2018 SC Worlds: Day 6 Finals Live Recap

2018 FINA SHORT COURSE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, December 11th – Sunday, December 16th
• Hangzhou, China
• Tennis Centre, Hangzhou Olympic & International Expo Center
• SCM (25m)
• Prelims: 9:30 am local, 8:30 pm ET / Finals: 7:00 pm* local, 6:00* am ET
• *The final night of finals will be one hour earlier, starting at 6:00 pm local and 5:00 am ET
• Live Results (Omega)

The 2018 FINA Short Course World Championships come to a close tonight in Hangzhou, China. Tonight’s schedule brings the women’s 4×50 freestyle relay, 200 breast, 100 fly, 50 free, and 4×100 medley relay. The men will compete in the 1500 free, 100 free, 200 back, 50 breast, and 4×100 medley relay.

WOMEN’S 4×50 FREE RELAY – FINALS:

• WR: 1:33,91, Netherlands, 2017
• CR: 1:34.24, Netherlands, 2014

1. GOLD: USA, 1:34.03
2. SILVER: NED, 1:34.55
3. BRONZE: AUS, 1:36.34

Ranomi Kromowidjojo had the Dutch out to the lead with a 23.60 split on the leadoff leg, while Femke Heemskerk rolled to a 23.32 on the 2nd leg to keep them in the lead.

The USA fought back to take the lead with Kelsi Dahlia dropping a 23.37 on the 3rd leg, while Erika Brown sealed the deal for the Americans in a 23.33 anchor split. Mallory Comerford had the fastest split of the field in 23.28 on the 2nd leg. Also apart of that winning team was Madison Kennedy, who led them off in 24.05.

The Aussies won bronze in 1:36.34, all splitting within two-tenths of one another (24.02 to 24.18). Holly Barratt led them off in 24.04, and Minna Atherton split 24.02.

Aside from the Americans and the Dutch, there were three other sub-24 legs in the field: Wu Yue was 23.97 on the 2nd leg for China, and both Anika Apostalon (23.91) and Barbora Seemanova (23.90) were under for the Czech Republic.

MEN’S 1500 FREE – FINALS:

• World Record: 14:08.06, Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA), 2015
• Championship Record: 14:15.51, Park Tae Hwan (KOR), 2016

1. GOLD: Mykhailo Romanchuk, UKR, 14:09.14
2. SILVER: Gregorio Paltrinieri, ITA, 14:09.87
3. BRONZE: Henrik Christiansen, NOR, 14:19.39

The Ukraine’s Mykhailo Romanchuk trailed World Record holder Gregorio Paltrinieri of Italy for most of the men’s 1500 final. Paltrinieri led through the final 50, but Romanchuk dropped a 25.84 through the closing split to win it. That set a new Championship Record of 14:09.14 for Romanchuk, just a second off the World Record set by Paltrinieri in 2015 (14:08.06). The old CR belonged to the 2016 champion Park Tae Hwan (14:15.51).

Paltrinieri wound up with the silver, coming within a second of Romanchuk in 14:09.82. That marks his 2nd fastest swim ever, the 3rd fastest of all-time and also just the 3rd ever under 14:10.

Henrik Christiansen (14:19.39) of Norway and David Aubry (14:23.44) finished 3rd and 4th, both setting new National Records.

MEN’S 100 FREE – FINALS:

• World Record: 44.94, Amaury Leveaux (FRA), 2008
• Championship Record: 45.51, Vlad Morozov (RUS), 2014

1. GOLD: Caeleb Dressel, USA, 45.62
2. SILVER: Vlad Morozov, RUS, 45.64
3. BRONZE: Chad Le Clos, RSA, 45.89

In an extremely close race to the finish, the USA’s Caeleb Dressel used his closing speed to out-touch Russia’s Vlad Morozov, 45.62 to 45.64. Dressel once again had the fastest 2nd 50 of the field in 23.73, as he breaks the American Record he set leading off the 4×100 free relay (45.66). This is his first individual SC World title.

