2022 World Championships: Day 2 Prelims Live Recap

2022 FINA WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

• June 18-25, 2022 (pool swimming)
• Budapest, Hungary
• Duna Arena
• LCM (50-meter format)
• Full Aquatics Schedule
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Day two of the 2022 World Championships in Budapest will start off with heats of the men and women’s 100 back, the women’s 100 breast, and the men’s 200 free.

The women’s 100 back is one of the most anticipated events of the morning. It will set up a showdown in finals between current world record holder Kaylee McKeown of Australia and USA’s Regan Smith, the former world record holder. This is their first duel since the Tokyo Olympics where McKeown took home the gold. Olympic silver medalist Kylie Masse of Canada is seeded 2nd.

With the absence of Tokyo Olympic gold and silver medalists Evgeny Rylov and Kliment Kolesnikov of Russia, the men’s 100 back is led by USA’s Ryan Murphy, the world record holder, and his teammate Hunter Armstrong. Italy’s Thomas Ceccon is ranked closely behind, though, as is defending world champion Jiayu Xu of China.

The session will conclude with the women’s 1500 free where it is always a treat to see distance queen Katie Ledecky of the United States in her element as the top seed. She will swim in a separate heat from 2nd seed Simona Quadarella of Italy, the defending world champion, who has yet to swim at this meet. She scratched the 400 free earlier to focus on the 1500 free.

Women’s 100 Back

• World Record: 57.45, Kaylee McKeown (AUS) – 2021 Australian Olympic Trials
• Championship Record: 57.57, Regan Smith (USA) – 2019 World Championships
• 2021 Olympic Champion: Kaylee McKeown (AUS), 57.47
• 2019 World Champion: Kylie Masse (CAN), 58.60

Top 16 Qualifiers

1. Regan Smith (USA) – 58.31
2. Kylie Masse (CAN) – 58.89
3. Claire Curzan (USA) – 59.09
4. Letian Wan (CHN) – 59.67
5. Kira Toussaint (NED) – 59.69
6. Emma Terebo (FRA) – 59.87
7. Xuwei Peng (CHN) – 59.93
8. Eira Medi Harris (GBR) – 1:00.03
9. Margherita Panziera (ITA) – 1:00.40
10. Maaike de Waard (NED) – 1:00.46
11. Silvia Scalia (ITA) – 1:00.77
12. Eunji Lee (KOR) – 1:00.78
13. Paulina Peda (POL) – 1:00.83
14. Hanna Rosvall (SWE) – 1:00.99
15. Mimosa Jallow (FIN) – 1:01.01
16. Analia Pigree (FRA) – 1:01.13

World record holder Kaylee McKeown scratched this event late (likely to focus on her 200 IM final tonight), leaving it to the rest of the field to battle it out.

Regan Smith had a strong swim out of heat three, winning the race comfortably as the first swimmer under 1:00.00 this morning. This is within one second of her best time from 2019. Canada’s Kylie Masse responded in heat four, fending off Kira Toussaint and Emma Terebo to post the 2nd-fastest time of the morning, about half a second behind Smith. This was a solid swim for Masse, but she remained about one second off her lifetime best time from the 2021 Canadian Olympic Trials.

Most of the top 16 qualifiers should have more in the tank for the upcoming semifinals, as no one cracked their entry times. 17-year-old Letian Wan of China came the closest to her entry time, 59.63, to secure the 4th spot behind USA’s Claire Curzan who is also 17.

Of note, Canada’s Taylor Ruck finished 17th in the heats, missing advancement by .01 seconds with a time of 1:01.14. That is well-off her best time of 58.55, which comes as a little bit of a surprise after she had a good relay split of 52.92 on Saturday.

