2018 FINA SHORT COURSE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Tuesday, December 11th – Sunday, December 16th
- Hangzhou, China
- Tennis Centre, Hangzhou Olympic & International Expo Center
- SCM (25m)
- Prelims: 9:30 am local, 8:30 pm ET / Finals: 7:00 pm* local, 6:00* am ET
- *The final night of finals will be one hour earlier, starting at 6:00 pm local and 5:00 am ET
- Live Results (Omega)
Simonas Bilis once again broke his Lithuanian Record in the men’s 100 freestyle, clocking a time of 46.11 in the final to finish 5th.
Bilis, who was the defending champion, had first broken the record in the semi-finals, where he went 46.46 to erase his 2016 time of 46.58. That swim was done in the final at the World Championships two years ago where he won the gold by .01 over Japan’s Shinri Shioura.
Compared to his semi-final swim, the 25-year-old was quicker on both 50s, out about a tenth faster in 21.95 before closing two-tenths quicker in 24.16.
Split Comparison, Bilis’ Lithuanian Records:
- 2016 Final: 22.01/24.57 = 46.58
- 2018 Semis: 22.07/24.39 = 46.46
- 2018 Final: 21.95/24.16 = 46.11
The NC State grad also made his way into the all-time top-25 with this swim, as he’s now tied with Italian Luca Dotto for 25th.
Caeleb Dressel of the United States ran down Vlad Morozov of Russia to win the gold medal in a time of 45.62, with Morozov .02 back in 45.64. 3rd and 4th place finishers Chad Le Clos (45.89) and Vladislav Grinev (45.92) also broke 46 seconds in what was a very fast final. In fact, all eight finalists were quicker than what Bilis went to win the world title in 2016.
