James Hickman made history in Indianapolis by taking a fifth consecutive gold medal at the World Short Course Championships, having dominated the men’s 200m butterfly over the past seven years. No doubt Michael Phelps’ absence due to injury favoured the Manchester Aquatics star, but he still had to battle hard to overcome the strong challenges of Romania’s Ioan Gherghel and China’s Peng Wu, who finished second and third. Mark Foster also took gold, putting the disappointment of failing to qualify for Britain’s Olympic squad firmly behind him. The Mancunian is considering delaying his retirement in light of his home city winning the race to stage the 2008 Championships. US Olympic hero Aaron Peirsol set two new world records in 200m breaststroke and 4x100m relay events, but the undoubted star of Indianapolis was 26-year-old Australian Brooke Hanson. She took no less than six gold medals home with her after success in the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke and the 100m, 200m and 4x100m freestyle.
