The biggest event of this year for the swimming world is now underway. Racing at the 2015 FINA World Championships will begin this morning. Many of the best swimmers from around the world are in Kazan to race for a spot in the finals of the 400 freestyle and the 4×100 free relay.
Distance phenom Katie Ledecky owns the world record in the 400 free. She comes to this meet with a chance to lower that record. Sun Yang will swim to defend his 400 free title against the likes of Mack Horton and James Guy.
The 4×100 freestyle will bring back the rivalries between the USA and Australian women, and the men from team USA and France.
We’ll also see the women race for semi-final spots in the 100 fly and 200 I.M. The top 16 men will qualify for semi-finals in the 50 fly and 100 breast.
2015 FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Pool swimming: Sunday, August 2nd – Sunday, August 9th
- Prelims 9:30AM/Finals 5:30PM (Local Time)
- Kazan Arena Stadium
- Kazan, Russia (UTC+3 hours)
- Full coverage
- All sport medal tables
- Live stream (Universal Sports)
- Schedule and Results
Women’s 100m Butterfly – Prelims
• 2013 World Champion: Sarah Sjostrom, SWE – 56.53
• World Record: 55.98 – Dana Vollmer, USA – 2012
• Championship Record: 56.06 – Sarah Sjostrom, SWE – 2009
Sarah Sjostrom powered through the women’s 100 fly prelim, making a statement with her 56.47. She was over a second ahead of any other swimmer this morning. The closest woman to her was Jeanette Ottesen, who swam a strong 2nd 50 to win her heat in 57.76 and take 2nd seed for semis.
Lu Ying earned 4th overall, finishing behind Sjostrom in heat 7 with a 57.82
Inge Dekker went out hard in her heat, racing a hard charging Katherine Savard and Kendyl Stewart at the finish. Dekker held on for the win in that heat at 57.82, setting her 3rd for tonight. Savard was 57.96, just ahead of Stewart (58.06), placing them 5th and 7th overall respectively.
Lu Ying earned 4th overall, clocking a 57.82 in heat 7. Emma Mckeon was just behind her in the heat to take the 8th seed in 58.12.
It took a 58.48 to land in the top 16, closed out by a tie between Farida Osman and Rachael Kelly. Those two had to swim off for that final spot, with Kelly taking it in 58.17 to Osman’s 58.22.
Team USA’s Claire Donahue just missed the semis, coming in 20th at 58.77.
Top 16: Sjostrom, SWE; Ottesen, DEN; Dekker, NED; Ying, CHN; Savard, CAN; Wenk, GER; Stewart, USA; McKeon, AUS; An, KOR; Groves, AUS; Chen, CHN; Thomas, CAN; Buys, BEL; Bianchi, ITA; Hoshi, JPN; Kelly, GBR; Osman, EGY
Men’s 400m Freestyle – Prelims
• 2013 World Champion: Sun Yang, CHN – 3:41.59
• World Record: 3:40.07 – Paul Biedermann, GER – 2009
• Championship Record: 3:40.07 – Paul Biedermann, GER – 2009
Sun Yang got the job done this morning, swimming a solid 3:44.99 to take the top seed in the final. That’s almost as fast as his 3:44.53 from Chinese Nationals, the fastest time he’s posted in 2015.
James Guy was neck and neck with Yang in the beginning of the race, keeping it close all the way to the finish to take the 2nd seed in 3:45.37.
Making up a ton of ground on the back half, Ryan Cochrane ended up 3rd going into tonight’s final. He hit the wall in 3:45.86.
The final heat was a runaway for USA’s Connor Jaeger. He was a body length ahead of the field at the finish, qualifying 4th in 3:46.03. His teammate Michael McBroom will join him in the final, 6th in 3:46.69. Jaeger will have a chance to defend his medal tonight.
Poland’s Jacek Wojdak seemed to come out of nowhere in this event. He dropped 4 seconds to take the 5th spot after being entered outside of the circle seeded heats. He clocked a 3:46.67.
Peter Bernek (3:46.83) and Clemens Rapp (3:47.19) round out the qualifying spots for finals.
In a bit of a shocker, Australia’s David Mckeon (3:47.36) and Mack Horton (3:47.37) didn’t make the final after coming into the meet with times ranked in the top 3 for 2015. They were 10th and 11th respectively.
Top 8: Yang, CHN; Guy, GBR; Cochrane, CAN; Jaeger, USA; Wojdak, POL; McBroom, USA; Bernek, HUN, Rapp, GER
Women’s 200m IM – Prelims
• 2013 World Champion: Katinka Hosszu, HUN – 2:07.92
• World Record: 2:06.15 – Ariana Kukors, USA – 2009
• Championship Record: 2:06.15 – Ariana Kukors, USA – 2009
Hungary’s Iron Lady Katinka Hosszu and Great Britain’s Siobhan Marie O’Connor left nothing to chance in the prelims of the 200 I.M., putting up impressive times to take the top 2 seeds for semi-finals. O’Connor was up first, hitting the wall in 2:08.82. Hosszu followed that with a 2:07.30 to top the morning.
