2023 World Cup Berlin Day 1 Prelims Recap: Hello Cate Campbell

2023 WORLD AQUATICS SWIMMING WORLD CUP – BERLIN

• October 6-8, 2023
• Berlin, Germany
• LCM (50 meters)
• Meet Central
• Full Entry List
• Live Results

We entered the first day of the Berlin stop of the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup and already saw some impressive morning performances.

We reported how 24-year-old Qin Haiyang of China busted out a new series record en route to taking the top seed in the men’s 100m breaststroke. Qin clocked a heats result of 58.41 to lead a stacked field, one which included the reigning Olympic gold medalist Adam Peaty and silver medalist Arno Kamminga.

Kamminga of the Netherlands hit a time of 59.26 as the 2nd-seeded swimmer while Peaty posted 1:00.03 to rank 5th. Additional contestants include Caspar Corbeau of the Netherlands (59.77), Nicolo Martinenghi of Italy (59.99), and American Nic Fink (1:00.46).

Straight off the just-concluded Asian Games, Zhang Yufei logged a time of 2:09.98 to capture the top seed in the women’s 200m fly.

25-year-old Zhang was one of the most successful swimmers in Hangzhou last week, amassing a remarkable 6 gold medals over the course of the Asian Games.

Here, she’s set to battle against American Katie Grimes and Bosnia & Herzegovina’s Lana Pudar who clinched the 2nd and 3rd seeds in times of 2:10.90 and 2:11.71, respectively.

This morning, Australia’s Ben Armbruster proved he’s back to form since nursing a rib injury that rendered him out of the Fukuoka World Championships.

Armbruster registered the fastest 100m butterfly performance of his career en route to earning the pole position for this evening’s final. The 21-year-old stopped the clock in a swift time of 51.67 (24.38/27.29) to hit the sole outing of the field under 52 seconds.

Entering this competition, Armbruster’s lifetime best rested at the 51.96 put up at this year’s Australian Swimming Championships, so the rising star hacked .29 off that previous PB. He now becomes Australia’s 9th-fastest performer in history.

Behind Armbruster was American Michael Andrew who nabbed the 2nd seed in 52.00 while fellow Aussie Cody Simpson rounded out the top 3 performers in 52.18.

Of note, South African multi-Olympic medalist Chad Le Clos missed the final, relegated to 9th place with his result of 52.64.

A battle is brewing in the women’s 50m freestyle event, as premier performers Cate Campbell (AUS), Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) and Bronte Campbell (AUS) were all in the water this morning.

It was 31-year-old Cate Campbell who secured the top spot, ripping an impressive time of 24.10. That mark would have tied teammate Shayna Jack as the silver medalist behind Sjostrom at this year’s World Championships.

Sjostrom wasn’t far behind, hitting 24.21 to flank C1 while sister Bronte Campbell will be another lane over, courtesy of her 24.99 morning swim.

American Torri Huske will try to spoil the party, clocking 24.97 as the other only racer to get under the 25-second barrier in the heats.

On the men’s side, another Aussie turned some heads as Isaac Cooper crushed a time of 21.95 in the 50m free.

19-year-old Cooper owns a lifetime best of 21.65 in this event, a time he scored at this year’s World Championships. However, his sub-22 result here checks in as the teen’s 4th-fastest performance.

A pair of Dutchman will be chasing the Aussie, with Kenzo Simons logging 22.18 while Stan Pijnenburg was 22.25. Between them was Trinidad & Tobago athlete Dylan Carter who notched 22.20 as the 2nd seed.

Andrew will be in the mix in this event as well, with the American nabbing a time of 22.25 to tie Pijnenburg.

Additional Top Seeds

• New Zealand’s Erika Fairweather took the top spot in the women’s 400m free, producing a time of 4:06.46 to hold a near-3 second advantage over Isabel Gose of Germany. Claire Weinstein of the United States and Lani Pallister of Australia are among the hunters set for this evening’s final.
• The men’s 400m free saw Sweden’s Victor Johansson land lane 4 in a time of 3:48.66. He represented one of two swimmers who dipped under the 3:50 threshold this morning, as USA’s Kieran Smith was next in 3:49.94. South Africa’s Matt Sates, Germany’s Lucas Maertens and Australia’s Brendon Smith were also among the top 8 performers.
• Kaylee McKeown of Australia staked her claim on the women’s 50m back event, establishing her dominance in a time of 27.55 as the only sub-28-second swimmer. Her outing fell just .20 shy of the World Cup Record of 27.35 China’s Liu Xiang put on the books in 2019.
• Japan’s national record holder Ryosuke Irie was too quick to catch this morning in the men’s 200m back, posting a morning mark of 1:59.96 as the sole sub-2:00 swimmer.
• The women’s 200m breast saw Dutch national record holder Tes Schouten make her presence known, with the 22-year-old notching a morning swim of 2:23.89. That result came within half a second of the World Cup Record. Aussie Jenna Strauch was next, clocking 2:25.12 in one of her first competitions back since undergoing surgery which rendered her out of this year’s World Championships.

Notable Misses

• As mentioned Le Clos settled for 9th seed in the men’s 100m fly in a time of 52.64.
• Lithuanian Danas Rapsys clocked a time of 3:51.75 to place 9th and just miss the men’s 400m free final. American Sean Grieshop placed 17th in 3:57.43. Aussie Zac Incerti was entered in this off-event but wound up not swimming.
• Amerian Beata Nelson posted a morning swim of 28.80 to rank 10th out of the women’s 50m back heats. Of note, Bronte Campbell also raced this off-event, logging 28.80 as the 11th seed. Huske was in the water as well, placing 14th in 29.07.
• Japan’s former national record holder Naoki Mizunuma fell to 12th place in the men’s 100m fly with a morning swim of 52.86. South African Sates notched 54.60 for 23rd place.
• German Lucas Matzerath posted a time of 1:01.03 to settle for 11th and out of the men’s 100m breaststroke final. Japan’s Shoma Sato was well off the mark as well, registering 1:02.10 for 15th place.
• Ruta Meilutyte of Lithuania scored a time of 25.73 to finish 15th in the women’s 50m free.
• Coming off of injuries, Aussie Incerti placed 22nd in a time of 23.17 in the men’s 50m free event.