2017 World University Games: Day 7 Finals Live Recap

29TH WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES (SUMMER UNIVERSIADE 2017)

• Sunday, August 20-Sunday, August 20, 2017
• 50-Meter Course
• Taipei, Taiwan
• National Taiwan Sport University Arena
• Meet Info
• Webcast schedule
• Results

Competition at the 2017 World University Games concludes tonight with day 7 finals in Taipei. Tonight, we’ll see finals action in the women’s 50 free, men’s 50 free, women’s 50 breast, women’s 200 fly, men’s 400 IM, women’s 400 free, women’s 4×100 free relay, men’s 4×100 free relay.

WOMEN’S 50 FREE FINAL:

• Meet Record: Aliaksandra Herasimenia (BLR), 24.48, 2013

1. GOLD: Caroline Baldwin, USA, 25.02
2. SILVER: Mariia Kameneva, RUS, 25.08
3. BRONZE: Katrina Konopka, USA, 25.21

Team USA’s Caroline Baldwin knocked a tenth off her best time to pull off the win over Russia’s Mariia Kameneva tonight in 25.02. Kameneva, who put up the fastest time of the meet with her 24.82 in the semis, wound up 2nd in 25.08. The Americans got 2 on the medal stand as Katrina Konopka rounded out the top 3 in 25.24. Just missing the podium but hundredths were Brazil’s Graciele Herrmann (25.26), Japan’s Kaho Okano (25.29), and Italy’s Lucrezia Raco (25.30).

MEN’S 50 FREE FINAL:

• Meet Record: Vlad Morozov (RUS), 21.67, 2013

1. GOLD: Ari Pekka Liukkonen, FIN, 22.02
2. T-SILVER: Italo Manzine Amaral Guarte, BRA, 22.05
3. T-SILVER: Katsumi Nakamura, JPN, 22.05

Though they weren’t able to match their 21s from the semis, Finlands’ Ari Pekka Liukkonen and Brazil’s Italo Manzine Amaral Guarte remained in the top 2 spots. Liukkonen was slightly faster this time, turning in a 22.02 to edge out Guarte, who tied for 2nd with Japan’s Katsumi Nakamura in 22.05. Rounding out the top 5 were Italy’s Lorenzo Zazzeri (22.13) and Russia’s Aleksei Brianskii (22.18).

WOMEN’S 50 BREAST FINAL:

• Meet Record: Yuliya Efimova (RUS), 30.12, 2013

1. GOLD: Andee Cottrell, USA, 30.77
2. SILVER: Leiston Pickett, AUS, 31.82
3. T-BRONZE: Jessica Eriksson, SWE, 31.50
4. T-BRONZE: Mariia Liver, UKR, 31.50

The USA’s Andee Cottrell and Australia’s Leiston Pickett were stroke-for-stroke into the wall, but Cottrell was able to get her hands on the wall for the gold by hundredths in 30.77 to Pickett’s 31.82. Behind them, Sweden’s Jessica Eriksson and the Ukraine’s Mariia Liver tied for the bronze in 31.50, edging out Poland’s Dominika Sztandera (31.59).

WOMEN’S 200 FLY FINAL:

• Meet Record: Audrey Lacroix (CAN), 2:05.83, 2007

1. GOLD: Ella Eastin, USA, 2:08.21
2. SILVER: Martina Van Berkel, SUI, 2:11.32
3. BRONZE: Nida Ustundag, TUR, 2:11.40

The USA’s Ella Eastin ran away with the 200 fly, knocking a second off her lifetime best to win it by body lengths in 2:08.24. Switzerland’s Martina Van Berkel wasn’t able to match her 2:10 from the semis, but her 2:11.32 was still enough for the silver ahead of Turkey’s hard-charging Nida Ustundag (2:11.40). Italy’s Aurora Petronio threw down a 34.08 split on the final 50 to try to reel in Van Berkel and Ustundag, but came up just short as she missed the podium by a tenth in 2:11.50. Korea’s Jinyoung Park was also in the 2:11-range with a 2:11.75 for 5th place.

MEN’S 400 IM FINAL:

• Meet Record: Michael Weiss (USA), 4:12.00, 2013

1. GOLD: Daiya Seto, JPN, 4:11.98
2. SILVER: Kosuke Hagino, JPN, 4:15.44
3. BRONZE: Aleksandr Osipenko, RUS, 4:16.63

It was Daiya Seto against the clock in this one, as Seto lead from start to finish to break the Meet Record with a 4:11.98. Teammate Kosuke Hagino, the reigning Olympic champion in this event, was a distant 2nd in 4:15.44. Rusia’s Aleksandr Osipenko and Hungary’s Gergely Gyurta battled for the bronze, with Osipenko taking over the 3rd position on the breaststroke leg and charging to a 4:16.63 ahead of Gyurta’s 4:17.70.

WOMEN’S 400 FREE FINAL:

• Meet Record: Leah Smith (USA), 4:04.66, 2015

1. GOLD: Sarah Koehler, GER, 4:03.96
2. SILVER: Joanna Evans, BAH, 4:08.52
3. BRONZE: Sierra Schmidt, USA, 4:09.82

Germany’s Sarah Koehler smashed the Meet Record, busting out a 4:03.96 to win by almost 5 full seconds. There were 2 other women to break the 4:10-barrier. The Bahamas’ Joanna Evans picked up silver in 4:08.52, while the USA’s Sierra Schmidt turned in a 4:09.82 to take bronze. Rounding out the top 5 were Italy’s Simona Quadarella (4:10.49) and the USA’s Kaersten Meitz (4:10.84).

WOMEN’S 4×100 MEDLEY RELAY FINAL:

• Meet Record: RUS, 3:58.04, 2013

1. GOLD: Japan- 4:00.24
2. SILVER: USA- 4:00.49
3. BRONZE: Italy- 4:02.40

The USA and Japan battled closely through the 400 medley relay, with the race coming down to the touch as they finished 2 tenths apart. Kanako Watanabe (1:06.73) had the fastest breast split of the field to give Japan the slight edge, and Yukina Hirayama carried that lead over with her 58.26 fly split. On the anchor leg, Team USA’s Caroline Baldwin (54.09) tried to chase down Japan’s Chihiro Igarashi (54.32), but ran out of room down the stretch as Japan took gold in 4:00.24 to the USA’s 4:00.49.

MEN’S 4×100 MEDLEY RELAY FINAL:

• Meet Record: JPN, 3:32.80, 2009

1. GOLD: USA- 3:33.27
2. SILVER: Russia- 3:34.85
3. BRONZE: Japan- 3:34.88

Team USA’s Justin Ress got the ball rolling, giving the Americans the early lead with a 53.44 backstroke split. Andrew Wilson followed suit with the fastest breast split of the field to extend their lead with his 59.29 split. Russia started to gain some ground with Aleksandr Sadovnikov‘s 51.49 fly split, but the Americans still held a comfortable lead when Ryan Held dove in for the anchor leg. Held sealed the deal with a 47.84 to bring them home.