T&T's George Bovell III will be hoping to end a run of four straight silver medals in the FINA/Arena Swimming Short Course World Cup and two consecutive in the men's 100 metres individual medley when he competes in the Sweden leg today hosted by the Sweden Swimming Federation at Eriksdalsbadet, Stockholm. The 29-year-old Bovell III, a 2004 Olympic bronze medal winner in the 200m individual medley and four-time Olympian will line up in heat four of five from lane four against Finnish duo, Ville Kallinen and Sami Myren, Brazilian Henrique Rodrigues, Australian Kyle Richardson, Swedish pair Simon Sjodin and Axel Petterson as well as Macedonia's Stefan Stojmenovic.
Last week in the Qatar leg at the Hamad Aquatic Centre in Doha, Bovell earned a second straight silver medal in the men's 100 metres individual medley in a new national record and lifetime best of 51.87 seconds. Australian Kenneth To (51.58) took gold while South Africa's Darian Townsend got bronze in 52.76 seconds as the trio finished in the same positions as they did in Dubai a week earlier at the Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Sports Complex, with Bovell getting silver in the 100m IM in 52.19 seconds, behind To (51.43), while Townsend took bronze in 52.60. Both To and Townsend will compete in the fifth and final heat from lanes four and five respectively.
Tomorrow, Bovell III, who was seventh in the men's 50m freestyle at the London Olympic Games, will also try to end a run of two straight silver medal finishes. In Doha, the top T&T swimmer sped home in 21.06 seconds, just behind USA's Anthony Ervin who splashed to gold in 21.02 seconds, while Richardson got bronze in 21.54 seconds. Ironically, the trio also finished 1-2-3 at the Dubai, United Arab Emirates leg of the World Cup with Ervin winning in 21.18 seconds followed by Bovell (21.23) and Richardson 21.58). After tomorrow's World Cup event, Bovell will compete in Moscow, Russia, October 17-18; Berlin, Germany, October 20-21; Beijing, China (November 2-3); Tokyo, Japan, (November 6-7) and Singapore, November 10-11.