Daiya Seto Breaks 200 Fly World Record In 1:48.24

2018 FINA SHORT COURSE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, December 11th – Sunday, December 16th
• Hangzhou, China
• Tennis Centre, Hangzhou Olympic & International Expo Center
• SCM (25m)
• Provisional Entry List
• Entries Book
• Meet Schedule
• Prelims: 9:30 am local, 8:30 pm ET / Finals: 7:00 pm* local, 6:00 am ET
• U.S. Live Stream (Finals – First Three Days)
• U.S. Live Stream (Prelims, Finals Last Day)
• FINA TV Livestream (All Sessions)
• Live Results (Omega)

Daiya Seto of Japan held off Chad Le Clos down the stretch to win gold and set a new world record in the men’s 200 fly final at the 2018 SC World Championships in Hangzhou, as Seto touched in a time of 1:48.24 to break the previous record held by Le Clos of 1:48.56.

Seto, Le Clos and China’s Li Zhuhao were all out very fast in the race, over 1.4 seconds under world record pace at the 100, but Seto separated himself on the third 50 with a split of 28.00. Le Clos made a big push coming home in 28.48, but ran out of room as Seto held on for the victory by .08. Le Clos was 1:48.32, also under his old record and giving him a new African mark.

Seto previously sat 2nd all-time in the event behind Le Clos, having been as fast as 1:48.92 at the 2014 World Championships in Doha. Le Clos’ old record of 1:48.56 was set way back in 2013 at the Singapore stop of the FINA World Cup.

Below, check out a split comparison of the new and old world records, along with Le Clos’ swim from tonight:

Le Clos paced his race much differently back then, almost a full second slower on the opening 50 before charging home with a pair of sub-28 splits on the back half. Seto’s win ends Le Clos’ reign as world champ as he had won the last two titles in Doha and Windsor.

Between the two of them they now own the eight fastest swims in history, with Le Clos owning six of those.