CHINESE SURPRISE AT WORLD GAMES
Kaohsiung, Chinese Taipei, July 24: China stamped its dominance on Lifesaving pool sport at Kaohsiung International Aquatic Centre tonight with three world records, leaving the seven other countries competing in no doubt that a new swimming superpower had arrived. SEAN O'OCONNELL reports...The pool has traditionally been the domain of European strong-houses including Italy, Germany and France, but if those countries did not notice China's rise after the World Life Saving Championships in Germany last August, tonight's performance will certainly leave a lasting impression.
Even the much fancied Italians, who broke one world and one games record and led the pointscore at the conclusion of Day 1 with 221 points, were forced to look over their shoulders with the Asian powerhouse only 38 points behind on 183, ahead of Germany on 156, Australia on 147.5 and New Zealand on 125.5.
The Australian team continued their solid form from earlier in the day and although finished out of the medals in the individual events, scored well enough to keep fierce rivals New Zealand at bay.
With no medals at stake in team events, the relays were a dash for points and the Australian girls smashed the national record, clocking 1:54:76 in the 4x50 obstacle relay, four seconds off the blistering pace of the Chinese who swam 1:50:49.
Australian team coach, Danny Short, said the team's performance had surpassed expectations, with a number of Australian records broken.
"The most impressive aspect of the team's performance tonight was that there were no mistakes - in team events to not get 
disqualified is the number goal, so our relay performances were fantastic," he said.
"We know how much effort the Kiwis have put into their pool preparation so to be more than matching them after the first day is pleasing, although we expect them to perform strongly tomorrow."
"The performance of the Chinese was simply stunning - when people read that Ling Yu smashed the record by seven seconds they will think it is typo."
Day 2 of competition kicks off in the Kaohsiung International Aquatic Centre at 09:00h local time (11:00h AEST) with Felysia Konakof, Naomi Flood, Jenny Parry, Luke Harper, Mitch Parkes and Andrew Bowden featuring in the heats of the 100m manikin carry with fins, followed by Jenny Parry, Felysia Konakof, Sarah Windsor, Chris Allum, Luke Harper and Andrew Bowden in the heats of the 100m rescue medley.
Finals will be held from 17:00h local time (19:00h AEST) with the 4x50 rescue medleys being the last events in the pool, before moving to the ocean on Saturday.
LIFESAVING
World Games, Kaohsiung, Chinese Taipei (Taiwan), Day 1 - Thursday 23 July:
Male:
200m Obstacle Swim: E Zhang (CHN) 1:55.01 (WR) F Pinotti (ITA) 1:55.55 B Bilski (GER) 1:57.00 S Kent (NZL) 1:58.30 T Vilaceca (FRA) 1:58.42 G Proietti (ITA) 1:59.34
50m Manikin Carry: F Pinotti (ITA) 0:30.47 F LaClaustra (FRA) 0:31.12 G Legnani (ITA) 0:31.18 B Van Niekerk (RSA) 0:31.61 S Kent 0:31.67 = A Bowden (AUS) 0:31.67
4x50 Obstacle Relay ITA 1:38.88 (WR) GER 1:39.81 NZL 1:40.01 CHN 1:4052 AUS 1:41.04 FRA 1:41.44 4x25
Manikin Carry ITA 1:11.23 (GR) GER 1:14.57 AUS 1:14.86 CHN 1:14.98 NZL 1:17.26 FRA 1:17.36
Female:
200m Obstacle Swim: Y Lu (CHN) 2:01.88 (WR) J Yang (CHN) 2:05.48 C Yang (TPE) 2:05.61 N Flood (AUS) 2:12.29 K Smith 2:13.10 C Pidello (ITA) 2:13.22
50m Manikin Carry: I Cerquozzi (ITA) 0:37.32 Y Gao (CHN) 0:37.48 Q He (CHN) 0:38.57 S Kasperski (GER) 0:38.78 E Prelle (ITA) 0:39.00 S Windsor (AUS) 0:39.30
4x50 Obstacle Relay CHN 1:50.49 (WR) ITA 1:53.96 AUS 1:54.76 GER 1:55.68 TPE 1:56.12 FRA 1:57.66
4x25 Manikin Carry GER 1:27.33 CHN 1:29.11 ITA 1:30.62 AUS 1:33.79 FRA 1:39.11 NZL 1:39.98
Pointscore after Day 1
ITA 221 CHN 183 GER 156 AUS 147.5 NZL 125.5 FRA 93 TPE 65 = RSA 65
About the World Games: The Eighth World Games are being held in Kaohsiung, Chinese Taipei from 16 to 26 July 2009. Around 3200 athletes are competing in 26 sports including Aikido, BodyBuilding, Climbing, Gymnastics, Karate, Orienteering and Rugby 7s. Lifesaving events will be held from Thursday 23 to Friday 25 July.
The Australian Lifesaving team is supported by the Australian Sports Commission