by Charean Williams, McClatchy Newspapers –
LONDON — Dana Vollmer still doesn’t have the world record she has coveted for a while now. But she does now have the Olympic record, while also lowering her American record.
The Granbury, Texas, native wasn’t just fast, but record fast in the Saturday morning heats of her specialty, the 100 butterfly. Her 56.25 topped the rest of the field by almost a second and bested the 12-year-old Olympic record of 56.61 held by Inge de Bruijn of the Netherlands.
“I’m really happy with that,” Vollmer said. “I’m always more nervous in the first race than the rest. To start off that fast is kind of a confidence-booster, that I do feel good, that I am ready to go.”
Vollmer entered the Olympics seeded first, having gone 56.42 at the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials in Omaha last month. That time, which had come in the semifinals, was a new Trials and American record. Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom, the world-record holder, was seeded second, having touched in 56.79 in a meet in March.
No one came close to Vollmer on Saturday morning.
China’s Ying Lu had the second-fastest time (57.17), with Australia’s Alicia Coutts posting the third-fastest (57.36). Sjostrom (57.45) and American Claire Donahue (58.06) also qualified for tonight’s semifinals.
Vollmer has never won an individual Olympic medal. She was part of the gold-medal-winning 4x200m free relay as a 16-year-old in 2004. But she missed qualifying for the Beijing Games in 2008.
Now, she is the best in the world in the 100 fly.
She hopes to solidify that standing not only with a gold medal Sunday night but with a world record. Vollmer was on world-record pace halfway through Saturday morning’s race, with a 26.28 after 50 meters.
“I sure hope so,” Vollmer said of getting the world record. “Each time I dive in, I’m just trying to see how fast I can go. I’m hoping – really hoping – that that 55 is there.
“…I’m just going to keep working on what I’ve been working on, having a tighter rhythm, hitting my walls, having the best underwater I can and just making sure I do all the little things. That’s how I’m going to get those extra tenths.”