Following closely for bronze was South Africa’s Chad Le Clos in 45.89. Le Clos hit the wall a nail before Russia’s Vladislav Grinev, who also closed sub-24 in 23.83 for a final time of 45.92.

Simonas Bilis of Lithuania set a new National Record in 5th, as the 2016 champion touched in a time of 46.11.

WOMEN’S 200 BREAST – FINALS:

• WR: 2:14.57, Rebecca Soni (USA), 2009
• CR: 2:16.08, Rikkie Pedersen (DEN), 2012

1. GOLD: Annie Lazor, USA, 2:18.32
2. SILVER: Bethany Galat, USA, 2:18.62
3. BRONZE: Fanny Lecluyse, BEL, 2:18.85

In a three-woman race for gold through the final 50, the USA’s Annie Lazor ran down teammate Bethany Galat on the back half, ultimately winning gold in 2:18.32 to Galat’s 2:18.62. They now rank 18th and 25th respectively in the event all-time

Belgian Fanny Lecluyse matched Lazor on the final split in 35.71, moving ahead of China’s Yu Jingyao (2:19.20) for the bronze. Seven of the eight finalists broke 2:20.

MEN’S 200 BACK – FINALS:

• WR: 1:45.63, Mitch Larkin (AUS), 2015
• CR: 1:46.68, Ryan Lochte (USA), 2010
• WJR: 1:48.02, Kilment Kolesnikov RUS), 2017

1. GOLD: Evgeny Rylov, RUS, 1:47.02
2. SILVER: Ryan Murphy, USA, 1:47.34
3. (TIE) BRONZE: Radoslaw Kawecki, POL, 1:48.25
4. (TIE) BRONZE: Mitch Larkin, AUS, 1:48.25

Russia’s Evgeny Rylov bide his time, not making his big move until the last 50 of the men’s 200 back final. American Ryan Murphy (1:47.34) had surged ahead on the 3rd 50 with a 27.15 split, but Rylov closed in a 27.08 to run him down and take gold in 1:47.02.

Rylov’s swim puts him 4th all-time in the event, while Murphy is now 6th. Their respective National Records are held by the 2nd and 3rd fastest performers in Arkady Vyatchanin (1:46.11) and Ryan Lochte (1:46.68).

World Record holder Mitch Larkin of Australia was in position to potentially win it through the halfway mark, trailing only China’s Xu Jiayu (1:49.91), but fell off the pace on the last 50 as Poland’s Radoslaw Kawecki caught up to tie him for bronze in a time of 1:48.25. This ends Kawecki’s run in the event, as he had won the last three World titles in the event.

WOMEN’S 100 FLY – FINALS:

• World Record: 54.61, Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), 2014
• Championship Record: 54.61, Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), 2014

1. GOLD: Kelsi Dahlia, USA, 55.01
2. SILVER: Kendyl Stewart, USA, 56.22
3. BRONZE: Daiene Dias, BRA, 56.31

Kelsi Dahlia of the United States was once again less than half a second shy of the World Record as she dominated the women’s 100 fly field in 55.01. Just off her American Record of 54.84, this is the 7th fastest performance in history (having also been 55.00 in November), and she wins her first individual World title after winning three silvers in the fly events in 2016 and also taking silver and bronze in the 200 and 50 respectively here in Hangzhou.

Her teammate Kendyl Stewart made it a 1-2 finish in 56.22, moving up from 5th at the 50 to 2nd at the final wall with a closing split of 30.12.

Brazil’s Daiene Dias had the lead going out with a 25.96, but wound up with bronze in 56.31 as she out-touched Italy’s Ilaria Bianchi (56.39). That marked a new South American Record for Dias.

