Two more medals as Malta exceeds expectations

After Tuesday's silver medal, won by Angela Galea in the 200 butterfly, the same swimmer repeated her success in the two-lap event when she again finished second to Maria Papadopoulou of Cyprus. Her time of 1:03.62 equalled her national record which she registered in Luxembourg last January.

Not to be outdone, the girl's 4x200 metres freestyle relay team made up of Davina Mangion, Lara and Roberta Callus and Galea managed to grab the bronze medal in a time of 9:08.03, a massive improvement of 8.55 seconds over the previous mark set at the Easter International Meet.

This was the first time since 1993 when Malta managed to win a medal in a team event.

Roberta Callus, although finishing fifth, a placing which was anticipated, broke new ground when she dipped under the four minutes 40 seconds barrier after clocking 4:37.77 in the 400m freestyle.

There were also personal bests from Mangion, 1:08.21 in the 100 'fly, and 2:16.49 in the 200 'free when leading off the relay team.

Another swimmer who maintained a steady improvement was Nikki Abela who clocked 1:21.92 in the 100 breaststroke final, a personal best for her.

Attila Selmeci, the national team coach, was extremely satisfied with his swimmers who have all managed to peak for these Games.

He had words of praise for the girls, not the least for the fighting qualities they had.

"Angela Galea and Roberta Callus are our lead swimmers. They have kept up their scheduled appointment with these Games. Angela showed she is a fantastic competitor, while I have to thank Roberta for pushing me into entering the relay team.

"I must confess I was not very confident about our chances in the 4x200 race, but Roberta proved me wrong.

"Mangion and Abela have kept up their impressive progress," Selmeci added.

Galea's second silver medal capped another successful year.

"Today, it was different from yesterday as I won the silver medal and not lost the gold," she remarked.

Robert and Lara Callus, Mangion and Abela all said they worked hard to peak for these Games.

"So far we have succeeded in reaching the desired levels," they agreed.

Today, Abela and Galea will be involved in the 200m breastroke while Roberta Callus will race the 200m freestyle. Mark Buttigieg is entered for the 200m breast.

"Rather than medals, the prospects are for honourable placings, supported by more PBs," Selmeci said.

The races yesterday were again dominated by swimmers from Iceland, Luxembourg and Monaco who picked up most of the medals.

There were new Games records with a spate of excellent technical performances, particularly from Monaco's Diego Mularoni in the 400m freestyle (4:01.43), Alwin de Prins, of Luxembourg, in the 100m breast (1:03.04), Iceland's Orn Arnason, in the 100m back (57.50) and the 4x200m relay team from Monaco (7:45.77).