2015 FINA World Championships: Day 5 Prelims Live Recap

Day 5 of the FINA World Championships will kick off with the women’s 100 free, and though we are used to seeing the Dutch dominate this event, it is defending World Champion  Cate Campbell from Australia who will be the one to beat this time around. Campbell enters the meet only slightly faster than  Sarah Sjostrom from Sweden, and Cate’s sister, Bronte Campbell, will also be in the picture, and considering that she split a 51.77 on the 4×100 Free Relay earlier this week, there is no reason to count her out in this event. The Netherlands’ Femke Heemskerk has also demonstrated that she’s ready to go at these Championships with her 51.99 anchor leg on the Dutch 4×100 Free Relay on Sunday night. The elder Campbell sister (Cate), Sjostrom, and Heemskerk are the only 3 swimmers to clear 53 seconds this year.

Tyler Clary will have his work cut out for him in the men’s 200 backstroke if he wants to seize his first World Championship title, and a slew of youngsters may pose the biggest threat to the throne this year. Australia’s Mitchell Larkin performed extraordinarily well in the 100 backstroke en route to winning the World title two nights ago, and USA’s Ryan Murphy posted a blistering fast 52.18 lead-off split on the Mixed 4×100 Medley Relay to properly announce his presence on the international scene. Of course, Japan’s Ryosuke Irie and Poland’s Radoslaw Kawecki are familiar with accumulating hardware in this event on the international stage as well, and this race is truly anyone’s for the taking.

Rikke Moller Pedersen will have to fend off Japanese teenager Kanako Watanabe in the 200 breast, while Russia’s Yuliya Efimova will try to extend her speed for an extra 100 after winning the 100 meter variant of the discipline on Tuesday night. Japanese veteran Rie Kaneto has also been a 2:21 this year from back in April when Japan conducted its National Championships, and she will surely also be vying for a medal spot in the later rounds.

On the men’s side, this is Hungary’s Daniel Gyurta’s race to lose, but a number of swimmers will challenge him for the title in Kazan. Germany’s Marco Koch enters with the fastest seed at 2:07.47 from last August, and Kazakhstan’s Dmitriy Balandin, the USA’s Kevin Cordes, and Great Britain’s Adam Peaty are just three of many swimmers who have already had great success this week, and will be looking for more in the 200 breast.

Finally, the women’s 4×200 Free Relay will conclude our action this morning.

2015 FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

WOMEN’S 100M FREESTYLE – PRELIMS

  • 2013 World Champion: Cate Campbell, AUS – 52.34
  • World Record: 52.07 – Britta Steffen, GER – 2009
  • Championship Record: 52.07 – Britta Steffen, GER – 2009

Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom and Australia’s Cate Campbell paced the heats this morning with identical 53.22 showings. Sjostrom was out 25.94 compared to Campbell’s 25.71 opening 50, but the Swede posted the fastest 2nd half amongst all qualifiers with a 27.82 split to come home.

Americans Simone Manuel and Missy Franklin did what they needed to do to advance to the semifinal round with Manuel turning in a 53.99 (7th) while Franklin turned in a 54.22 (10th).

Notably, Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu was a no-show in this event this morning.

Top 16: Sjostrom, SWE; Campbell, C., AUS; Campbell, B., AUS; Kromowidjojo, NED; Heemskerk, NED; Shen, CHN; Manuel, USA; Bonnet, FRA; Coleman, SWE; Franklin, USA; Uchida, JPN; Zhu, CHN; Van Landeghem, CAN; Lovtcova, RUS; Blume, DEN; Popova, RUS tied with Herasimenia, BLR. (SWIMOFF REQUIRED)

PDF Results

MEN’S 200M BACKSTROKE – PRELIMS

  • 2013 World Champion: Ryan Lochte, USA – 1:53.79
  • World Record: 1:51.92 –Aaron Peirsol, USA – 2009
  • Championship Record: 1:51.92 –Aaron Peirsol, USA – 2009

Australia’s Mitch Larkin easily cruised to the fastest time of the morning with a 1:55.88 out of the final heat. It became immediately apparent that Larkin was conserving his legs, and coming off his victory in the 100 back from Tuesday night, the 22-year-old should have plenty of confidence entering the semifinal tonight.

Japan’s Ryosuke Irie and USA’s Ryan Murphy followed close behind with a 1:56.68 and 1:56.71 respectively, and both swimmers seemed to do just enough to progress to the next round. Irie did give the crowd a preview of his trademark closing speed by erasing Murphy’s 0.3 second lead over the last 15 meters of the race.

Tyler Clary of the United States also looked comfortable this morning with a 1:56.92 that was good for 6th overall. Clary finished 3rd in this event two years ago, and though defending champion Ryan Lochte is not competing in this event, Clary will very likely want a rematch against Irie after just losing the silver medal to him two years ago.

