2022 World Championships: Day 6 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
• How To Watch
• Psych Sheets
• Start Lists Book (pre-meet)
• Meet Central
• Live Results
• SwimSwam Pick ’em Contest
• Day 6 Prelims Preview

Today marks day six of competition at the 2022 World Championships in Budapest and we can look forward to six events this morning: the men’s 100 fly, women’s 200 back, men’s 50 free, women’s 50 fly, men’s 4×200 free, and women’s 800 free.

We’ll see world record holder Sarah Sjostrom take on the 50 fly where France’s Melanie Henique and USA’s Claire Curzan are seeded 2-3.  After winning the 400 free and 1500 free, Katie Ledecky will race the 800 free today. Simona Quadarella of Italy is ranked 2nd, but watch out for Australia’s Lani Pallister who won bronze in the 1500 free with a lifetime best time on Monday.

With 14-time world champion Caeleb Dressel out of the meet, it will likely be a Kristof Milak show in the 100 fly and an even tighter race than usual in the 50 free.

Men’s 100 Butterfly

• World Record: 49.45, Caeleb Dressel (USA) – 2021 Olympics
• Championship Record: 49.50, Caeleb Dressel (USA) – 2019 World Championships
• 2021 Olympic Champion: Caeleb Dressel (USA) – 49.45
• 2019 World Champion: Caeleb Dressel (USA) – 49.66

Top 16 Qualifiers

1. Kristof Milak (HUN) – 50.68
2. Joshua Liendo-Edwards (CAN) – 50.97
3. Noe Ponti (SUI) – 51.17
4. Simon Bucher (AUT) – 51.18
5. Naoki Mizunuma (JPN) – 51.46
6. Jakub Majerski (POL) – 51.50
7. Michael Andrew (USA) – 51.57
8. James Guy (GBR) – 51.68
9. Piero Codia (ITA) – 51.69
10. Jacob Peters (GBR) – 51.75
11. Katsuhiro Matsumoto (JPN) – 51.78
12. Matthew Temple (AUS) – 51.86
13. Federico Burdisso (ITA) – 51.92
14. Gal Cohen Groumi (ISR) – 51.96
15. Nyls Korstanje (NED) – 51.97
16. Tomer Frankel (ISR) – 52.12

Fresh off his 200 fly world-record-setting win, Milak swam the top time of the morning here. Canada’s Joshua Liendo was right on his entry time of 50.88 to win heat 7 and claim the second spot in the semifinal. His time in prelims came within .10 of the Canadian national record. Simon Bucher crushed his lifetime best time by .62 to snag the third spot and set a new Austrian national record.

Japan’s Naoki Mizunuma won heat five and has the potential to be Japan’s first-ever 100 fly World Championship medalist if he makes it to the final. He was still about .9 off his entry time and may bring more speed in the semifinal. Ponti was also entered with a sub 51.00 time

It was USA’s Michael Andrew who had the fastest first 50 split of 23.66 but Milak was the only swimmer in the field to finish the race in under 27.00 on the final 50 meters.

Notably, 12th seed Szebasztian Szabo of Hungary scratched the event to focus on the 50 freestyle later this session.

Women’s 200 Backstroke

• World Record: 2:03.35, Regan Smith (USA) – 2019 World Championships
• Championship Record: 2:03.35, Regan Smith (USA) – 2019 World Championships
• 2021 Olympic Champion: Kaylee McKeown (AUS) – 2:04.68
• 2019 World Champion: Regan Smith (USA) – 2:03.35

Top 16 Qualifiers

1. Phoebe Bacon (USA) – 2:07.89
2. Xuwei Peng (CHN) – 2:08.53
3. Margherita Panziera (ITA) – 2:08.64
4. Rhyan White (USA) – 2:09.12
5. Kaylee McKeown (AUS) – 2:09.26
6. Kylie Masse (CAN)  – 2:09.37
7. Dora Molnar (HUN) – 2:10.88
8. Emma Terebo (FRA) – 2:11.17
9. Katalin Burian (HUN) – 2:11.47
10. Laura Bernat (POL) – 2:11.48
11. Aviv Barzelay (ISR) – 2:11.62
12. Gabriela Georgieva (BUL) – 2:12.69
13. Eunji Lee (KOR) – 2:13.30
14. Tatiana Salcutan (MDA) – 2:13.45
15. Aleksa Gold (EST) – 2:14.02
16. Jimena Leguizamon Leal (COL) – 2:16.38

USA’s Phoebe Bacon blasted the fastest prelims time out of heat two. She was the only swimmer to start out the race in under 32.00 on the first 50 (flipping at 31.78) and she still managed to finish with a final 50 split of 33.20. Her best time still stands at 2:05.08, the time she swam in April.

