2015 FINA World Championships: Day 1 Prelims Preview

The pool events at the 2015 FINA World Championships will kick off tomorrow morning. The world’s best men and women will compete to make the finals in the 400 meter free and 4 x 100 meter freestyle relay to get the meet started. We’ll also see prelims of the women’s 100 fly and 200 I.M., and the men’s 50 fly and 100 breast.

The women’s 400 free will be one of the most exciting races of day 1, as Katie Ledecky will challenge her own world record in the event.

2015 FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Pool swimming: Sunday, August 2nd – Sunday, August 9th
• Prelims 9:30AM/Finals 5:30PM (Local Time)
• Kazan Arena Stadium
• Kazan, Russia (UTC+3 hours)
• Full coverage
• All sport medal tables
• Live stream (Universal Sports)
• Schedule and Results

WOMEN’S 100 FLY

The women will swim the 100 fly to start the meet, setting up the top 16 for the semi-finals that evening. Look out for Katherine Savard, Inge Dekker, and Kendyl Stewart in heat 5 to start the circle seeded heats.

Stewart’s teammate Claire Donahue will race in heat 6, with Jeanette Ottesen and Madeline Groves taking the center lanes.

Sarah Sjostrom will take lane 4 in the last heat. She’ll go head to head with Emma McKeon to close out prelims.

MEN’S 400 FREE

Olympic Champion Sun Yang is returning to defend his title after dominating this event at the 2013 World Championships. He’ll take lane 4 in the 6th heat of prelims. Yang has been a little off since that summer after a doping suspension, but he’s currently sitting 4th in the world with a respectable 3:44.53 from Chinese Nationals.

Great Britain’s James Guy will swim at his side in that heat, and he won’t make it easy for Yang to win. Guy is 2nd in the 2015 rankings with a 3:44.16 from the British Championships. Candian Olympic medalist Ryan Cochrane will take the opposite side of Guy. Cochrane has seen more international success in the longer freestyles, but his 3:43.46 at the Commonwealth Games last summer gives him potential to take the heat. American Michael McBroom will swim next to him in lane 7.

2015 world leader Mack Horton will take the center of the pool in heat 7. He’s already been 3:42.84 this year, and could dethrone Yang if he’s consistent with that time. His teammate David McKeon will swim next to him. Mckeon is 3rd in the rankings with a 3:44.28, but he’s been faster to enter the meet at 3:43.72.

2013 bronze medalist Connor Jaeger will join them to race for a spot in finals. Since the Americans used 2014 to qualify for this meet, we haven’t seen him swim rested this year. He’s still put up a solid 3:46.30 at the Charlotte Grand Prix to sit 9th in the world going into the meet, and will look to grab another top 3 spot.

WOMEN’S 200 I.M.

In heat 2 of the women’s 200 I.M., Ye Shiwen will race team USA’s Melanie Margalis. This heat will also feature a good race between young talent, as Sydney Pickrem and Vien Nguyen vie for a second swim.

The other American entry is in heat 3, where Maya Dirado will go up against Zsuzsanna Jakabos and Siobhan Marie O’Connor.

Top seed Katinka Hosszu and British I.M. star Hannah Miley are set to swim next to each other in heat 4. Kanako Watanabe will also challenge for the win in that race.

MEN’S 50 FLY

Heat 6, the first of the circle seeded heats, in the 50 fly should be a good one. Ben Proud, Cesar Cielo, and Joseph Schooling will all swim next to each other. Schooling’s high school teammate Santo Condorelli will also be in that heat in lane 8.

Chad Le Clos, Nicholas Santos, and Konrad Czerniak will battle it out in heat 7. In the final heat, Florent Manadou will race top seed Andrii Govorov. USA’s Tim Phillips will take lane 1.

WOMEN’S 400 FREE

Defending World Champion and World Record Holder Katie Ledecky is the woman to beat in the 400 free. She became the first woman to break 4:00 in textile at this meet in 2013, going on to set the World Record at 3:58.37 in 2014. At the Arena Pro Swim Austin, she swam a 4:00.47 to lead the 2015 world rankings.

It looks to be a race for 2nd behind Ledecky, with Great Britain’s Jazz Carlin and New Zealand’s Lauren Boyle as the top contenders for the podium spots. Carlin has the 2nd fastest time of 2015, a 4:03.51 from the British Championships.