Top 16: Larkin, AUS; Irie, JPN; Murphy, USA; Rylov, RUS; Xu, CHN; Clary, USA; Diener, GER; Beaver, AUS; Kaneko, JPN; De Deus, BRA; Tarasevich, RUS; Li, CHN; Kawecki, POL; Main, NZL; Mencarini, ITA; Balog, HUN

PDF Results

WOMEN’S 200M BREASTSTROKE – PRELIMS

  • 2013 World Champion: Rikke Moller Pedersen, DEN – 2:19.11
  • World Record: 2:19.11 – Rikke Moller Pedersen, DEN – 2013
  • Championship Record: 2:19.11 – Rikke Moller Pedersen, DEN – 2013

Japan’s Kanako Watanabe just barely edged out several swimmers to top the field this morning with a 2:23.29. Though she can be content with having a middle lane tonight, only 0.70 seconds separate the top 8 swimmers, and Watanabe will need to be closer to her seed time if she wants to maintain good lane positioning in finals.

USA’s Micah Lawrence was right behind Watanabe with a 2:23.32, and she was very close to her seed time of 2:23.05 from last year’s Nationals. Her best time is a 2:21.74 from the 2013 edition of the World Championships, and given how tight the field is across the board, there is a good chance several swimmers will push Lawrence and Watanabe closer to their respective bests. World-record holder Rikke Moller Pedersen from Denmark looked long and smooth on her way to a 6th-placed 2:23.90 effort.

Shockingly, Russia’s Yuliya Efimova failed to qualify for the semifinals with a 2:26.11. Efimova was far behind at the 100, and though she likes to reel in the competition over the last 50 meters or so, her tactic did not pay off this time around. Also failing to qualify for finals was USA’s Breeja Larson, who finished 19th with a 2:26.38.

Top 16: Watanabe, JPN; Lawrence, USA; Lutersdottir, ISL; Lecluyse, BEL; Gunes, TUR; Pedersen, DEN; Vall, ESP; Simonova, RUS; McKeown, AUS; Shi, CHN; Smith, CAN; Wallace, AUS; Garcia, ESP; Grimberg, GER; Kaneto, JPN; Laukkanen, FIN

PDF Results

MEN’S 200M BREASTSTROKE – PRELIMS

  • 2013 World Champion: Daniel Gyurta, HUN – 2:07.23
  • World Record: 2:07.01 – Akihiro Yamaguchi, JPN – 2012
  • Championship Record:2:07.23 – Daniel Gyurta, HUN – 2013

Germany’s Marco Koch paced the field with a 2:09.12 out of the final heat. Behind China’s Feilian Mao, Koch had the fastest 2nd 100 out of all qualifiers with a 1:06.27 coming home at the end of his race. Koch has been a 2:07.47 from last year’s European Championships so it is very likely we will continue to see him improve in the subsequent heats.

Hungary’s Daniel Gyurta looked very relaxed in his win out of the second circle-seeded heat, and it is very likely that he will have more competition in the semis tonight. Also looking controlled this morning was Kazakhstan’s Dimitriy Balandin who dipped under 2:10 with a 2:09.75.

The USA’s Kevin Cordes was out under World Record pace at the 50, but slowly faded over the next 3 laps. Finishing wiht a 2:09.94, Cordes is in 7th entering the semifinal rounds. Nic Fink, the other American in the race, also qualified for a second swim with a 12th-placed 2:10.43.

Top 16: Koch, GER; Willis, GBR; Mao, CHN; Balandin, KAZ; Mattsson, FIN; Cordes, USA; Chupkov, RUS; Khomenko, RUS; McKee, ISL; Persson, SWE; Fink, USA; Koseki, JPN; Von Lehn, GER; Pizzini, ITA; Titenis, LTU

PDF Results

WOMEN’S 4x200M Free Relay – PRELIMS

  • 2013 World Champion: USA – 7:45.14
  • World Record: 7:42.08 – CHN – 2009
  • Championship Record: 7:42.08 – CHN – 2009

Italy’s relay seized the top time from prelims thanks to a great anchor from veteran Federica Pellegrini with a 7:52.51. Pellegrini’s split of 1:56.60 was good enough to reel in the then-leading Australian relay, but the top 3 teams are only separated by a total of 0.15 seconds.

The American relay easily won the first heat with 7:52.61, and this gave them the 2nd fastest overall time of the morning. Leah Smith’s opening leg of 1:57.52 was the third fastest lead-off leg amongst all competing teams, and the United States have plenty of room for improvement leading into tonight given that both Missy Franklin and Katie Ledecky did not swim in the relay this morning.

For the second straight event, Russia was shut out from a second swim as they took 9th overall with a 7:55.19. Despite taking second in the first heat, the second heat proved to be much more formidable in terms of competitiveness, and this could prove to jeopardize Russia’s standing in the overall medal tally.

Notably, Sarah Sjostrom recorded a 1:55.69 on the end of Sweden’s 4th-place-finishing relay to post the fastest split from all competitors this morning.

