2019 World University Games: Escobedo Rattles Meet Record in Day 4 Prelims

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

Note: Due to time zone differences, prelims for this meet are in the middle of the night for most of the SwimSwam staff, and our European-based staff is occupied with the European Junior Championships. We’ll recap the preliminary sessions once our writers are up in the morning, so keep an eye out for something around 7am EDT. In the meantime, readers who are awake can feel free to leave comments about the action. Just keep in mind that some comments may get stuck in moderation throughout the night.

As we reach hit roughly the halfway point in the swimming portion of the World University Games, we’re now seeing event champions from this week getting ready to add to their accolades. In the 200 breast, top-seeded Kanako Watanabe will be looking to defend her title against the #2 seed, Tatjana Schoenmaker, who won the 100 breast yesterday. Men’s 200 free champion Zach Apple is the top seed in the 100 free, and based on his 47.7 split leading off the USA’s 4×100 free, he looks to be the heavy favorite here. Women’s 50 fly champ Tayla Lovemore will be seeding in heat 7 of the 100 fly two lanes over from top-seeded Charlotte Atkinson.

The men’s 800 free will the final individual contested this morning and will feature both 400m free champion Keisuke Yoshida and 1500m free champion Victor Johansson colliding in the middle of those differences. Finally, we’ll see the heats of the women’s 4×200 free relay where, barring DQs and scratches, all except two teams will advance to tonight’s final.

Women’s 200 Breaststroke – Prelims

• World Record – 2:19.11, Rikke Pedersen (DEN), 2013
• Meet Record – 2:22.32, Rio Kaneto (JPN), 2009

Top 16

1. Emily Escobedo (USA), 2:22.87
2. Tatjana Schoenmaker (RSA), 2:26.14
3. Daria Chikunova (RUS), 2:26.82
4. Katie Matts (GBR), 2:27.87
5. Kanako Watanabe (JPN), 2:28.00
6. Kaylene Corbett (RSA), 2:28.09
7. Miranda Stevens (CAN), 2:28.32
8. Francesca Fangio (ITA), 2:28.62
9. Mai Fukasawa (JPN), 2:28.95
10. Anna Kroniger (GER), 2:29.12
11. Raquel Pereira (POR), 2:29.95
12. Jocelyn Ulyett (GBR), 2:30.08
13. Zoe Bartel (USA), 2:30.13
14. Yang Jiwon (KOR), 2:30.31
15. Lise Michels (BEL), 2:30.79
16. Sophie Angus (CAN), 2:31.36

The USA’s Emily Escobedo didn’t wait to swim fast, as she rattled the meet record with a 2:22.87 in the penultimate heat. That’s a lifetime best for her by just over a second.

100m breast champion Tatjana Schoenmaker qualified 2nd in 2:26.14, and defending champion Kanako Watanabe qualified 5th in 2:28.00, setting up what promises to be an interesting battle over the next two nights.

Men’s 100 Freestyle – Prelims

• World Record – 46.91, Cesar Cielo (BRA), 2009
• Meet Record – 47.62, Vladimir Morozov (USA), 2013

1. Zach Apple (USA), 48.83
2. Felipe De Souza (BRA), 49.16
3. Tate Jackson (USA), 49.19
4. Yang Jaehoon (KOR), 49.26
5. Heiko Gigler (AUT), 49.47
6. Marco Ferreira (BRA), 49.50
7. Ashton Brinkworth (AUS), 49.51
8. Rusland Skamaroshka (BLR), 49.55
9. Ivano Vendrame (ITA), 49.55
10. David Cumberlidge (GBR), 49.65
11. Alessandro Bori (ITA), 49.78
12. Masahiro Kawane (JPN), 49.89
13. Maksim Ablovatskii (RUS), 50.06
14. Max Nowosad (GER), 49.79
15. Kaiya Seki (JPN), 50.06
16. Karol Ostrowski (POL), 50.07

No surprise here, as Zach Apple topped the field this morning with a 48.83. The American led off the USA’s 4×100 free with a 47.7 on the first day of competition, and he won the 200 free last night, so this appears to be his event to lose.

Apple’s teammate Tate Jackson also easily advanced with a time of 49.19, giving him the 3rd-fastest time of the morning. Brazil’s Felipe De Souza split the Americans with a 49.16, finishing 2nd behind Apple both overall and in the final heat.