19-year-old Xuwei Peng of China came within .30 of her entry time to snag the second spot in the semifinals. Top seed Kaylee McKeown placed 5th overall after out-touching Canada’s Kylie Masse in heat three. In the same heat, France’s Emma Terebo shaved .18 off her lifetime best time.

2021 Olympic finalist Taylor Ruck of Canada scratched the event.

Men’s 50 Freestyle

• World Record: 20.91, Cesar Cielo (BRA) – 2009 Brazilian Championships
• Championship Record: 21.04, Caeleb Dressel (USA) – 2019 World Championships
• 2021 Olympic Champion: Caeleb Dressel (USA) – 21.07
• 2019 World Champion: Caeleb Dressel (USA) – 21.04

Top 16 Qualifiers

1. Bruno Fratus (BRA) – 21.71
2. Joshua Liendo-Edwards (CAN) – 21.72
3. Michael Andrew (USA) – 21.74
4. Benjamin Proud (GBR) – 21.76
5. Vladyslav Bukhov (UKR) – 21.87
6. Lewis Edward Burras (GBR) – 21.89
7. Kristian Gkolomeev (GRE) – 21.90
8. Thom de Boer (NED) – 21.91
9. Lorenzo Zazzeri (ITA) – 21.95
10. Pawel Juraszek (POL) / Maxime Grousset (FRA) – 21.97
11. –
12. Szebasztian Szabo (HUN) – 21.99
13. Florent Manaudou (FRA) – 22.04
14. Melron Amir Cheruti (ISR) – 22.07
15. Jesse Puts (NED) – 22.09
16. Alberto Mestre Vivas (VEN) – 22.12

32-year-old Bruno Fratus of Brazil just swam his 98th sub-22.00 100 freestyle in his career, putting him on track to swim his 100th one here in Budapest. There seems to be something about mustaches at this meet – Italy’s Thomas Ceccon broke the 100 back world record sporting a ‘stache and Fratus is also racing with one. Fratus came within .22 of his entry time and will have to answer to Canada’s Liendo in the semifinals. Liendo and USA’s Andrew completed a tough double-swim here, qualifying for their second semifinal tonight. Both Andrew and Benjamin Proud have broken 21.50 before so it’s still anyone’s race.

Hungary’s Szabo came the closest to his entry time out of the semifinal qualifiers by tying the mark he set in April.

Women’s 50 Butterfly

• World Record: 24.43, Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) – 2014 Swedish Championships
• Championship Record: 24.60, Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) –2017 Budapest
• 2021 Olympic Champion: N/A
• 2019 World Champion: Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) – 25.02

Top 16 Qualifiers

1. Zhang Yufei (CHN) – 25.39
2. Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) – 25.43
3. Melanie Henique (FRA) – 25.61
4. Maaike de Waard (NED) -25.92
5. Claire Curzan (USA) – 25.93
6. Sara Junevik (SWE) – 25.94
7. Farida Osman (EGY) – 25.95
8. Marie Wattel (FRA) – 26.01
9. Silvia di Pietro (ITA) – 26.08
10. Torri Huske (USA) – 26.10
11. Anna Ntountounaki (GRE) – 26.20
12. Brianna Throssell (AUS) – 26.26
13. Soeun Jeong (KOR) – 26.40
14. Julie Kepp Jensen (DEN) – 26.45
15. Elena di Liddo (ITA) / Katerine Savard (CAN) – 26.47

In heat six, Zhang Yufei blasted a 25.39 to tie for the 11th all-time fastest 50 butterfly performer. She was just .02 off the Chinese national record which was set by Lu Ying at the 2015 World Championships. France’s Melanie Henique was about half a second off her entry time to snag 2nd in the heat and 3rd overall this morning. Her teammate Marie Wattel was also about .5 off her entry time, so who knows what speed we might see in the semifinals and finals.

