T&T's George Bovell will resume his quest for the US$100,000 winners cheque when the eight-leg FINA/Arena Swimming Short Course World Cup resumes in Beijing, China at the National Aquatic Centre. Bovell, 29, a four-time Olympian and 2004 Athens Greece bronze medallist, went into the pool last night, ranked second on the points table. He was carded to swim in the fourth and final men's 100 metres individual medley heat from lane four, against local swimmers, Weizhong Li, Liuqing Ding, Xiaolei Sun, Huanan Ling and Guixu Zhong as well as Russian Viacheslav Prudnikov and Australian Tomasso D'Orsogna.
While the Chinese swimmers will be an unknown commodity to Bovell, who has won two gold and three silver in five pervious starts in the event, Prudnikov and D'Orsogna will not be as the T&T swimmer beat both in the heats in the same event on October 17, in Moscow, Russia before grabbing silver in the final behind Australian Kenneth To.
To, overall points leader with 110 points, will compete in the penultimate heat along with South African, Darian Townsend, who has taken bronze four times in five starts, and Finland's Ari-Pekka Liukkonen. At the end of the fifth leg of the World Cup in Berlin, Germany, on October 22, USA-based Bovell, who won gold in the 100m individual medley and silver in the 50m freestyle at the two-day meet gained 25 points to climb to 92 points from ten medals (four gold, six silver) followed by Japan's Daiya Seto (81) and Russian Stanislav Donets 53.
In the 100m individual medley, Bovell III earned his second 100m IM gold when he touched the wall in 51.20 seconds, a new national record, bettering his 51.56, which he established in Sweden a week earlier when he also won gold and the fastest in the world this year. The time was also the fastest 100m Short Course time for the year, and second best ever in textile suit swimwear. It is only bettered by American Ryan Lochte.
A day later in the 50m freestyle final, Bovell III won his tenth medal of the World Cup to carry his tour earnings to US$12,000, when he placed second in 20.97 seconds behind Anthony Ervin of the USA, who won in 20.85 seconds, a new personal best and USA?record while Australian Matthew Targett (21.12) took bronze.
Prior to arriving in China, Bovell III enjoyed a few rest days in Oslo, Norway before he resumed training for the Asian legs of the tour with swimming friend, Norwegian Olympians, Gard Kvale and Alex Hetland, which he hopes will pay off at the end of the tour come November 11. Tonight (Friday) he will compete in the 50m freestyle heats, from which he will hope to advance to his straight final and claim a third gold after his previous triumphs in Stockholm, Sweden (October 14) in a national record of 20.82, and Moscow, Russia four days later.
He is now ranked second fastest ever in the 50m freestyle behind 2008 Olympic champion Cesar Cielo of Brazil while the 20.82 at the Sweden leg of the World Cup is even faster than 2000 Olympic champion Anthony Ervin's American record in Berlin when Bovell was second. The two other legs of the tour will take place in Tokyo, Japan (November 6-7) and Singapore (November 10-11) after which the second best swimmer overall among the men gets US$US$50,000 and third, US$30,000.
