2015 World University Games: Day 5 Finals Live Recap

2015 WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES

• July 4th-July 11th, 2015 (Saturday-Saturday)
• Gwangju, South Korea
• Prelims 8:30AM/Finals 7PM (local time)
• Prelims 7:30PM (day before)/Finals 6AM (U.S. Eastern Time)
• Full meet preview
• Day 5 Prelims Live Recap
• Results
• Live feed (finals only) 
• In the United States: ESPN3.com
• Twitter: @swimswamlive

Day 5 swimming finals at the 2015 World University Games has a bit of a lighter schedule than the past couple of days.  This is especially true with regards to finals, as there are only three of them.  The first will be the women’s 200 breaststroke, where Japan’s Keiko Fukudome comes in as the top seed.  Jack Conger (USA) had the fastest time in both prelims and semifinals, as well as an attention-grabbing 47.75 split in the finals of the 4×100 free relay on the first night of competition.  Finally, Italy’s Elena Di Liddo has the top seed going into the final of the women’s 100 fly.

Tonight will also feature semifinals in the men’s 200 back, women’s 200 free, women’s 50 back, men’s 50 breast.  With only three medal ceremonies, and no distance events, this should be one of the shorter sessions of the week.

Women’s 200 Breast – Final

Japan’s Reona Aoki, swimming out of lane five, jumped out to an early lead.  She touched first at the 50m mark, and had nearly a body-length lead at the halfway point of the race.  However, it was her teammate, the top-seeded Keiko Fukudome, who would take the gold medal, as she surged ahead over the final 50m of the race to beat Aoki by over a second, 2:24.92 to 2:26.17.  Those times put both swimmers inside the top 25 in the world this year.

Czech swimmer Martina Moravcikov also used a strong last 50 to pick up the bronze medal (2:27.35).  In doing so she picked off Andrea Cottrell (USA), who finished in fourth with a time of 2:28.08.

The final four spots went to Italy’s Francesca Fangio (2:28.18), American Molly Hannis (2:28.67), Suyeon Back of Korea (2:28.89) and British swimmer Olivia White (2:29.95).

Men’s 200 Back – Semis

Italy’s Christopher Ciccarese won the first heat, leading from start to finish and touching in 1:57.19.  Japan’s Keita Sunama touched second in 1:59.14, followed by Great Britain’s Joe Patching (1:59.67) and Poland’s Krzysztof Morawski (2:00.28).  All four will swim in the final tomorrow night.

In similar fashion, Jacob Pebley of the USA went out hard and maintained his lead the whole way.  His time of 1:57.01 will earn him lane four for the final.  Russia’s Andrei Shabasov was next, with a time of 1:59.63.  Also advancing through to the finals from the second heat will be the USA’s Connor Green (1:59.08) and Italy’s Giorgi Gaetani (2:00.09).

Pebley’s swim from this morning puts him at 11th-fastest in the world this year, placing him between fellow American swimmers Ryan Murphy and Matt Grevers.

Women’s 200 Free – Semis

Shannon Vreeland (USA) was the only swimmer in the first heat to swim under 2:00, touching in 1:59.15.  Italy’s Martina De Memme finished second in 2:00.11.  Shiji Wang of China (2:00.31), Japan’s Aya Takano (2:00.79), and Germany’s Alina Weber (2:00.99) also advanced to finals.

For the fourth semifinal heat in a row, the swimmer who touched first at the 50m mark went on to win the heat.  This time it was Leah Smith of the USA.  It looked like this race might be a little closer at first, as Japan’s Yasuko Miyamoto was just .03 behind Smith at the 100m mark.  However, Smith pulled away over the third 50, and continued to build that lead, touching in 1:58.79.  Miyamato finished over two seconds behind her, placing second in 2:00.79.  Ellen Fullerton of Australia will also advance to finals after finishing third in the heat (2:00.93).

