Swimming: Portsmouth teenager wins silver

THE PORTSMOUTH teenager Margaretha Pedder won an unexpected silver medal in a World Cup short-course meeting in Tasmania yesterday.

The 18-year-old butterfly specialist took second place in the 800m freestyle, recording a time of 8min 37.44sec. Pedder was just under three seconds behind the winner, Rachel Harris from Australia. Her fellow Britons Katy Sexton and Karen Legg claimed sixth and fifth places in the 200m backstroke and 200m freestyle respectively.

The Australian 400m freestyle world champion, Ian Thorpe, maintained his domination of the event. The 16-year-old, unbeaten in major 400m freestyles since winning the world championship title in Perth last January, trailed his compatriot Grant Hackett until the last 25m before storming to victory in 3:42.19.

Hackett, who was inside world-record pace at the halfway stage, was second in 3:43.40.

Thorpe, whose triumph in Perth at 15 made him the youngest ever men's world champion, won the 200m and 400m freestyle at a World Cup meeting in Sydney on Friday and Saturday, despite the death of his grandfather a few days earlier.