Japan’s Kanako Watanabe finished behind Hosszu to earn 3rd seed in 2:10.37. O’Conner’s teammate Hannah Miley was also in that heat. She grabbed 7th at 2:12.22.
In heat 2, Sydney Pickrem beat China’s Ye Shiwen, the Olympic Champion in this event, to earn 4th overall. Pickrem was 2:10.94 to Ye’s 2:11.23.
USA’s Melanie Margalis touched the wall behind Ye, earning 6th in 2:11.88. Her American teammate, Maya Dirado, tied for 9th this morning with Hungary’s Zsuszanna Jakabos in 2:12.38.
Top 16: Hosszu, HUN; O’Connor, GBR; Watanabe, JPN; Pickrem, CAN; Ye, CHN; Margalis, USA; Miley, GBR; Shimizu, JPN; Dirado, USA; Jakabos, HUN; Maranhao-Melo, BRA; Gunes, TUR; Haughey, HKG; Zavadova, CZE; Wallace, AUS; Nguyen, VIE
Men’s 50m Butterfly – Prelims
• 2013 World Champion: Cesar Ceilo, BRA – 23.01
• World Record: 22.43 – Rafael Munoz, ESP – 2009
• Championship Record: 22.67 – Milorad Cavic, SRB – 2009
French sprinter Florent Manadou was the fastest man in the 50 fly heats. He came in at 23.15 ahead of Rafael Munoz‘s 23.36. Munoz qualified 3rd just behind Laslo Cseh (23.32).
Joseph Schooling won heat 7 to qualify 5th in 23.40. Also qualifying for semis in that heat were Ben Proud (23.58) and Cesar Cielo (23.66).
Konrad Czerniak (23.38), Nicholas Santos (23.41), and Chad Le Clos (23.45) earned their spots in semis behind Cseh in heat 8.
Canada’s Santo Condorelli and Trinidad’s Dylan Carter, teammates at USC, tied for 15th at 23.67 to close the spots for the semifinals.
Top 16: Manadou, FRA; Cseh, HUN; Munoz, ESP; Czerniak, POL; Schooling, SIN; Santos, BRA; Shi, CHN; Le Clos, RSA; Tsurkin, BLR; Govorov, UKR; Proud, GBR; Heersbrandt, BEL; Kawamoto, JPN; Cielo, BRA; Condorelli, CAN; Carter, TRI
Women’s 400m Freestyle – Prelims
• 2013 World Champion: Katie Ledecky, USA – 3:59.82
• World Record: 3:58.37 – Katie Ledecky, USA – 2014
• Championship Record: 3:59.15 – Federica Pellegrini, ITA – 2009
In the final heat of the women’s 400 free, Katie Ledecky started the race .71 seconds under World Record pace at the 100, holding under the pace through the 200. She shut it down after that, cruising into the wall body lengths ahead of the field in 4:01.73.
Jessica Ashwood was the next fastest woman out of prelims, touching the wall at 4:04.47 behind Ledecky. Also qualifying for the final in that heat was Sharon Van Rouwendaal, 3rd at 4:05.02.
Boglarka Kapas (4:06.21) and Melani Costa (4:07.58) were the next two to finish in the heat, qualifying at 5th and 8th respectively.
4th place overall went to New Zealand’s Lauren Boyle (4:05.53). Boyle medaled in this event at the 2013 World Championships, and will look to repeat with a podium performance.
Boyle and Jazz Carlin came into the meet with the fastest seeds behind Ledecky. Carlin tied for 6th this morning with Diletta Carli at 4:07.15.
Cierra Runge narrowly missed the final, 9th in 4:07.97.
Top 8: Ledecky, USA; Ashwood, AUS; Van Rouwendaal, NED; Boyle, NZL; Kapas, HUN; Carlin, GBR; Carli, ITA; Costa, ESP
Men’s 100m Breaststroke – Prelims
• 2013 World Champion: Christian Sprenger, AUS – 58.79
• World Record: 57.92 – Adam Peaty, GBR – 2015
• Championship Record: 58.58 – Brenton Rickard, AUS – 2009
Olympic Gold Medalist Cameron Van Der Bergh won his heat this morning by a body length, finishing in a time of 58.59 to set an impressive pace for the circle seeded heats.
World Record holder Adam Peaty fired back in the final heat, taking over the top seed in 58.52. His teammate Ross Murdoch swam a 59.48 to win heat 7 and qualify 4th.
Dmitriy Balandin earned the 3rd seed, clocking a 59.38 behind Peaty in heat 9. Brazil’s Felipe Silva followed closely at 59.56 to take 5th overall.
Both Americans will move on to the next round, with Cody Miller 11th and Nic Fink 13th. Miller was under 1:00 this morning with a 59.97. Fink was close to that mark in 1:00.05.
Germany will also have 2 in the semifinals, Christian Vom Lehm (1:00.01) and Hendrik Feldwehr (59.67) will race for a spot in finals. Felipe Lima (1:00.26) will join his Brazilian teammate in the semis.
