Jeanette Ottesen dropped a very fast 100m butterfly at the 2015 Duel in the Pool in a tight battle with American butterfly swimmer Kelsi Worrell.
The winning 55.10 for Ottesen also broke Natalie Coughlin’s US Open record of 56.23 in the event by over a second. The top three finishers in the event were all under Coughlin’s record, with Worrell finishing in 55.42 and Siobhan-Marie O’Connor dropping a 55.93.
Ottesen was out first in 22.44, and held off Worrell on the last 50 with a 29.66. As expected, Worrell did come home faster with a 29.47, but it wasn’t enough to get past Ottesen on the touch.
Ottesen’s performance also doubled as a Danish national record, bettering her 55.32 swim from last year’s world championships.
The Danish swimmer is coming off a silver medal performance in the 100m butterfly at the European Short Course Championships last week in Netanya, Israel. There, Ottesen was a 55.68 to finish behind Sarah Sjostrom.
Heading into the competition Ottesen was ranked second globally in this event for her performance from short course worlds. With her swim here, she retains her second place ranking and inches ever closer to Sjostrom’s world-leading mark.
The time ranks Ottesen as the third fastest performer ever in the short course 100m butterfly
