After setting a new American standard yesterday in the 200 breaststroke, Kevin Cordes came back on Saturday afternoon to win the 100 meter breaststroke in record fashion. His final time of 56.88 broke the previous standard of 57.18 by Mike Alexandrov at the 2010 Short Course World Championships.
Note: the fastest American time on record was actually a 57.16 from Alexandrov back in December of 2009, when full-body suits were still legal on the world stage but no longer allowed in meets on U.S. soil. USA Swimming elected not to ratify Alexandrov’s 57.16.
Possibly even bigger than the record, though, were the points scored by Cordes in his victory for Team USA, which tied the meet after at 97-97. Without that record effort, Cordes would have been third behind Europeans Marco Koch (57.05) and Damir Dugonjic (57.08).
That time pushed Cordes up to third place in the world in 2013, behind European textile record holder Fabio Scozzoli (56.49) and multi-Olympic gold medalist Daniel Gyurta (56.79).
Any video of the race?
I didn’t watch day 2. 🙁