Conor Dwyer of the United States and Roberto Pavoni of Great Britain will be facing each other in a swim-off to determine who will advance to the finals of the men’s 200 IM. Both men touched in 1:58.54, with Dwyer in the first heat and Pavoni in the second.
The swim-off will take place after this evening shortly after the awards for the mixed medley relay finals, according to USA Swimming.
Both men have recorded faster times in this event. Dwyer’s personal best is 1:57.41 which he set in the preliminaries of the 2014 USA Swimming Summer Nationals. Two years ago, at the 2013 FINA World Championships in Barcelona, Dwyer finished tenth in the semi-finals of the 200 IM. His time there was just a tad slower than he swam today, a 1:58.56.
Dwyer was not initially selected to swim this event, based on last summer’s results. However, Michael Phelps was unable to participate in these world championships in the aftermath of his conviction last year for a DUI charge. Tyler Clary, who was next in line after Phelps, decided not to participate in this event since he is also swimming the 200 back, 200 fly, and 400 IM.
Pavoni has medaled in international events before. He swam a 1:58.22 to win bronze at last summer’s European Championships, and also won a silver in the 400 IM at that meet.
This is not the first time these swimmers have swam side-by-side. They were in the same emi-final heat at Barcelona in 2013, with Dwyer in lane 2 and Pavoni in lane 1. There, Pavoni swam a 1:59.44, also missing the final.
Here are the two men’s comparative splits from their semi-finals swims:
Dwyer: 25.51 / 30.17 / 34.51 / 28.35
Pavoni: 26.10 / 30.16 / 33.45 / 28.83