Defending champion Sjostrom was close behind in heat seven, touching the wall exactly one second behind her world record from 2014. She will likely give Yufei a great race in the semifinals and finals. 18-year-old Claire Curzan snagged 5th while Sweden’s Sara Junevik came within .10 of her lifetime best time from May 2021. Curzan’s best time still stands at 25.49 from April.

Men’s 4×200 Freestyle Relay

• World Record: 6:58.55, USA – 2009 World Championships
• Championship Record:  6:58.55, USA – 2009 World Championships
• 2021 Olympic Champion: Great Britain – 6:58.58
• 2019 World Champion: Australia – 7:00.85

Top 8 Qualifiers

1. United States (Foster/Freeman/Carrozza/Julian) – 7:04.39
2. Brazil (Scheffer Muhlenberg/Tavares Assuncao/Setin Sartori/Martins Correia) – 7:06.98
3. Hungary (Marton/Nemeth/Hollo/Milak) – 7:07.46
4. Korea(Hwang/Kim/Lee/Lee) – 7:08.49
5. China (Hong/Zhang/Chen/Pan) – 7:09.53
6. Great Britain (Dean/Richards/Litchfield/Whittle) – 7:09.76
7. France (Pothain/Salvan/Fuchs/Tesic)  – 7:09.95
8. Australia (Smith/Incerti/Short/Horton) – 7:09.98

The United States’ team of Carson Foster, Trey Freeman, Coby Carrozza, and Trenton Julian swam the fastest time in the morning out of heat two. Carrozza’s leg really set them apart where he split 51.13/55.09 (1:46.22). Julian’s anchor split of 1:45.84 was the fastest final 200 split in the field. This was a strong swim for Julian whose lifetime best flat-start 200 free is 1:46.69 which he swam in April.

Brazil’s Fernando Scheffer and Vinicius Tavares had the fastest splits on their relay, with Scheffer leading off in 1:46.33 and Lanza swimming the second leg in 1:46.81.

Hungary blasted a national record to place 3rd this morning. Their previous record was set at 7:07.67 at the Hungarian Championships in 2021 by Milak, Nandor Nemeth, Gabor Zombori, and Balazs Hollo. This morning, Milak split a 1:46.7 on the anchor leg.

The Australian team had a rough swim this morning. They were seeded 2nd but their lead-off swimmer Brendon Peter Smith split a 1:49.14 while none of the other top-8 teams had splits slower than 1:48.45.

This was an incredibly tight event with Italy missing the final by .18.

Women’s 800 Freestyle

• World Record: 8:04.79, Katie Ledecky (USA) – 2016 Olympics
• Championship Record: 8:07.39, Katie Ledecky (USA) – 2015 World Championships
• 2021 Olympic Champion: Katie Ledecky (USA) – 8:12.57
• 2019 World Champion: Katie Ledecky (USA) – 8:13.58

Top 8 Qualifiers

1. Katie Ledecky (USA) – 8:17.51
2. Lani Pallister (AUS) – 8:24.66
3. Leah Smith (USA) – 8:25.19
4. Li Bingjie (CHN) – 8:27.19
5. Isabel Gose (GER) – 8:27.69
6. Eve Thomas (NZL) – 8:27.82
7. Simona Quadarella (ITA) – 8:27.96
8. Kiah Melverton (AUS) – 8:30.68

Katie Ledecky controlled this race comfortably from heat three. She held 31’s for most of the race and finished strong with a final 50 split of 30.06, demonstrating especially strong underwaters on that final turn.

20-year-old Lani Pallister of Australia touched the wall 2nd in that heat from lane three, coming within 7 seconds of her entry time. Smith, Quadarella, and Bingjie were also entered with 8:17’s, hinting at a quicker race in the final. This was a great comeback swim for China’s Li Bingjie who finished 10th in the 400 free where she was ranked 2nd and 9th in the 1500 free where she was ranked 5th.

New Zealand’s Eve Thomas beat her recent lifetime best time by nearly one second and outdid her performance at the Tokyo Olympics by more than four seconds. This was a huge improvement from the 2019 World Championships for Thomas where she placed 21st. There, Bingjie placed 15th.

These prelims heats were nearly the same, speed-wise, compared to the 2019 World Championships where it took a 8:29.70 for Melverton to make it back to the final in 8th place. There, Ledecky also swam a 8:17 in prelims.