Men’s 100 Back

• World Record: 51.85, Ryan Murphy (USA) – 2016 Olympics
• Championship Record: 52.17, Jiayu Xu (CHN) – 2019 World Championships 
• 2021 Olympic Champion: Evgeny Rylov (ROC), 51.98
• 2019 World Champion: Jiayu Xu (CHN), 52.43

Top 16

1. Hunter Armstrong (USA) – 52.81
2. Ryosuke Irie (JPN) – 53.16
3. Apostolos Christou (GRE) – 53.21
4. Yohan Ndoye-Brouard (FRA) – 53.22
5. Ksawery Masiuk (POL) – 53.33
6. Ryan Murphy (USA) – 53.42
7. Jiayu Xu (CHN) – 53.45
8. Mewen Tomac (FRA) – 53.60
9. Thomas Ceccon (ITA) – 53.70
10. Hugo Gonzalez de Oliveira (ESP) – 53.74
11. Mitchell Larkin (AUS) – 53.77
12. Juho Lee (KOR) – 53.84
13. Robert Glinta (ROU) – 53.86
14. Isaac Alan Cooper (AUS) – 53.87
15. Luke Greenbank (GBR) – 53.97
16. Ole Braunschweig (GER) – 54.22

17-year-old Ksawery Masiuk beat his own Polish national record from May by .07 to win heat six. World record holder Murphy was also in heat six, but he went out more conservative than a decent amount the semifinal qualifiers who flipped under the 26-second mark at the 50. Murphy split 26.14/27.28 to place 6th overall.

Japan’s Ryosuke Irie fought USA’s Hunter Armstrong hard in heat five, nearly beating the American. But after going out in 25.48 on the first 50 meters, it was Armstrong who got to the wall first. He had the fastest first half of the entire field in prelims while Irie was the opposite – he swam one of the fastest back halves (second only to France’s Yohan Ndoye-Brouard who came back sub-27.)

This was a strong swim for Armstrong, within .61 of his lifetime best time from the U.S. Trials in April. Greece’s Christou Apostolos came even closer to his best time, 52.77 from 2021, to secure the third spot going into the semifinals.

Women’s 100 Breast

• World Record: 1:04.13, Lilly King (USA) – 2017 World Championships
• Championship Record: 1:04.13, Lilly King (USA) – 2017 World Championships
• 2021 Olympic Champion: Lydia Jacoby (USA), 1:04.95
• 2019 World Champion: Lilly King (USA), 1:04.93

Top 16 Qualifiers

1. Qianting Tang (CHN) – 1:05.99
2. Jenna Strauch (AUS) – 1:06.16
3. Annie Lazor (USA) – 1:06.33
4. Arianna Castiglioni (ITA) 1:06.49
5. Anna Elendt (GER) – 1:06.54
6. Sophie Hansson (SWE) – 1:06.61
7. Lilly King (USA) – 1:06.65
8. Benedetta Pilato (ITA) – 1:06.68
9. Ruta Meilutyte (LTU) – 1:06.71
10. Lara van Niekerk (RSA) – 1:06.75
11. Molly Renshaw (GBR) – 1:06.83
12. Kotryna Teterevkova (LTU) – 1:06.97
13. Eneli Jefimova (EST) – 1:07.09
14. Tes Schouten (NED) – 1:07.18
15. Jingyao Yu (CHN) – 1:07.19
16. Reona Aoki (JPN)- 1:07.35

China’s Qianting Tang nearly blasted a lifetime best time in heat six to claim the top spot in the semifinals, just .16 off her personal best. Her prelims time is within .67 of the Chinese national record which has remained strong since 2009. This was a solid swim for Jenna Strauch as well who crushed her previous best time from the 2021 Australian Olympic Trials by .21.

USA’s Lilly King was in heat six with Tang but she went out nearly one second slower, turning at 31.36 at the halfway mark compared to Tang’s 30.49. King had an unusual approach to this race. She typically attacks the 100 breast, getting an early lead that she doesn’t let up. But today, she had a more conservative strategy which seemed to hold her back a bit. Her teammate Annie Lazor showed the back half speed that she usually does, as one of the few swimmers in the event to bring home the race in under 35 seconds, to snag the third spot in the semifinals.

