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
Day 6 Prelim Results + Finals Heat Sheets
Women’s 100m Freestyle
The women’s 100 freestyle final will kick off the finals session on day 6, and it is going to be an exciting one. Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden paced the field in the semi-finals with a time of 52.78. She won the 2nd semi-final ahead of Bronte Campbell who qualified for the final 3rd overall in 53.00 Cate Campbell won the first semi-final in 52.84, qualifying 2nd for tonights final. Also qualifying for the final was Femke Heemskerk and Ranomi Kromowidjojo of the Netherlands, Simone Manuel and Missy Franklin of the United States, and Shen Duo of China. Franklin squeaked into the final, beating out Canada’s Chantal van Landeghem by one one-hundredth of a second 53.92 to 53.93. This field is loaded with talent and is going to be amazing to watch. Others who missed the final included Michelle Coleman of Sweden and Aliaksandra Herasimenia of Belarus.
Men’s 200m Backstroke Final
Mitchell Larkin will be looking for his second world championship title tonight in the 200 back. Larkin won the 100 back earlier in the meet, and posted the top time in the semi-finals of 1:54.29, a new Oceanic record. Ryan Murphy of the United States and Xu Jiayu, qualified 2nd and 3rd overall, with all three swimmers competing in the second semi-final. The first semi-final was won by Russia’s Evgeny Rylov in 1:55.54, qualifying 4th overall. Radoslaw Kawecki tied Xu also swimming a 1:55.54. Also qualifying for the final was 2012 Olympic gold and silver medalists in this event Tyler Clary and Ryosuke Irie, along with China’s Li Guangyuan who swam 1:57.12 for 8th. Larkin will be tough to beat after going 1:54.29 in the semi’s, but anyone of these swimmers is capable of pulling off an upset. Among those missing the final, Germany’s Christian Diener and Japan’s Masaki Kaneko just missed finishing 9th and 10th overall respectively.
Women’s 200m Backstroke Semi-Finals
Katinka Hosszu led the charge in the women’s 200 backstroke this morning, posting a very fast time of 2:07.17. She was followed by defending champion Missy Franklin of the United States and Dominique Bouchard of Canada who qualified 2nd and 3rd. 16 year-old Russian Daria Ustinova qualified 4th in 2:09.16. In the first semi-final tonight we will see Franklin and Ustinova, along with Franklin’s teammate Elizabeth Beisel and Germany’s Jenny Mensing. In the second semi we’ll see Hosszu and Bouchard, along with Elizabeth Simmonds of Great Britain, Emily Seebohm of Australia, Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe and Hilary Caldwell of Canada. In a surprising turn of events 4th ranked in the world coming into this event, Australian Hayley Baker finished 17th this morning and will miss the semi-finals. 2013 bronze medalist Caldwell barely slipped in finishing 15th overall.
Men’s 50m Freestyle Semi-Finals
Florent Manaudou qualified 1st this morning in the men’s 50 free heats, going 21.71. He was followed by Nathan Adrian (USA), Kristian Gkolomeev (GRE) and Vladimir Morozov (RUS) who also broke 22 seconds this morning. Adrian and Morozov had strong swims here after disappointing performances in the 100. The first semi-final will feature Adrian and Morozoz, along with 100m champion Ning Zetao of China and Marco Orsi of Italy. The second semi will have Manaudou and Gkolomeev, along with Bruno Fratus of Brazil, Ben Proud of Great Britain and Anthony Ervin of the United States. Ervin again didn’t look for very strong in his second swim of these championship, barely making the semi-final qualifying 15th in 22.44. Missing the final was Clement Mignon (FRA), Luca Dotto (ITA) and Ari-Pekka Liukkonen (FIN).
Women’s 200m Breastroke Final
After failing to advance to the semi-finals, Russia’s Yuliya Efimova will not defend her world title from 2013 in the 200 breast. World record holder Rikke Pedersen won silver in 2013, and leads the way into the final after qualifying 1st overall in 2:21.99. American Micah Lawrence qualified 2nd just behind Pedersen in 2:22.04, and Kanako Watanabe of Japan qualified 3rd in 2:22.15. Also qualifying was Vitalina Simonova (RUS), Kierra Smith (CAN), Rie Kaneto (JPN) and Jessica Vall (ESP). Shi Jinglin (CHN) and Hrafnhildur Luthersdottir (ISL) tied for 8th in 2:23.06, meaning they would need a swim-off to see who would swim in the final. Luthersdottir led through the first 100, but tired at the finish and Shi won 2:23.75 to 2:25.11, earning her a lane in the final. Pedersen and Lawrence look to win their second straight medal in this event, while the rest of the field will search for their first 200m breastroke medal at the world championships. Among those missing the final were Fanny Lecluyse of Belgium, Viktoria Zeynep Gunes of Turkey and Australians Taylor McKeown and Tessa Wallace.