Boyle was the bronze medalist in this event in 2013. She’s already been a hair faster than the 4:03.89 she swam there, boasting a 4:03.88 at the 2015 Australian Championships. Those two will swim next to each other in heat 4.

In the 5th and final heat of prelims, Ledecky will be joined by teammate Cierra Runge. Runge had a breakout summer in 2014, winning the silver medal at the Pan Pacific Championships in 4:04.55 over Boyle.

Sharon van Rouwendaal will challenge the Americans in that heat. She’s coming to the pool races off a silver medal in the 10k open water event. She’s 9th in the world this year with a 4:05.73, but the 4:03.76 that she swam to earn her spot at this meet puts her in contention for a medal.

MEN’S 100 BREAST

World Record holder Adam Peaty will swim in heat 9 of the men’s 100 breast. He set that record at 57.92 earlier this year. He’ll have good company in that heat, with Cody Miller and Felipe Franca Silva at his sides.

Defending World Champion Christian Sprenger will swim in heat 8 with the 2013 World Championship silver medalist and Olympic Champion, Cameron Van Der Bergh. Daniel Gyurta and Nic Fink will join them in that race.

Ross Murdoch, the 2nd fastest in this event for 2015, will be in heat 7.

WOMEN’S 4×100 FREE RELAY

At the 2013 World Championships in Barcelona, the finals of the women’s 4×100 free relay came down to the wire, as Megan Romano came from behind in a monster split to secure gold for Team USA over Australia. The teams will have a rematch in prelims, meeting in the 2nd heat. Australia will swim in lane 8 and the USA will take lane 9.

Traditionally, team USA rests their 2 100 freestyle qualifiers in prelims, meaning Missy Franklin and Simone Manuel would sit out the morning. That means the prelims relay will most likely be made up of Margo Geer, Abby Weitzel, Shannon Vreeland, and Lia Neal. Geer posted a 53.95 to be the fastest American of 2015 on the world championships roster. Weitzel and Vreeland have been 54.42 and 54.39 respectively at World University Games.

They’ll have their hands full, as Australia is looking dangerous this year. They currently hold half of the world’s top 10 times for 2015. If they rest their fastest swimmers in prelims, into the morning with Emma McKeon, Melanie Wright, and Madison Wilson, and Bronte Barratt will most likely swim the heat. McKeon is 5th in 2015 at 53.32. Wright also has a sub-54 this year, ranked 6th at 53.50.

They’ll also be up against a strong French team in lane 5 that has Charlotte Bonnet and Beryl Gastaldello, who went sub-54 at the French Elite Championships in April.

Heat 1 has the defending Bronze medalist Netherlands in lane 7. Sprint stars Ranomi Kromowidjojo and Femke Heemskerk will headline that team. They’ll have Marritt Steenbergen with them.

Sweden will also look to top the first heat with Sarah Sjostrom and Michelle Coleman leading their relay.

MEN’S 4×100 FREE RELAY

2 years ago, the 4×100 free relay went in favor of the French over the American contingent. The USA have had a rivalry with France on the world stage since they were overtaken by France at the 2012 Olympics.

To determine the lineup for their rematch in finals, team USA will most likely swim Conor Dwyer, Jimmy Feigen, Anthony Ervin, and Matt Grevers in prelims. We haven’t seen any of these men swim a taper or major international meet this year, but Feigen leads the pack with a 49.17 from the BHP Aquatic Super Series. Dwyer, Grevers, and Ervin have each cracked 50 at 49.40, 49.70, and 49.91 respectively this year. They’ll swim in heat one with Belgium and Uzbekistan.

France and Brazil will battle in heat 2. France has several swimmers under 49 this year, led by Jeremy Stravius, Fabian Gilot, Clement Mignon, and Florent Manadou. They’ll be without Olympic Gold Medalist Yannick Agnel this summer. Brazil’s team is headlined by Matheus Santana, Marcelo Chierighini, Cesar Cielo, Joao De Lucca, and Bruno Fratus.

Australia and Russia look like the teams to beat in heat 3. Russia’s options include Vlad Morozov, who’s tied for fastest in the world this year. They also have Nikita Lobintsev, Danila Izotov, Andre Grechin, and Alexander Sukhorukov. Australia will bring in headliners Cameron McEvoy, Tommaso D’Orsogna, and Kyle Chalmers.