A few big names missed the semis in this event. Defending World Champion Christian Sprenger faded to 8th in his heat, and will not return for a 2nd swim. Hungary’s Daniel Gyurta, the defending 200 champion who didn’t swim this shorter race in 2013, is also out after prelims.
Top 16: Peaty, GBR; Van Der Bergh, RSA; Balandin, KAZ; Murdoch, GBR; Silva, BRA; Feldwehr, GER; Prigoda, RUS; Titenis, LTU; Packard, AUS; Koseki, JPN; Miller, USA; Vom Lehn, GER; Fink, USA; Funk, CAN; Lima, BRA; Siladi, SRB
Women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay – Prelims
• 2013 World Champion: United States – 3:32.31
• World Record: 3:31.72 – Netherlands – 2009
• Championship Record: 3:31.72 – Netherlands – 2009
USA and Australia were the top 2 teams to qualify, with the Americans clenching the win for the top seed tonight. The team of Shannon Vreeland, Abbey Weitzel, Margo Geer, and Lia Neal split 54.37/53.85/53.37/53.93 respectively on the way to a final time of 3:35.52. Geer and Weitzel will likely join Missy Franklin and Simone Manuel in the finals relay.
Australia’s team of Emily Seebohm, Madison Wilson, Melanie Wright, and Bronte Barratt were just tenths behind to qualify 2nd in 3:35.86. Seebohm lead off the relay in 53.93 and Wright had a solid 3rd leg of 53.51.
The Netherlands won the first of 2 heats in the 4×100 meter free relay. The team of Maud Van Der Meer, Marrit Steenbergen, Femke Heemskerk, and Ranomi Kromowidjojo clocked a 3:35.91 to take 3rd overall. Heemskerk was 53.00 on the 3rd leg and Kromowidjojo anchored in 53.50.
Sweden took 4th, highlighted by Sarah Sjostrom. Sjostrom split a 52.75 to anchor, the fastest split of the morning and the only sub-53 split.
Top 8: USA, Australia, Netherlands, Sweden, Canada, China, Italy, France
Men’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay – Prelims
• 2013 World Champion: France – 3:11.18
• World Record: 3:08.24 – United States – 2008
• Championship Record: 3:09.21 – United States – 2009
Russia came up big in the men’s 4×100 free prelims. Andrey Grechin (48.42), Danila Izotov (48.08), Vlad Morozov (48.00), and Alexander Sukhorukov (47.96) lead going into finals with a 3:12.46.
Brazil had the second fastest time of prelims with a 3:13.99. They were all 48s, with Matheus Santana splitting the fastest in 48.25. Marcelo Chierighini had a solid leadoff split of 48.65.
The Italians will take lane 3 in the final. Their prelims relay was headlined by Marco Orsi’s 47.91 split on the way to the team’s overall 3:14.44.
In a big plot twist, both team USA and Australia missed making the final in this event. Team USA tied for 11th with Germany in 3:16.01. Jimmy Feigen, Anthony Ervin, Matt Grevers, and Conor Dwyer went 49.21/49.69/48.67/48.44.
Australia was right below them in 13th. Kyle Chalmers was a 47.92 in an otherwise off relay for the Aussies. Tommaso D’Orsogna, Matthew Abood, and Ashley Delaney split 49.75/48.78/49.89. They clocked a 3:16.34 overall.
Top 8: Russia, Brazil, Italy, France, Japan, Canada, Poland, China
Thank you, Bobo !
Katie Ledecky heat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyGu-MorrwA
Short thoughts about day 1 prelims
WOMEN’S 100 FLY. Sjöström in her own world. Will easily break the world record tonight or in final. Very open then. Donahue out of the game as expected. Had no chance of qualification if US trials had been held this year. Stewart and the 2 Australian girls were not impressive but will probably go faster in semifinals.
MEN’S 400 FREE. Sun Yang as always the favorite. Guy, Jaeger, Cochrane and Bernek will play the silver and bronze medals. Once again, Australian men are very disappointing at the big summer meet. They always swim very fast at their national championships and then are much slower when it counts the most. Really weird. Physical problem? Mental… Read more »
Never noticed that Hosszu’s eyes are different colors until now. Awesome.
Shocking news from the mens relay with both AUS and USA out of the mix. Ashley Delaney comes home in a time that wouldn’t have even been close to finals at the Australian Championships just a few months ago, and he had a flying start. Positive signs only in Kyle Chalmers smashing out the third fastest split of the morning at such a young age. Individual 100 free should be interesting now that a few of the guns don’t get a chance to prove themselves in the final of the relay (McEvoy, Adrian).
What an unbelievable first day….
The first day is not over. There’s another session in a few minutes. 🙂
Daniel Gyurta is Japanese now. 🙂
But we can’t blame Lauren too much. If I’ve well understood, she’s not in Russia but in USA. So it’s middle of the night for her. Hopefully she will stay awake all week. And hopefully someone else on the swimswam team will replace her for the finals while she sleeps on the afternoon.
Wow it is really a world Championship! Great for swimming! Shocks for USA and Oz.