Men’s 100 Free – Final

Brazil’s Henrique Martins picked up his second gold of the meet, just touching out the top seed, Jack Conger of the United States, 48.98 to 49.02.  Conger was first at the wall, with Martins over a half second behind, but Martins caught up to Conger in the final 25m.  That’s a personal best for both swimmers.

The race for bronze was also decided by the same .04 margin, with Italy’s Marco Belotti taking the medal over American Seth Stubblefield, 49.43 to 49.47.

Kemal Gurdal of Turkey was the only other swimmer under 50.0, touching fifth with a time of 49.86.  Toro Maruyama of Japan (50.00), Daniel Hunter of New Zealand (50.05), and Oleg Tikhobev of Russia (50.17) took the last three places.

Women’s 50 Back – Semis

In the first heat, Italy’s Arianna Barbieri won in a time of 28.55, despite having the slowest reaction time of the heat.  Australia’s Holly Barratt and France’s Camille Gheorghiu were just behind her, both touching in 28.61.  Hoi Au of Hong Kong and Yekaterina Rudenko of Kazakhstan will also advance to tommorrow’s final with times 28.66 and 28.67, respectively.

Rachel Bootsma of the USA had the fastest time of either heat with a 28.13.  Canadian Kylie Masse, who upset Americans Bootsma and Elizabeth Pelton in the 100 back, had the 2nd-fastest time of the heat with a 28.46.

There will be a swim-off for the 8th spot in tomorrow’s finals, with both Hyounji Yu of the host South Korea and the aforementioned Pelton swimming a 28.76.

Men’s 100 Fly – Semis

Italy’s Piero Codia joined the sub-52 club in this event tonight, winning the first heat in a time of 51.75.  Evgeny Koptelov of Russia took second in 51.86.  Matthew Josa (USA) touched third with a 52.23.  Aleksandr Sadovinkkov of Russia (52.29) and Michal Poprawa (52.85) also advance to finals.

Heat two didn’t have quite the speed, with Youhen Tsurkin of Belarus finishing first in a time of 52.20, followed by Japan’s Masayuki Umemoto over a half second behind at 52.71.  American Matt Ellis was the only other man in the heat to swim under 53, touching in 52.95 and securing a spot in tomorrow’s final.  Notably, Henrique Martins finished fifth in the heat with a time of 53.33 approximately 15 minutes after winning the 100 free.

Women’s 100 Fly – Finals

Ying Lu (China) won her second gold medal of these Games, swimming a 57.83 for the win in this event after winning the 50 fly earlier this meet.  Lu, who was the Olympic silver medalist in 2012, has the 10th-fastest time in the world this year.

The silver medal went to Italy’s Elena Di Liddo (58.29), and Slovakia’s Katarina Listopadova took the bronze in a time of 58.37.

Svetlana Chimrova of Russia placed 5th (58.88), followed by the USA’s Felicia Lee (58.91), Japan’s Rino Hosoda (59.14), and Samantha Correa of Canada (59.83).

Men’s 50 Breast – Semis

Heat one went to Serbia’s Caba Siladi, who won by over half a second with a 27.41.  Carsten Vissering of the United States placed second out of lane one, and his 27.93 was a personal best.  They were the only two swimmers from the first heat to make it finals.

Swimmers from the second heat will fill the other six lanes tomorrow night.  Andrea Toniato of Italy couldn’t quite match his record-breaking time from preliminaries, but still had the fastest overall time with a 27.35.  Russia’s Kirill Prigoda placed second in the heat with a 27.45.  Kazakhstan’s Danny Balandin (27.62), USA’s DJ MacDonald (27.75), Martin Schweizer of Switzerland (27.77), and Raphael Rodrigues of Brazil (27.87) all had fast enough times to have finished ahead of Vissering in the first heat, and will advance to the final.

Women’s 50 Back Swim-off

Elizabeth Pelton closed over the final meters of the race, but couldn’t make up the ground she had lost in the opening, and the last place in tomorrow’s final will go to Hyounji Yu (28.26).  That time was over a half second faster than her semifinal swim and faster than every semifinal time except the one swum by top-seeded Bootsma.