Eindhoven Day 3: Pieroni 3rd Fastest U.S. 200 Freestyler Ever (SCM)

2018 FINA WORLD CUP – EINDHOVEN

• Friday, September 28th – Sunday – September 30th
• SCM
• Cluster 1 Results
• Entry List
• SwimSwam Meet Preview
• Day 1 Prelims Recap/Day 1 Finals Recap
• Day 2 Prelims Recap/Day 2 Finals Recap
• Day 3 Prelims Recap
• Results

A trifecta of records kicked off the final night of swimming here in Eindhoven, as Japan’s Daiya Seto, China’s Wang Jianjiahe and Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom all made their mark on the first stop of the second cluster of the 2018 FINA World Cup.

Seto produced a new World Cup Record time of 3:57.25 in the 400m IM, while Wang scorched a new World Junior Record effort of 8:03.86 in the 800m freestyle. Sjostrom did damage in her pet 100m fly event, registering just the 2nd sub-55 second time in history with a gold medal winning 54.91.

Below are the links to the specific posts regarding these records:

• Daiya Seto‘s 400m IM
• Wang Jianjiahe‘s 800m free
• Sarah Sjostrom‘s 100m fly

In other events, Kathleen Baker of the United States followed up her national record yesterday in the 100m back with a solid 200m backstroke victory this evening. Clocking a time of 2:00.85, Baker hit the wall over a second ahead of Aussie Emily Seebohm, who settled for silver in 2:01.91. Iron Lady Katinka Hosszu of Hungary rounded out the top 3 with a time of 2:03.76.

For Baker, her effort tonight fell within striking distance of the American Record of 2:00.03 set by Missy Franklin during the 2011 World Cup Series. Looks like this record is on notice for next stop.

The men’s 100m backstroke saw Mitch Larkin of Australia beat the field, touching in 50.08 for the win. He holds his national record in 49.03 set back in 2015, the year he became double World Champion in Kazan. Behind Larkin tonight was Japanese mainstay Ryosuke Irie in 50.22 and Russian Grigory Tarasevich who took bronze in 50.79.

38-year-old Nicholas Santos clinched his 2nd gold of this stop, winning the men’s 50m fly in 22.08. He hit the wall just .01 ahead of South African Chad Le Clos, who notched 22.09 for silver. Also in the mix was Russian speedster Vlad Morozov, who finished in 22.42, as well as Dutchman Jesse Puts. 

Puts produced a time of 22.74 to match the Dutch National Record set by Basitaan Tamminga at the supersuited European Championships back in 2009. American Michael Andrew finished 5th in 22.78.

In the freestyle arena, Sjostrom also won the women’s 100m sprint in 51.21, holding off day 1’s 50m freestyle winner Ranomi Kromowidjojo of Netherlands, who took silver in 51.42. Femkee Heemskerk was also solid with a time of 51.73 for bronze.

Blake Pieroni of American earned his nation its 2nd gold this evening behind Baker, taking the men’s 200m freestyle in 1:41.83.  That’s a new personal best by well over a second for the former Hoosier, who came within .75 of Ryan Lochte’s 1:41.08 American Record.

In fact, with his 1:41.83, Pieroni became the 3rd fastest American performer ever in the event, sitting only behind Lochte and Conor Dwyer. He also moves into the top 25 performers of all-time worldwide.

Fastest SCM 200 freestyle performers ever:

1. 1:41.08, Ryan Lochte, 2010 Dubai
2. 1:41.30, Conor Dwyer, 2013 Berlin
3. 1:41.83, Blake Pieroni, 2018 Eindhoven
4. 1:42.17, Peter Vanderkaay, 2010
5. 1:42.68, Ricky Berens, 2011 Atlanta

Additional Winners:

• Jamaican Alia Atkinson denied Russian Yuliya Efimova a clean sweep of the breaststroke events, winning the 50m sprint in 29.18. Efimova was also under 30 in 29.50, while USA’s Molly Hannis touched in 30.01 for bronze. Of note, backstroking ace Emily Seebohm of Australia put up a very respectable 30.14 for 4th.
• Russia’s Kirill Prigoda was tonight’s 200m breaststroke winner for the men, earning a gold medal effort of 2:01.59. Teammate Anton Chupkov wasn’t too far behind, finishing in 2:01.70. 400m IM winner Daiya Seto took bronze in a far-back 2:04.19, but, remember, he does hold Japan’s NR in this event with the 2:01.30 he threw down in Singapore last year.
• Hosszu claimed the victory in the women’s 200m IM, clocking 2:05.06 ahead of America’s Melanie Margalis who finished in 2:06.04. Seebohm was right on the blocks again, cracking off 2:06.82 for bronze.