MEN’S 50 BREAST – FINALS:

• World Record: 25.25, Cameron van der Burgh (RSA), 2009
• Championship Record: 25.63, Felipe Franca da Silva (BRA), 2014

1. GOLD: Cameron van der Burgh, RSA, 25.41
2. SILVER: Ilya Shymanovich, BLR, 25.77
3. BRONZE: Felipe Lima, BRA, 25.80

Cameron van der Burgh went out in Championship Record fashion. The Olympic gold medalist and World Record holder, who announced his retirement following this meet, swept the sprint breaststrokes in Hangzhou as he won this race in 25.41.

That marks the 2nd fastest swim in history, only trailing his super-suited 2009 world record of 25.25, so this also stands up as a new ‘textile world record’. The previous CR belonged to Brazilian Felipe Franca da Silva (25.63) from the 2014 Championships in Doha.

Closely behind were Belarus’ Ilya Shymanovich (25.77) and Brazil’s Felipe Lima (25.80). In 5th, Huseyin Emre Sakci set a new Turkish Record in 25.89.

WOMEN’S 50 FREE – FINALS:

• World Record: 22.93, Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED), 2017
• Championship Record: 23.25, Marleen Veldhuis (NED), 2008

1. GOLD: Ranomi Kromowidjojo, NED, 23.19
2. SILVER: Femke Heemskerk, NED, 23.67
3. BRONZE: Etiene Medeiros, BRA, 23.76

The Netherlands sprint duo got the job done with Ranomi Kromowidjojo taking down the Championship Record in 23.19 and teammate Femke Heemskerk following in 23.67.

Kromowidjojo’s swim broke the CR previously held by her countrymate Marleen Veldhuis (23.25) from 2008, and it also ties for the 4th fastest performance in history. Kromowidjojo closes the meet with three individual golds to go along with four silvers and one bronze from relays.

Brazil’s Etiene Medeiros lowered her South American Record from the semis to take bronze in 23.76, out-touching the USA’s Mallory Comerford (23.86). Medeiros’ swim was also a new ‘Americas Record’, which FINA recognizes as a Continental Record similar to a European or Asian Record. That essentially means the fastest swim from anyone from North, Central or South America.

MEN’S 4×100 MEDLEY RELAY – FINALS:

• WR: 3:19.16, Russia, 2009
• CR: 3:20.99, USA, 2010

1. GOLD: USA, 3:19.98
2. SILVER: RUS, 3:20.61
3. BRONZE: JPN, 3:21.07

The USA broke their own Championship Record by a second to win the gold medal in a time of 3:19.98, with key legs on the back half from Caeleb Dressel (48.28) and Ryan Held (45.23).

Mitch Larkin had taken the lead for Australia (3:24.65) up front with a 49.47 back split, but Japan roared back with Yasuhiro Koseki‘s 55.91 breast leg. The Americans then took over on the back half as Dressel gave them the lead, registering the top butterfly leg in the field by over six-tenths. He also out-split the Russian flyer Mikhail Vekovishchev (50.00) by 1.32 seconds, turning a 0.87 second deficit into a 0.85 advantage heading into the freestyle leg.

There, Held’s 45.23 was huge as he ‘held’ off Vlad Morozov (45.01) to win the U.S. the gold. Russia was 2nd in 3:20.61, also under the old CR of 3:20.99, and Japan snagged bronze in 3:21.07 for a new Asian Record.

WOMEN’S 4×100 MEDLEY RELAY – FINALS:

• WR: 3:45.20, USA, 2015
• CR: 3:47.89, USA, 2016

1. GOLD: USA, 3:45.98
2. SILVER: CHN, 3:48.80
3. BRONZE: ITA, 3:51.38

The USA led from start to finish as they broke the Championship Record in 3:45.98, eclipsing their 2016 record by almost two full seconds.

Olivia Smoliga gave them the lead on the backstroke with a 55.86 lead-off, and then Katie Meili (1:03.52), Kelsi Dahlia (54.89) and Mallory Comerford (51.31) followed as they had the fastest split in the field on all four legs.

China sat 2nd the entire race, winning the silver easily over Italy (3:51.38) in a time of 3:48.80 to fall just half-second off the Asian Record. The time for the Italians was a new National Record.