Men’s 100m Butterfly Semi-Finals
Laszlo Cseh continued his phenomenal performance at these championships this morning in the 100 fly, qualifying 1st in a personal best time of 50.91. That time makes Cseh the 2nd fastest performer in this event since 2010, with only Michael Phelps being faster. American Tom Shields also swam a personal best time of 51.09, putting him 4th fastest since 2010 behind only Phelps, Cseh and Chad Le Clos. Le Clos looked solid this morning, qualifying in an easy 51.83. Tonight the first semi-final will feature Shields and Le Clos, along with two-time medalist in this event Konrad Czerniak of Poland and Shields’ teammate Tim Phillips. The second semi will feature Cseh, along with 2015 NCAA champion in this event Joseph Schooling of Singapore who swam a personal best 51.65 this morning, and Li Zhuhao of China who qualified 3rd overall in 51.54, also a personal best. Former world champion in the 200 fly Pawel Korzeniowski will also swim in the second semi. Among those missing the final was Adam Barrett (GBR), Yauhen Tsurkin (BLR) and Viktor Bromer (DEN). Russians Evgeny Koptelov and Viacheslav Prudnikov also missed out.
Women’s 50m Butterfly Semi-Finals
Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden led the way in the women’s 50 fly heats, going an easy 25.43 for 1st overall, a full second off her world record time. Jeanette Ottesen, Inge Dekker and Lu Ying followed up strong 100m fly performances with top placings in these prelims. Tonight the first semi-final will feature Ottesen and Lu, along with Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace of the Bahamas and American Kendyl Stewart. The second semi will feature Sjostrom and Dekker, along with Fran Halsall of Great Britain and Noemie Thomas of Canada. Hopefully we will see Sjostrom break 25 seconds tonight, as she is still the only woman to ever do so. Missing the final was Claire Donahue (USA), Emma McKeon (AUS) and Katerine Savard (CAN).
Men’s 200m Breastroke Final
Swimming out of lane 1 in the second semi-final, Yasuhiro Koseki of Japan qualified 1st overall for tonights final in 2:08.03. Koseki took the race out incredibly fast, as he was under countryman Akihiro Yamaguchi’s world record pace through 150m. Marco Koch (GER), Daniel Gyurta (HUN) and Kevin Cordes (USA) qualified 2nd through 4th, all swimming in the very fast 2nd semi-final. Andrew Willis (GBR) won the first semi in 2:08.72, good for 5th overall. Also qualifying for the final was Dmitriy Balandin (KAZ), Mao Feilian (CHN) and Anton Chupkov (RUS), who set a new junior world record of 2:09.64 qualifying in 8th. Gyurta will be searching for his 4th consecutive title in this event, and Koch will look for his 2nd straight medal in the event after a silver in 2013. Missing the final was 2013 bronze medalist Matti Mattsson of Finland and Giedrius Titenis of Lithuania, who was under world record pace at the 150m mark but faded badly in the last 50 and ended up 10th.
Men’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay
Australia paced the men’s 4x200m prelims, with Grant Hackett, Kurt Herzog, Daniel Smith and Thomas Fraser-Holmes posting the top time of 7:08.55. Smith and Fraser-Holmes posted the top splits of 1:46.02 and 1:46.59 respectively, likely giving them the chance to join Cameron McEvoy and David McKeon in the final. The United States qualified 2nd, with Reed Malone, Michael Weiss, Michael Klueh and Conor Dwyer putting up a time of 7:08.55. Dwyer swam in place of Clay Youngquist, who was expected to swim in the preliminary. Dwyer (1:46.53) and Weiss (1:46.14) had the fastest splits this morning, and will certainly swim in the final, along with Ryan Lochte who was 4th in the individual 200. It is unclear who will be the 4th man, as Klueh splits 1:47.67 this morning, Malone had a 1:48.21 lead off, while Youngquist has been 1:47.91 just a month ago at the World University Games. Backstroke specialist Tyler Clary would also be an option, although it would be a surprise. Also qualifying for the final was Great Britain, Germany, Poland, Netherlands, Russia and Belgium. Dan Wallace and Paul Biedermann both had strong legs for their respective countries, each splitting 1:46.03. Missing the final was Spain, Japan, France, Italy and China. China (3rd), France (4th) and Japan (5th) all had top finishes at the World Championships two years ago. Not using Sun Yang this morning was a definite mistake by China, but seeing as they were almost 6 seconds off of qualifying, he might not even have saved them. Also missing the final was Brazil, as their top 200 freestyler Joao De Lucca threw down an ugly split of 1:50.25, with his 4th 50 being a shocking 30.10. The United States aren’t as strong as they have been in the past, and all these teams in the final will battle it out for the medals.
