2009 at the South African National Championships by Chanelle Van Wik of South Africa. Coventry now holds the African record in both the 50m long course and 50m short course backstrokes.
Coventry’s time of 28.23 currently stands as the 12th fastest time in the world this year. She is currently training under Marsh with SwimMAC Team Elite. — AP
Bongani Moyo
Online Reporter