Top 8: ITA, USA, AUS, SWE, CHN, JPN, GBR, FRA

PDF Results

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oli993
8 years ago

@Luigi: how old are you? The 4x200m relay has been one of the most exciting and closest races in the past. Hint: use youtube if you are too young to remember 🙂

luigi
Reply to  oli993
8 years ago

Oli, I am old enough that I dont have to use youtube to remember about the great Aus/USA battles of the late 90s and first half of the 2000s, if that is what you are talking about 🙂

John
8 years ago

I see so many concerns about the state of US swimming. Well on the flipside I think it’s refreshing so see other countries winning some events for a change. It’s no longer just about Australia and US like the olden days. Now we see China, Russia, France, Brazil, GB and Japan all in the mix. It’s nice to see such diversity. Although I do note that many of these swimmers from other countries train in the US lol.

commonwombat
Reply to  John
8 years ago

I

commonwombat
Reply to  commonwombat
8 years ago

Apologies, site crashed whilst starting previous post. In response to John, a study of the sports history will show that almost all of the “new nations” you stated have had a history of producing a number of international quality performers, and some champions amongst them. With regards to the US training comment; applicable for some of those listed, scarcely so for others.

Re AUS, what you saw in London & are seeing now & most likely in Rio is a “return to normal service” after the Sydney generation & “flow-on” have passed from the scene. Normal swimming medal count for Olympics of the 80’s-90s was 10-12 with only 1-2 gold. Excluding non-Olympic events, that total is probably ball-park for Kazan.

Siobhan
Reply to  commonwombat
8 years ago

COMMONWOMBAT — You make a very good point. Pre-Michael Phelps there was parity establish in swimming. Sometimes it leaned towards the Europeans, sometimes the North Americans and sometimes the Australians. With the appearance of Michael Phelps, and his huge multi-event talent, it gave the impression of American dominance. What we’re seeing is the changing of the guard and back to normalcy.

commonwombat
Reply to  Siobhan
8 years ago

What the USA is seeing is a great generation coming to the end of their careers with some clearly showing the effects of “anno domini”. Also issues that some problem areas in the program are still “off the pace” internationally. Whilst the selection process for these Championships are facing some legitimate questions; will US Swimming also address the other (unspoken) “elephant in the room” – that of NCAA & SCY ?

IAN
8 years ago

Larkin was impressive – fastest last leg for 100 m specialist without too much effort. Clary and Irie aren’t that fast since London and Larkin was close to them on PanPacific – but here he cut 0.7 from his personal best on 100 m so he may be able to swim something like sub1.54 in a final. Kawęcki should be dangerous – he often has quiet qualies – but Larkin seems to be man to beat right now. But two years ago Kawęcki swum 1.54.2 and this is almost 1 second above Larkins personal best so we need to wait.

drug testing question
8 years ago

anyone know specifics on how the drug testing program works – i understand it is random and monitored by fina at worlds but what about other federations during the year- does every federation have to test ? seems like there are quite a few unknowns that end up in semi’s …very suspicious

luigi
8 years ago

The 100 free are for Cate Campbell to loose. She cruises the last 5 meters and clocks 53.22?? Get out of here ….

commonwombat
Reply to  luigi
8 years ago

Whilst she’s the probable favourite, she’s far from a certainty. Sjostrom is very much a threat and little sister looks very much “thereabouts”. Semis will show whether Heemskerk’s likely to be a factor or not. Not sure that Kromowidjojo is in sub53 form; the rest aren’t likely to be factors unless they get “tactical” which is much less likely in a 100.

commonwombat
8 years ago

In hindsight, Murdoch may’ve been the better call for GBR for M200BRS. Peaty definitely looking out of gas but thankfully has a few day until 4xMED. Race looking anyone’s call.

Larkin has clearly learned his lesson from 2013 Worlds of “no more silly buggers” in the heats; looking very good. Definitely Irie’s stronger distance but is he on his best form at this meet ? Strong finish by Rylov, Beaver a pleasant surprise and it will be interesting to see how Murphy swims through the rounds.

Efimova a total WTF performance. Watanabe & Pedersen looked good as did Lawrence. Will be interesting to see how well the likes of Gunes, Lecluyse & Luthersdottir back it up in semis. McKeown actually… Read more »

carlo
8 years ago

yes the 4×200 free is a boring event. I ve always found it boring as only one or two nations have dept year after year so you usually know the winner before the race has even started.
But recently things have been changing on the men,s side of that race. In the past, in both the men,s and women,s races the US used to win all the time, then australia joined them(on the men,s side). Now very recently on the men,s side of the race Britain is developing more dept, so on the men,s side we now have the US, britain and australia to provide some excitement.

On the women,s side it,s just the US so there,s no element… Read more »

Magor
Reply to  carlo
8 years ago

If they cancel the 800 and 1500 events there will be much protesting coming from China and America, so that won’t happen.

But on a funnier note what would it be like if there would also be 400 events for backstroke, butterfly and breaststroke. Probably there would be too few contestant, but one day I would like to see such swims 🙂

Markster
8 years ago

I keep coming back to this article because of Cate’s face… She’s looking good!

CT Swim Fan
Reply to  Markster
8 years ago

She’s very pretty!

About Varun Shivakumar

Varun Shivakumar hails from Hoffman Estates, IL and swam competitively for 16 years. He swam both backstroke events at Northwestern University, and ranks fifth in the school’s All-time performances list in the 200 yard backstroke. Representing NASA Wildcat Aquatics, he also competed in the 2012 Olympic Trials in Omaha, NE …

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