Soni, Mellouli, Lefert All Medal At Worlds
December 16, 2010 | Men's Swimming & Diving
Dec. 16, 2010
Former USC greats Rebecca Soni and Ous Mellouli won gold and silver medals, respectively, while Trojan sophomore Clement Lefert earned a relay bronze on the second day of the 2010 FINA Short Course World Championships on Thursday (Dec. 16) in Dubai, UAE.
Soni claimed gold in the 50m breast in a personal best 29.83, which was just enough to beat second-place Australian Leiston Pickett (29.84) and third-place Chinese Jin Zhao (29.90). Soni had qualified second for the final with a 30.00, a time that would have been fifth in today's final.
Soni now has major international titles in all distances of the breaststroke. She won gold at the 2008 Olympics in the 200m breast and won gold at the 2009 World Championships in the 100m breast.
Mellouli, who was third in the 200m free on Wednesday, won silver in the 400m IM in 3:57.40. It took a world record effort by American Ryan Lochte to beat him. Lochte won in 3:55.50. Mellouli, swimming for Tunisia, was actually third until the final 50 meters, when he passed Amercian Scott Clary.
Lefert, swimming for France, helped his country to third place in the 4x200 free relay, swimming the third leg.
Former Trojan Rodrigo Castro, swimming for Brazil, also was in the race, leading off his country's eighth-place swim in the final.
Players Mentioned
