Wong crushes CNMI mark in 200m IM

What Rezne Wong failed to accomplish in Italy he did in China.

Wong shattered the CNMI record in the 200m individual medley after racing in a qualifying heat in the 14th FINA World Championships yesterday at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center.

The CNMI swimmer completed the 200m IM in two minutes and 10.18 seconds, breaking the Commonwealth national mark (2:14.48) by more than four seconds and redeeming himself from a frustrating finish in the same race two years ago.

In 2009, Wong swam in the 200m IM at the World Championships in Rome, but timed in at 2:14.96, falling .48 of a second short of surpassing the then CNMI mark, which he recorded on May 30, 2009 during a tournament in Guam. Out of the four individual events Wong joined in, it was only in the 200m IM, one of his favorites, that the University of Hawaii-Manoa swimmer failed to record either a personal best time or a CNMI mark.

Two years later, Wong is back for his third World Championships and this time he made sure he won’t miss the Commonwealth record.

Wong was on Heat 1 of the 200m IM qualifying race and finished sixth out of eighth swimmers in the field. He started strong in the qualifying heat, clocking in at 28.01 seconds in the first 50m (butterfly) of the race before slowing down in the next 50m (backstroke), submitting 33.95 seconds. Wong’s slowest pace came in the 50m breaststroke, but he went all out in the last 50m (freestyle), logging 31.02 seconds.

The 20-year-old swimmer’s 2:10.18 time also surpassed his qualifying time (2:11.81/University of Hawaii-Manoa), moving Wong less than two seconds away from making the U.S. national cut (2:08.59).

Brazil’s Thiago Pereira submitted the fastest qualifying heat time in the 200m IM at 1:57.82 to lead 15 others to the next round of the race. Pereira’s time was about two seconds faster that favorite Ryan Lochte (1:59.04) of the U.S.

Meanwhile, Wong will complete his World Championships stint via the 200m breaststroke race today. The CNMI swimmer will be on Heat 2 of the eight qualifying races that will start at 9am.

Wong, who will be on Lane 2, holds a qualifying time of 2:26.83, which is also the CNMI record the UH-Hawaii posted on July 30, 2009, in Rome.

Also competing in a qualifying heat today is Grace Kimball, who will be making her World Championships debut. She will be on Heat 2 of the 100m freestyle preliminary race.