Sporting Digest: Swimming

JEFF ROUSE, of the United States, yesterday set a short-course world record of 51.43 seconds in the 100m backstroke at the Optrex Challenge inivitational meet in Sheffield. The old record of 52.50sec was set by Mark Tewkesbury, of Canada, in 1992 in the same pool.

OPTREX INTERNATIONAL MEET (Sheffield): Men: Freestyle: 50m: 1 M Foster (Eng) 22.16 sec; 2= J Olson (US) and A Vasileev (Rus) 22.42. 100m: 1 Olson 48:25; 2 Foster 49:25; A Vasiliev 49:37. 200m: 1 A Holmertz (Swe) 1min 47.15sec; 2 P Palmer (Eng) 1:47.32; 3 Olson 1:47.36. 1,000m Eliminator: 1 Palmer 9:55.57; 2 I Wilson (Eng) 9:55.70; 3 A Kudriastsev (Rus). Backstroke: 100m: 1 J Rouse (US) 51.43 (world record); 2 M Harris (Eng) 55.62; 3 J Fleet (Eng) 56.06. Breaststroke: 100m: 1 K Guttler (Hung) 1:00.41; 2 D Volkov (Rus) 1:00.87; 3 R Santos (US) 1:00.96. 200m: 1 N Gillingham (Eng) 2:10.08; 2 Santos 2:10.47; 3 S Lopez (Sp) 2:10.69. Women: Freestyle: 200m: 1 K Brienesse (Neth) 1:59.44; 2 K Pickering (Eng) 2:00.54; 3 S Hardcastle (Eng) 2:01.25. 400m: 1 Hardcastle 4:09.35; 2 M Hardiman (Eng) 4:16.45; 3 A Pendrich (Sco) 4:18.75. Backstroke: 200m: 1 N Stevenson (Aus) 2:09.47; 2 H Slatter (Eng) 2:10.62; 3 J Deakins (Eng) 2:13.99.