|You are in: Swimming|
Thursday, 1 August, 2002, 19:18 GMT 20:18 UK
Huegill powers to victory
World champion Geoff Huegill won the inaugural men's 50m butterfly gold medal at the Commonwealth Games.
South Africa's Roland Schoeman squeezed into the lead in the one-length sprint but Huegill just caught him at the finish.
The Australian touched a fraction in front to win in 23.57, outside his own 23.44 world record mark.
Schoeman took the silver in 23.66, with England's Mark Foster, former world short-course champion, winning the bronze in 24.11.
"At 11 o'clock, I decided to shave my head. I don't like to swim with a cap on and I decided to get serious," said Huegill.
"As soon as I dived in it felt great, the water was just rushing over my head."
The Australian admitted that he did not have things all his own way.
"It's one of those races that's over so quickly that you have to compose yourself and make sure you get a good start," said Huegill.
"With guys like Mark (Foster) and Roland (Schoeman) it is essential to do that, but I didn't feel in control of the race until the last 10 metres."
Foster said: "I was getting very tired towards the end, I could feel myself dropping.
"In the last 10 metres my power went and it was hurting. I knew then that I was fighting for the minor places."
Other top Swimming stories:
Links to more Swimming stories are at the foot of the page.
|E-mail this story to a friend|
Links to more Swimming stories