Waddell, Ress Trade 50 Back Records at World University Games

2019 World University Games/Summer Universiade – Swimming

  • July 4th-9th, 2019
  • Napoli, Italy
  • LCM (50m)
  • Live Stream: Olympic Channel (in US), Rai Sport (in Italy)
  • Entry Lists & Live Results

MEN’S 50 BACKSTROKE

  • World Record – 24.00, Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS), 2018
  • Meet Record – 24.63, Junya Koga (JPN), 2009
  • Meet Record – 24.54, Zane Waddell (RSA), 2019
  • Meet Record – 24.52, Justin Ress (USA), 2019
  • Meet Record – 24.46, Zane Waddell (RSA), 2019

It’s been a busy day for whomever etches the records into the World University Games record book. He or she would have best been advised to stick to pencil for the men’s 50 backstroke, as South Africa’s Zane Waddell and USA’s Justin Ress spent Saturday trading meet records.

The assault on the record books began in prelims, where Waddell won heat 7 with 24.54, taking 24/100 off his seed time and erasing Junya Koga (JPN)’s 2009 record of 24.63. In the very next heat, Ress was also under Koga’s meet record with a heat-winning 24.57, but he was .03 off the new meet record set by Waddell just seconds earlier.

Fast-forward to semi-finals. In the first heat, Ress unleashed a 24.52 to slice 2/100 off Waddell’s meet mark and win his heat by .48 over Russia’s Mark Nikolaev (25.00) who had come in with the top seed time of 24.23. Before the ink was even dry, Waddell followed in the second semi-final with 24.46, coming to the wall with a .67 margin over Australia’s William Yang.

Waddell and Ress now rank #4 and #7 for the year. Ress is the second American on the list behind Michael Andrew.

2018-2019 LCM MEN 50 BACK

KlimentRUS
KOLESNIKOV
07/27
24.35 *WJR
2Michael
ANDREW
USA24.3906/21
3Vladimir
MOROZOV
RUS24.4008/16
4Zane
WADDELL
RSA24.4307/28
5Jiayu
XU
CHN24.4703/31
6Justin
RESS
USA24.4807/10
7Evgeny
RYLOV
RUS24.4907/28
8Ryan
MURPHY
USA24.5307/28
8Robert
GLINTA
ROU24.5307/27
10Grigory
TARASEVICH
RUS24.6407/10
View Top 26»

The excitement is building for Sunday night’s 50 in the men’s 50 backstroke, when Waddell and Ress will swim side-by-side for the first time in the meet.

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RollyPolly
5 years ago

Zane wins 100 back ncaa. Heard it hear first ☝🏻

Heyitsme
Reply to  RollyPolly
5 years ago

He doesn’t heard it here first

RollyPolly
Reply to  Heyitsme
5 years ago

I’d like to hear your pick

Heyitsme
Reply to  RollyPolly
5 years ago

Dean if he swims it again or Stewart

RollyPolly
Reply to  Heyitsme
5 years ago

Dean is taking an Olympic year. Coleman will be a worthy opponent

gator
Reply to  RollyPolly
5 years ago

Dean will never swim in the NCAA again – you heard it here first!

Heyitsme
Reply to  RollyPolly
5 years ago

Oop I forgot, but Stewart most likely. He’s more consistent

Jcdkdb
Reply to  Heyitsme
5 years ago

And he went a 43 ‼️‼️‼️‼️

sven
Reply to  Heyitsme
5 years ago

Dean will eventually win it again if he swims it, but not next year.

wokebanana
Reply to  RollyPolly
4 years ago

NOPE

About Anne Lepesant

Anne Lepesant

Anne Lepesant is the mother of four daughters, all of whom swam in college. With an undergraduate degree from Princeton (where she was an all-Ivy tennis player) and an MBA from INSEAD, she worked for many years in the financial industry, both in France and the U.S. Anne is currently …

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