Danielle sets new national record at Olympics

dannielle beaubrun (third from left) on the starting blocks

Danielle Beaubrun of Saint Lucia stepped up to the Lane 6 starting blocks in Heat

2 of the Women’s 100-metre Breaststroke at the Beijing Olympics to swim a

watershed race of her career.

Going into that Heat with a time of 1:15.14, Danielle placed fourth behind

Yekaterina Sadovnik of Kazakstan, Valeria Silva of Peru, and Myumi Raheem of Sri

Lanka. In a race that reflected her months of preparation, she swam a blistering

34.40 seconds in the first 50 metres, ending with a new Saint Lucia national

record and OECS record of 1:12.85..

This time moved her to third place in her heat behind Sadovnik (1:11.14), and

Silva (1:11.64), leaving Raheem in fourth place with a 1:15.33, Yamout of Libya

(1:16.17), and Hatamkhanova of Azerbaijan (1:20.22).

While not able to place in the semi-finals, it was a phenomenal swim for the

athlete to take off 2.29 seconds off her own national record of 1:15.14.