The Chinese came into finals as the eight seed, just making it into finals over the Austrlians by .15. They traded in three 1:47s & one 1:50 split, for two 1:47s, one 1:46, and one heck of an anchor by Sun Yang at 1:43.16. Their time of 7:04.74 is a new Chinese record.
That was easily the fastest split on the field, the next fastest clocking in at 1:45.14 lead off by Danila Izotov. The Chinese will take home the bronze, just like they did last summer in London.
Ryosuke Irie and Kosuke Hagino both had a chance to medal in the 200 backstroke finals tonight. Both feel short of medal stand, finishing 4th and 5th, at 1:55.07 and 1:55.43. This was the first time Irie finished without a medal for the first time in a long time, he’s been second at the 2009 & 20011 world championships and 2012 Olympics.
Lu Ying solidified herself a lane in the women’s 50 butterfly final with a tie for seventh. She finished second in the 100 butterfly last year in London, but has struggled here in Barcelona. She failed to advance out of the semi-finals when she finished 11th.
World record holder Akihiro Yamaguchi of Japan finished seventh in a time of 2:09.57 with his teammate the Olympic bronze medalist Ryo Tateishi finished eighth with a time of 2:10.28, remaining in the same places they were after semi-finals. Japan is not the country it used to be in this event, and needs a serious overhaul if they would like to get back into the top ranks.
Other Notes from Day 6
– Yi Tang of China, the Olympic bronze medalist finished seventh in a time of 54.09
– Japan’s two swimmers Bai Anqi and Akase Sayaka failed to qualify out of semi-finals in the women’s 200 backstroke. Sayaka was ranked 11th in the world heading into Barcelona.
– 20th in the world Japanese swimmer, Shinri Shioura, swam right on his best this year by .01 to finish 15th in the semi-finals with a time of 22.04.
– Another Japanese swimmer Rio Kaneto, just missed the medal stand finished fourth in a time of 2:22.96.
– Fujii Takuro from Japan finished 13th in the men’s 100 butterfly
Records
China’s Wang Shun, Hao Yun, Li Yunqi, Sun Yang: Men’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay – 7:04.74
Japan’s Shinri Shioura: Men’s 50 Freestyle – :22.02
Korea’s Jungdoo Yang: Men’s 50 Freestyle – :22.48
Kosuke Hagino is still 19 yo (born 15 August 1994)
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight 70 kg (155 lb)
Unfortunately for Hagino, his potential is limited by his size.
Sorry, I meant 18 yo.
Hagino performances so far:
400 free: 3:44.82 (2nd)
200 free: 1:45.94 (5th)
100 back: 53.93 (6th)
200 IM: 1:55.74 (2nd)
200 back: 1:55.43 (5th)
4×200 lead-off: 1:45.93
If there’s an answer to Phelps or the aging (but still kicking) Lochte, it’s Hagino. He may not be getting a lot of attention, but he’s going to go no where but up. Watch out for him.
Hagino is just a medium sized guy at best. I did not know that guys that small can swim that fast…..
Do you know his stats? I would be curious to know.
He’s likely to a gold medal to that (400IM)