What was Neil Brooks' fastest recorded time?
16330449#8
Brooks then made a powerful, well-timed dive and surfaced almost even with his Soviet counterpart Kopliakov. He had drawn level halfway through his leg and made a superior turn to take the lead as they headed home. The Soviet freestyler pulled level with 25 m to go before Brooks sprinted away again to seal an Australian victory by 0.22 s. He did not breathe in the last ten metres, and claimed to be laughing for the final five metres, confident that his opponent could not pass him. Brooks had finished his leg in 49.86 s as he had vowed to his teammates. In doing so, he recorded the fastest freestyle split in the relay, even faster than the individual 100 m freestyle gold medallist, Jörg Woithe of East Germany.
Swimming at the 1980 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay
2325724#12
In the individual event, which occurred after the relay, Brooks had come equal first in his heat with eventual bronze medallist Per Johansson from Sweden in a time of 52.11 s. This made him the seventh fastest qualifier for the semi-finals, but he suffered a severe asthma attack and had to be hospitalised. He swam the semi-final regardless, despite having a heart-rate before the start of race of 120, compared to his usual 72. He finished seventh in a time of 52.70 s, which saw him place 14th, missing the final by 0.83 s.
Neil Brooks
2325724#8
Aged 17, Brooks swam 51.91 s in Perth in January 1980, breaking Tonelli's Australian record in the 100 m freestyle. As a result, he was invited to his first national training camp under Bill Sweetenham for prospective Olympic swimmers. He had the first of his many clashes with sporting administrators, first claiming that the officials did not want him to board with Tonelli's family and then stating that Sweetenham had only coached him two or three times, which he felt was insufficient. Brooks walked out of the camp and returned to Perth to train under Duff. At the Australian Championships, the 100 m was seen as a clash between Tonelli and Brooks. The latter came second in the 100 m freestyle, outsprinted in the dying stages by Tonelli, who reclaimed his national record in a time of 51.80 s. As a result, Brooks was selected in both the individual event and the 4 × 100 m medley relay.
Neil Brooks
2325724#16
Arriving in Brisbane for the Commonwealth Games, Brooks and some of his fellow sprinters shaved their heads, something that received much attention from the Australian public. He won his heat of the 100 m freestyle in a Commonwealth and Commonwealth Games record of 51.09 s. He swam slower in the final, but his time of 51.14 s was enough to secure the gold medal in a close contest. Just 0.43 s separated him and the bronze and silver medallists Greg Fasala and Michael Delany, both of Australia.
Neil Brooks
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In 1985, Brooks dead-heated with Stockwell in the 100 m freestyle at the Australian Championships, clocking a time of 51.12 s. He then combined with Tom Stachewicz, Paul Lee and Barry Armstrong, as Western Australia won the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay for the first time. Brooks maintained his form and despite not defending his Australian 100 m title, was selected for the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, where he came second to Fasala in the 100 m freestyle in a time of 51.01 s. He claimed gold in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay along with Fasala, Stockwell and Matthew Renshaw, anchoring the quartet in setting a Commonwealth Games record. On the return flight, he consumed 46 cans of beer and was banned for six months after he talked about the incident during a television interview. In his memoirs, Talbot, a non-drinker, cited Brooks and his Mean Machine teammates as being one of the biggest proponents of a hard-drinking culture that had permeated the Australian swimming scene at the time. In particular, he singled out Brooks as being a focal point of disruptive activity during his time at the Australian Institute of Sport. Talbot sees alcohol as the main reason behind the collapse of Australia's standing in the swimming world in the 1970s and the subsequent prolonged period of international uncompetitiveness in the 1980s.
Neil Brooks
2850265#26
A faster lap was recorded at Mount Panorama in March 2011 but as it was not achieved during a race it does not count as a record. As part of publicity for the 2011 Australian Grand Prix, McLaren provided a MP4-23 Formula One car for Jenson Button and Craig Lowndes. Button recorded a time of 1:48.88.
