2015 FINA World Championships: Day 7 Finals Preview

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 50m Butterfly Final

Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden comes into the final of the women’s 50 fly as the heavy favorite. She is coming off a victory and world record in the 100 fly, as well as a silver medal in the 100 free. She is seeded 1st after going 25.06 in the semi-final, a new championship record. Jeanette Ottesen (DEN) and Lu Ying (CHN), who won silver and bronze in the 100 fly, also qualified for the final finishing 2nd and 4th in the semi-finals. Also qualifying for the final was sprint specialists Fran Halsall (GBR) and Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace (BAH), Farida Osman (EGY), Inge Dekker (NED) and Anna Dowgiert (POL). Every swimmer who swam under 26 seconds made the final, excluding American Kendyl Stewart who was 9th in 25.93. Sjostrom has never won a World Championship medal in this event, but expect that to change today. Ottesen looks like a good bet for the silver, with everyone else battling it out for bronze.

Men’s 50m Freestyle Final

After a disappointing 100m freestyle where he finished 7th, Nathan Adrian came back with a very strong 50m free semi, qualifying 1st for the final in a new American record of 21.37. That swim broke Cullen Jones record of 21.41 set in 2009. Adrian’s previous best time was 21.46 also from 2009. Adrian will hope to win his first medal of the competition. Qualifying 2nd overall was Florent Manaudou of France who will be looking for his 3rd gold medal of the meet. Manaudou swam 21.41 to win the second semi-final, while Adrian won the first. Manaudou and Adrian each won gold at the London Olympics in the 50 and 100 free respectively, and this final will be their first real head to head showdown. Also qualifying for the final was Bruno Fratus (BRA), Marco Orsi (ITA), Ben Proud (GBR), Kristian Gkolomeev (GRE) and Andrii Govorov (UKR). Vladimir Morozov (RUS) and Anthony Ervin (USA) tied for 8th place in 22.02, meaning they would need a swim-off to decide who would swim in the final. Both swimmers have had relatively disappointing meet thus far and a win here would certainly turn things around for one of them. It was closer than many expected, as Ervin has shown poor form here while Morozov has been fast here but had that disqualification in the 100 free. Morozov ultimately won, just beating Ervin 21.90 to 21.98. Morozov appears to be off his 50m form he had two years ago in Barcelona, when he won the silver medal in 21.47, but don’t count him out for the final. Along with Ervin, missing the final was 100m champion Ning Zetao of China and Kristian Takacs of Hungary.

Women’s 200m Backstroke Final

Missy Franklin will be looking for her first individual gold medal at these championships in her best event the 200 backstroke, but she will have her work cut out for her against two women who have already won individual golds. Katinka Hosszu is the top seed after swimming the fastest time in the world this year of 2:06.18 to top the second semi-final. She was followed by Emily Seebohm who swam a lifetime best of 2:06.56 to qualify 2nd for the final. Hosszu won the 200 IM, while Seebohm won the 100 backstroke. Franklin won the first semi-final in 2:07.79, not too long after she swam the 100 freestyle final. She will be fresh for this final and will challenge Hosszu and Seebohm for the title. Also qualifying for the final was Dominique Bouchard (CAN), Daria Ustinova (RUS), Hilary Caldwell (CAN), Eyglo Osk Gustafsdottir (ISL) and Jenny Mensing (GER). Caldwell and Bouchard went 1-2 in this event at the Pan American Games earlier this summer, and Bouchard will swim in her first World Championship final. Caldwell won bronze in 2013 and will look to approach the personal best time she established in that swim of 2:06.80. Don’t count out Ustinova, who might have been inspired by fellow Russian Evgeny Rylov and his performance in the men’s 200 back, in a come from behind effort for the bronze medal. Among those missing the final was Elizabeth Simmonds (GBR), Elizabeth Beisel (USA) and Kirsty Coventry (ZIM).

Women’s 50m Breastroke Semi-Final

Ruta Meilutyte will look for redemption in the 50 breastroke after losing out to Yuliya Efimova in the 100. Meilutyte was the only woman under 30 seconds this morning, qualifying 1st in 29.74. She was followed by Alia Atkinson (JAM), Jennie Johansson (SWE), Jessica Hardy (USA) and Efimova. Atkinson and Johansson both swam well in the 100, as did Efimova who won gold but then had a disappointing performance in the 200 breast where she missed qualifying for the semi-final. Hardy failed to make the final in the 100. Atkinson and Hardy will swim in the first semi-final along with Mariia Liver of Italy. Meilutye, Johansson and Efimova will swim in the second semi along with Moniek Nijhuis (NED), Hrafnhildur Luthersdottir (ISL) and Fanny Lecluyse (BEL) who all have had successful meets here. Missing the semi-finals was 200m medalists Rikke Moller Pedersen, Shi Jinglin and Micah Lawrence.