Women’s 100 Butterfly – Prelims

• World Record – 55.48, Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), 2016
• Meet Record – 57.63, Katerine Savard (CAN), 2013

Top 16

1. Tayla Lovemore (RSA), 58.85
2. Dakota Luther (USA), 59.22
3. Kinge Zandringa (NED), 59.45
4. Ai Soma (JPN), 59.69
5. Sarah Watson (CAN), 59.81
6. Hannah Genich (CAN), 59.87
7. Lisa Hoepink (GER), 59.88
8. Polina Egorova (RUS), 59.92
9. Charlotte Atkinson (GBR), 59.94
10. Federica Greco (ITA), 59.97
11. Sachi Mochida (JPN), 1:00.03
12. Paulina Peda (POL), 1:00.05
13. Lucie Svecena (CZE), 1:00.15
14. Alice Stuart (AUS), 1:00.18
15. Giovanna Diamante (BRA), 1:00.22
16. Judit Ignacio Sorribes (ESP), 1:00.36

50 fly champion Tayla Lovemore put up the fastest time in the prelims of the 100 fly and was the only woman to break 59 this morning with her time of 58.85 from heat 7, the final heat. That time is only 0.10s off Hellen Moffitt’s winning time from 2017.

Dakota Luther of the USA heads in to tonight as the 2nd seed with her 59.22 from heat 6. Luther’s teammate, Veronica Burchill finished 17th with a 1:00.39, and will miss the semis unless there is a scratch. Burchill captured the bronze medal in the 100 free yesterday.

Men’s 800 Free – Prelims

• World Record – 7:32.12, Zhang Lin (CHN), 2009
• Meet Record – 7:45.76, Gregori Paltrinieri (ITA), 2017

Top 8

1. Anton Nikitin (RUS), 7:59.70
2. Nick Norman (USA), 8:00.27
3. Filip Zaborowski (POL), 8:00.47
4. Ernest Maksumov (RUS), 8:00.63
5. Albert Escrits Manosa (ESP), 8:01.25
6. Matteo Lamberti (ITA), 8:02.96
7. Henning Muehlleitner (GER), 8:03.18
8. Jose Lopes (POR), 8:03.80

Russia’s Anton Nikitin was the only man under 8:00 this morning, as he just dipped under that mark with a 7:59.70 in heat 2. Jose Lopes of Portugal touched 2nd in that heat, and his time of 8:03.80 was just enough to get him into the final as well.

Heat 3 featured a duel between the USA’s Nick Norman and Russia’s Ernest Maksumov. Norman came out on top 8:00.27 to 8:00.63, and both easily made it into the top 8.

The rest of the qualifiers from heat 4, the final heat. Poland’s Filip Zaborowski won with a time of 8:00.47, and Spain’s Albert Escrits Manosa (8:01.25), Italy’s Matteo Lamberti (8:02.96), and Germany’s Henning Muehlleitner (8:03.18), who came into the meet as the top seed, all made the top 8 as well.

This event was also notable for who failed to advance. For the second event in a row, an American swimmer just missed the cut, as Sean Grieshop finished 9th in 8:04.14. 400m free champion Keisuke Yoshida finished 18th, while 1500m champ Victor Johansson did not swim.

Women’s 4×200 Free Relay – Prelims

• World Record – 7:42.08, China, 2009
• Meet Record – 7:53.88, United States, 2015

1. United States, 7:58.56
2. Australia, 8:11.87
3. Canada, 8:16.18
4. Italy, 8:17.24
5. Japan, 8:21.42
6. Russia, 8:26.33
7. Germany, 8:39.90
8. Argentina, 8:54.94

Only 8 teams ended up swimming this morning, so there wasn’t much need to put up smoking fast times in prelims, but the USA still won this event by over 12 seconds. Kaersten Meitz, Claire Rasmus, Catie DeLoof, and Sierra Schmidt swam for the US. None of those swimmers are actually on the roster for either the individual 200 free or the 4×200 free, so, rather than putting the fastest swimmers from prelims on tonight’s’ final, it looks like the USA may do a complete 4-for-4 swap, with tonight’s lineup presumably consisting of Gabby DeLoof, Evie Pfeifer, Paige Madden, and Claire Rasmus. Splits don’t currently appear to be available.