The fastest lap of the pre-1987 circuit was a 2:09.7 set by Formula 5000 driver Neil Allen in 1970 driving a McLaren M10B-Chevrolet.
Mount Panorama Circuit
2325724#7
During the 1976–77 season, Brooks came to prominence as a possible Australian representative sprinter. He broke six records in winning two events at the 1977 Western Australian Championships. He swam the 100 m freestyle in 56.56 s, breaking the state records for 14-, 15-, and 16-year-olds, before repeating the achievement in the 200 m backstroke. Still aged 14, he competed at his second Australian Championships and came fourth in the 100 m freestyle. In 1978, he came third in the 100 m freestyle and missed selection for the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Canada by 0.03 s. He spent the rest of the year training and studying accounting at Leederville Technical College. During the year, Brooks set Australian age group records in the 200 m individual medley, the 200 m backstroke and the 100 m freestyle. At the inaugural Australian Short Course Championships in Launceston, Tasmania in 1979, he won silver in the 200 m individual medley and bronze in the 100 m freestyle. His performances earned him selection in the Australian team for the first time, competing in the FINA Swimming World Cup event in Tokyo in April 1979, aged 16 years and nine months.
Neil Brooks
20534689#15
In 1967 two Venom Thruxton motorcycles, ridden by Neil Kelly and Keith Heckles gained first and second places in the "Production TT", a category for road-based machines with limited controlled-modifications first staged at the Isle of Man in that year; Kelly also recorded the fastest lap at 91 mph. Prepared by Reg Orpin, workshop manager at London Velocette dealer L.Stevens, the winning motorcycle was far from standard, for as well as being in Thruxton trim, the valve gear included titanium tips to the pushrods and valve caps. A Norton Manx piston had been specially engineered at Velocette's Hall Green Workshops, and it had cam followers on needle rollers as well as light alloy timing wheels. It was nearly all for nothing, however, as Kelly failed to start and the rest of the field left him struggling to kick start the Venom. Orpin managed to start it just in time, and despite his poor start, Neil Kelly caught up with the other riders within three miles and went on to win the 500 cc class, recording 121 mph as he passed the Highlander speed trap.
Velocette Venom
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Versfield swam collegiately for the Georgia Bulldogs at the University of Georgia (UGA). As a UGA senior in 2008, he won an individual national championship in the 200-yard breaststroke at the NCAA Championships by swimming the fastest time in the history of the event (1:51.40). At UGA, Versfeld was a seven-time All-American and graduated as the team record-holder in the 100-yard breaststroke, 200-yard breaststroke, 200-yard medley relay and 400-yard medley relay.
Neil Versfeld
24013359#2
Demus and Moroşanu recorded the fastest times on the first day of the competition, which saw no surprise eliminations. Kaliese Spencer was the third fastest, making her seem a possible finalist. Reigning Olympic champion Walker was the fastest in the semi-finals, with Lucas the second fastest in a national record time. Spencer, winner of the second race, was initially disqualified but was reinstated upon review. Amaka Ogoegbunam, a Nigerian athlete, tested positive for metenolone (an anabolic steroid) after the semi-finals, becoming the second athlete of the competition to fail a drugs test after Jamel Chatbi.
2009 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 400 metres hurdles
10254889#1
Chambon won the 3x3x3 Rubik's Cube event at the 2005 French Open, in what was only his second tournament. In the first round of this tournament, he broke the European Record for the fastest average time. Later that year he finished second in the World Championships. A series of top-four finishes followed before he broke the World Record for the fastest solve at the Belgian Open in 2007. Chambon broke the world record in the first round with a 10.36 seconds solve. However, he was then beaten by Thibaut Jacquinot in the final. In 2008, he regained his world record with a time of 9.18 seconds. His record was broken again by Yu Nakajima, who set an average of 11.28 seconds and a best time of 8.72 on May 4, 2008 at Kawashi Open 2008.
Édouard Chambon