2019 FINA WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS
- All sports: Friday, July 12 – Sunday, July 28, 2019
- Pool swimming: Sunday, July 21 – Sunday, July 28, 2019
- The Nambu University Municipal Aquatics Center, Gwangju, Korea
- Meet site
- Competition Schedule
- FinaTV Live Stream
- Entry Lists
- Results
The men’s 50m free final slated for tomorrow night in Gwangju will no doubt be electrifying, with American Record holder Caeleb Dressel leading the charge in a time of 21.18.
His semi time sits comfortably ahead of Brazilian World Championships medalist Bruno Fratus, while Ben Proud of Great Britain will flank Dressel on the other side with his semi mark of 21.56.
The 50 is so fast and furious that anything can happen, which means the phrase, ‘if you have a lane, you have a chance’ rings entirely true. As such Japanese fans are ecstatic to see Shinri Shioura make the top 8, representing the nation’s first 50m free World Championships finalist since 2001.
At the ’01 edition in Fukuoka, Japan, Tomohiro Yamanoi took bronze in the 50m free, but the nation has been thirsty for its next finalist appearance for 18 years since.
Shioura has been plugging away in the meantime, with this year representing his 4th consecutive World Championships appearance in the event. He finished in 15th at the 2013 edition, 10th back in 2015 and 14th last year in Budapest.
Shioura holds Japan’s National Record in the 50m free event in 21.67, a time he set in the semi-finals of this year’s Japan Swim. He was close to that time already with a result of 21.78 for 5th out of the heats, with his lowering it to a 21.74 to claim the 7th seed into tomorrow night’s final.
