Hrafnhildur Luthersdottir took a huge chunk off her best time and Icelandic national record of 2:25.39 in the 200m breaststroke in order to qualify third heading into tonight’s semifinal with a 2:23.54.
The time marks a huge progression for Luthersdottir who set the old 2:25 record just about two months ago in early June.
Only two swimmers were able to better Luthersdottir’s time this morning: Kanako Watanabe of Japan and Micah Lawrence of the United States. Luthersdottir wasn’t too far behind them however, finishing just 0.25 seconds behind Watanabe and 0.22 seconds behind Lawrence.
Luthersdottir will likely be able to make finals with her 2:23-mid time. It won’t be easy however as there are plenty of tough competitors who also qualified for the semifinals including 2013 world championship silver medallist Rikke Moller Pedersen.
Throw Fanny Lecluyse in the mix who qualified fourth with a new Belgian national record of 2:23.77, as well as Taylor McKeown of Australia and Kierra Smith of Canada who both qualified in the lower half of the top 16, and there’s plenty of talent mixed into the field.
If Luthersdottir wants to maintain her current placing, she’ll likely need to take more time off and get closer to a 2:22-low in finals assuming she qualifies.
