2018 FINA SHORT COURSE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Tuesday, December 11th – Sunday, December 16th
- Hangzhou, China
- Tennis Centre, Hangzhou Olympic & International Expo Center
- SCM (25m)
- Live Results (Omega)
American Olympic champion Ryan Murphy got the job done tonight in the men’s 100m backstroke, winning by a fingernail against rival Xu Jiayu of China. Spitting 23.64, the 2nd fastest opening 50m of the field behind Brazilian Guilherme Guido‘s 23.44, Murphy produced a back-half of 25.59 to get his hand on the wall just .03 ahead of Xu.
Murphy’s final time was 49.23, with Xu clocking 49.26, while Kliment Kolesnikov of Russia finished closely behind in 49.40.
Perhaps surprisingly given the intensity of the talent, the 3 times fall outside the fastest performances ever in the event. Xu holds the World Record in 48.88, while young Kolesnikov is right behind as the 2nd fastest performer ever in 48.90.
Murphy’s personal best before this meet sat at the 50.91 he logged back in 2012, which he lowered to 49.52 during last night’s semi-finals. So the 23-year-old was the only racer of the top 3 to notch a new lifetime best in this super close battle.
Watch how the 3 took it to the wall in the race video, courtesy of Alex Muni.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuRnfqc34oc
Love that you guys are just recording the races from your TV and posting them.
Rude of Guido to keep his competitors waiting like that.
Join the discussion…
Love Ryan Murphy….. but it sure looks like he is completely submerged at the finish….
Loved the mix of speed and endurance in the first 50!
It looks like Kolesnikov almost crushed into the lane line in the first 25m. Had expected all of them to go faster.
The underwater camera shot after the start is worthless.