Peirsol brings home three gold medals from Spain

Aaron Peirsol added to his medal collection once again Sunday,

capturing his third gold medal of the 2003 World Championships as

part of the world-record setting United States’ medley relay team in

Barcelona, Spain.

Peirsol, a 2002 graduate of Newport Harbor High, had already won

gold medals in the 100 and 200-meter backstroke and a silver medal as

part of the 800-meter freestyle relay team. Swimming the first leg of

the 4x100-meter medley relay Sunday, on the final day of the World

Championships, he snagged his 13th medal in international

competition.

Peirsol gave the U.S. a big lead to begin with, finishing his 100

meters more than a second faster than his closest competitor. Brendan

Hansen, Ian Crocker and Jason Lezak maintained that lead throughout

the race, finishing in a time of 3:31.54, more than three seconds

faster than second-place Russia and nearly two seconds faster than

the previous world record of 3:33.48, set by the United States in

September 2002.

It was Peirsol’s lone world record of the championships, though he

did set two meet records (100 backstroke and 200 backstroke) and an

American record (800-meter freestyle relay).

The three gold medals give him four in his career at the World

Championships. He also won the 200-meter backstroke in 2001. In

addition, he was a silver medalist at the 2000 Olympic Games in the

200-meter backstroke, an event in which he owns the world record.

Prior to the medley relay, Peirsol swam in the finals of the

50-meter backstroke. He finished eighth with a time of 25.75.

Germany’s Thomas Rupprath set a new world record in winning the

event, with a time of 24.80.

With the conclusion of the event, the U.S. team topped the medal

charts with 28 medals. Including the four won by Aaron, there will be

one more medal returning to the Newport-Mesa area. His younger

sister, Hayley, a 2003 Newport Harbor High gradate won a silver medal

in the 1500-meter freestyle earlier in the meet.