Men’s 200 Free

• World Record: 1:42.00, Paul Biedermann (GER) – 2009 World Championships
• Championship Record: 1:42.00, Paul Biedermann (GER) – 2009 World Championships
• 2021 Olympic Champion: Tom Dean (GBR), 1:44.22
• 2019 World Champion: Sun Yang (CHN), 1:44.93

Top 16 Qualifiers

1. David Popovici (ROU) – 1:45.18
2. Hwang Sunwoo (KOR) – 1:45.79
3. Felix Aubock (AUT) – 1:45.84
4. Tom Dean (GBR) – 1:45.99
5. Drew Kibler (USA) – 1:46.13
6. Elijah Winnington (AUS) – 1:46.19
7. Lukas Martens (GER) – 1:46.45
8. Danas Rapsys (LTU) – 1:46.70
9. Fernando Scheffer (BRA) – 1:46.71
10. Katsuhiro Matsumoto (JPN) – 1:46.72
11. Kieran Smith (USA) – 1:46.73
12. Antonio Djakovic (SUI) – 1:47.00
13. Marco de Tullio (ITA) – 1:47.27
14. Matt Sates (RSA) – 1:47.28
15. Roman Mityukov (SUI) – 1:47.44
16. Jordan Pothain (FRA) – 1:47.51

17-year-old David Popovici decided to speed things up in the final heat, leading the race that produced the top five semifinal qualifiers. The only one gutsy enough to take out the race sub-25.5 with Popovici was Great Britain’s Tom Dean in the lane next to him, but Popovici set the pace about .30 ahead of Dean (per 50 meters) on the last half of the race to secure the win.

This is shaping up to be an even faster final, especially since Popovici’s Romanian national record is set at 1:44.68 from the Tokyo Olympics and Matsumoto, Scheffer, and Dean are all entered with sub 1:45 times. Korean national record holder Hwang Sunwoo tied his entry time while battling Popovici, but he might also have more speed to bring to the semifinals since he has broken 1:45 before. This was Drew Kibler‘s first race of the meet and it went well; he was about .8 off his lifetime best time from April.

Lukas Martens, fresh off his silver medal win in the 400 free final last night, won heat six after dueling with Kieran Smith and Katshuhiro Matsumoto. He was about one second off his entry time.

Women’s 1500 Free

• World Record: 15:20.48, Katie Ledecky (USA) – 2018 Indianapolis Pro Swim Series
• Championship Record: 15:25.48, Katie Ledecky (USA) – 2015 World Championships
• 2021 Olympic Champion: Katie Ledecky (USA), 15:37.34
• 2019 World Champion: Simona Quadarella (ITA), 15:40.89

Top 8 Qualifiers

1. Katie Ledecky (USA) – 15:47.02
2. Simona Quadarella (ITA) – 15:56.19
3. Katie Grimes (USA) – 15:57.05
4. Lani Pallister (AUS) – 15:57.61
5. Moesha Johnson (AUS) – 15:57.77
6. Beatriz Pimentel Dizotti (BRA) – 16:08.35
7. Viviane Jungblut (BRA) – 16:09.2
8. Kristel Kobrich Schimpl (CHI) – 16:13.52

This was a strong swim for Katie Ledecky, but she was still about 10 seconds off the time she swam during the 1500 prelims in Tokyo. Katie Grimes had an incredible race, staying within 10-15 meters behind Ledecky through the middle of the race in heat three. She finished within 6 seconds of her lifetime best time from April which ranks her the second-fastest American 15-16-year-old in the event (behind who? You guessed it, Katie Ledecky.)

Heat two was an exciting battle between Italy’s Simona Quadarella in lane four, flanked by Aussies Lani Pallister and Moesha Johnson. They were neck-and-neck up until about the 1000-meter mark when Quadarella began pulling away. This was a lifetime best for Johnson by 2 seconds, beating her previous best from the 2021 Australian Olympic Trials. With four women finishing within 1.6 seconds of each other, this is looking to be an extremely tight final

Beatriz Pimentel Dizotti broke the Brazilian national record set by Viviane Jungblut at the 2021 Brazilian Olympic Trials by nearly 6 seconds. Jungblut also cracked her own national record, but finished behind Dizotti. Kristel Kobrich claimed the last spot in the final, but she was about 20 seconds off her Chilean national record time from the 2013 World Championships.

Notably, China’s Li Bingjie missed the final by .40, finishing in 9th place. She was seeded 5th going into the event. Bingjie won bronze in the 400 free in Tokyo, but she had a tough 400 free yesterday where she placed 10th in prelims and missed the final.