Dana Vollmer Wins Gold With New World Record

Dana Vollmer has been breaking records all-week long. The US Olympic swimmer set a new Olympic record during the qualifying round earlier this week, and today she bettered her time by another .08 seconds to set another world record and claim a gold medal for the 100 meter butterfly.

After she set the Olympic record during her qualifying session, Vollmer said:

“I felt really good. I like to push myself in the prelims and see where I’m going in my body. I did feel like I was kind of pacing myself and building up to get faster. Walking in I just had to remind myself that I love racing and the 100m fly is my favorite event.”

Vollmer finished the 100-meter butterfly in 55.98 seconds. The gold medal winner beat the world record, which was set by Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden in 2009 at the World Championships in Rome, by .08 seconds.

Vollmer’s world record finish and gold medal victory were made even more impressive by the fact that she finished nearly a full second ahead of her competitors. Lu Ying of China took the silver during the 100-meter butterfly today with a 56.87 second time. Alicia Coutts of Australia took third with 56.94.

CBS notes that swimming records are becoming a bit of a rarity. During the 2008 Olympics, swimmers were allowed to wear technologically advanced suits that allowed them to shave tenths off of longstanding records. The swimmers at the 2012 London Olympics are abiding by new swimsuit mandates making it harder to beat records.

Vollmer, however, made it look easy.