Men’s 100m Butterfly Final

Tom Shields of the United States will look for his first ever World Championship medal in the 100 fly final after swimming a pair of personal best times in the heats and semi’s, ultimately earning him the top seed for the final after swimming 51.03 in the first semi. Laszlo Cseh tied Shields’ time of 51.03 in the second semi, as they share the number 1 seed. Cseh already has 2 medals these championships, a bronze in the 50 fly and gold in the 200 fly. He is also the silver medalist in this event from 2 years ago. He swam a personal best 50.91 in the heats. Qualifying 3rd overall was Chad Le Clos of South Africa, who continues to look for his first gold medal of these championships after coming up short in the 50 fly, 200 free and 200 fly. He will look to defend his title from 2013, after failing to do so in the 200 fly where he won silver. Konrad Czerniak of Poland qualified 4th in 51.29. Czerniak will look for his 3rd consecutive medal in this event after winning silver in 2011 and bronze in 2013. Also qualifying for the final was Li Zhuhao (CHN), Mehdy Metella (FRA), Joseph Schooling (SIN) and Pawel Korzeniowski (POL). In 2013, 51.45 was good enough for the silver medal, but this year a 51.58 in the semi-final got Takuro Fujii of Japan 9th place. This event has gotten incredibly faster in just two years.

Women’s 50m Freestyle Semi-Final

Cate Campbell led the way in the heats of the women’s 50 free, posting the top time of 24.40. She was followed closely by Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace, Sarah Sjostrom and Ranomi Kromowidjojo. Vanderpool-Wallace and Kromowidjojo will swim in the first semi-final tonight, along with Fran Halsall of Great Britain and Chantal van Landeghem of Canada. Kromowidjojo will look to advance to the final to give herself a chance to defend her title from Barcelona two years ago. Cate Campbell and Sjostrom will be joined in the second semi-final by 100m champion Bronte Campbell, Jeanette Ottesen of Denmark, Simone Manuel of the United States and Etiene Medeiros of Brazil. Femke Heemskerk (NED) and Michelle Coleman (SWE) were both no shows in the prelims.

Men’s 50m Backstroke Semi-Final

Defending champion in this event Camille Lacourt of France qualified with the top time out of the prelims of the men’s 50 back in a solid 24.56. He was followed by 2013 silver medalist Matt Grevers (USA), and Australians Ben Treffers and Mitchell Larkin. Joining these men under 25 seconds this morning was David Plummer (USA), Liam Tancock (GBR), Jeremy Stravius (FRA) and Pavel Sankovich (BLR). Tancock is the two-time world champion in this event and world record holder, while Stravius shared silver with Grevers in Barcelona. Tancock will swim in the first semi-final tonight along with Grevers, Larkin and Sankovich, as well as Vladimir Morozov of Russia who qualified in a tie for 13th in a satisfactory 25.27. Plummer, Lacourt, Treffers and Stravius will all swim in the second semi-final. Guilherme Guido and Miguel Ortiz tied for 16th in 25.29 and were set to swim-off, but Guido has relinquished his spot and Ortiz will swim in the semi-finals. Also missing the final was Xu Jiayu of China and 100m freestyle bronze medalist Federico Grabich of Argentina.

Women’s 800m Freestyle Final

Katie Ledecky will be looking for her 5th gold medal of the championships in the 800 freestyle, which would tie her with Tracy Caulkins (1978) and Libby Trickett (2007) for the second most gold medals won by a female at the World Championships, behind only Missy Franklin who had 6 in 2013. Ledecky easily qualified 1st in the heats going 8:19.42. Ledecky was faster through 800m in the 1500m prelims (8:15.29) and final (8:13.25) than she was here in the prelims. That split from the final also broke her own Championship record of 8:13.86 set at the 2013 worlds. Look for Ledecky to take out her world record of 8:11.00 in the final. Also advancing to the final will be 400 freestyle silver and bronze medalists Sharon van Rouwendaal (NED, 6th) and Jessica Ashwood (AUS, 2nd). 1500 freestyle silver and bronze medalists Lauren Boyle (NZL, 4th) and Boglarka Kapas (HUN, 8th) also advanced to the final. Joining them in the final will be Lotte Friis (DEN) who won silver in this event two years ago, Jaz Carlin (GBR) and Sarah Kohler (GER). Boyle won bronze in the event two years ago. Missing the final was Becca Mann (USA), 1500m finalist Kristel Kobrich (CHI) and Melani Costa (ESP).

Mixed 4x100m Freestyle Relay Final

The United States led the way in the prelims of the mixed 4x100m free relay, with Conor Dwyer, Ryan Lochte, Margo Geer and Abby Weitzel posting the top time of 3:24.51. The Russians followed in 3:25.23, as did Italy (3:26.23), Sweden (3:26.60) and the Netherlands (3:26.91). Also qualifying for the final was China, Canada and Brazil. Potential substitutes coming in could be Nathan Adrian for the United States, Vladimir Morozov for Russia, Sarah Sjostrom for Sweden and Santo Condorelli for Canada. Among those missing the final was France, Japan and Germany. Mixed medley relay champions Great Britain did not field a time here, and for the second straight mixed relay Australia did not field a team.