Well, well, well … C2 !!!
A surprise and I’m very happy to have been proven wrong in my prediction. Was thinking this may be one year early for her but hey …. it’s nice to have these kind of surprises.
Sarah & big sister weren’t bad by any means. These three will be going around again in Rio & should be another beauty.
Heemskerk doesn’t seem to be able to produce when it matters. Kromowidjojo good but can she get back down to sub53 ?
The Americans ….. a long long way off. Franklin has other …. and better events. Manuel as yet is a number of steps below out three medallists and for all the NCAA hoo-haa, she’s… Read more »
Looking at the 15-16 Top 100 times, Missy and Simone were both faster as 15-16s than they were today at ages 19 and 20. NCAA success does not always transfer to yards.
Cate Campbell 52.3. Sjostrom 52.5. Bronte Campbell 52.7.
Looks like nobody believes in Irie.
Yeah, you’re right, 1.53.3 from last year would demolish the cast.
I’m really hoping Ryan Murphy can some how get a win over Larkin. They will be racing for many years to come and Larkin got him at Pan Pacs
Like I said in the prelims live recap, the level of the men’s 100 fly was insane this morning.
12 guys in 51 or better
16th place in 52.29
2 years ago in Barcelona only 4 guys swam 51 in prelims.
King Cseh will dominate!
King Laszlo!
And go Cseh against Le Clos! But the final is tomorrow.
You mad? You set yourself up for this.. I got nothing against le Clos, he’s a great swimmer.
Ah,it’s understandable David, everybody is rooting for thei countrymen/women. Nothing is decided yet, both can win and even other swimmers have a chance…
Really pulling for Shields to get under 51. The 100 fly is a crowded event, lots of guys in the mix for medals and it will be unpredictable and exciting I expect.
Most excited for Murphy’s swim. He’s been a best event 200 backstroker his whole career and now we have it set for this following his 52 low 100 back. He has the ability to rattle the world record and it will be fun to watch.
If Shields swims 50.99 in semis and finishes 4th tomorrow in 51.20, you’re happy? I don’t think so.
That was just a good example of what I tried to say above.
He’s not fast enough, I think we saw it today. This 4×200 m is the biggest enigma in this meeting. Americans are with average Dwyer, average Lochte, without Berens – they swum 7.05 last year on PanPacific with Phelps (1.46) and I don’t think they can be faster or even as fast as they were last year. Aussies have the biggest depth (Fraser Holmes was 1.45 last year), but they are very disappointing in relays recently, and Britains are too one dimesional with Guy to win it. If Smith would be able to repeat his swim IMHO Aussies will be main favorite… Larkin will swim sub1.54 and everything depends whether Kawęcki or Clary are swim similary.
About 100 m… Read more »
He – I mean Hackett.
Yes, Smith swam well this morning but let’s keep a grasp on reality; he didn’t swim 1.44 or even 1.45; it was a 1.46low with flying start which is very solid but no game-changer. Fraser-Holmes morning heat swim was the first decent swim he’s put up all year; that’s how off form he’s been. McEvoy’s 2 relay outings last year were 1.48 lead-offs; he may put in a “blinder” but he was just as easily drop in another 1.48. AUS only chance is if both USA & GBR “shoot themselves in the foot”.
C1 at best vs Sjostrom at best over 100 ? A hard pick, possibly C1. However Sjostrom looks to be on or very close to career best… Read more »
You’re right in some away, but I just think the level of competition won’t be high – if McKeon, McEvoy and TFH swim ~1.46 – and they may do it, they are able to swim something between 7.04-7.05 – and that may be enough to win a gold or silver. Russian are not as good as they were two years ago and without well prepared Izotov their max. is bronze IMHO, there are no Hagino and Sun. I have to agree that Australia male relay isn’t regular, but I think they have potential to finally succeed. Yes, it won’t be suprise if McEvoy would swim 1.48 again, but I think it won’t be suprise to see Australia winning it either.