2016 Short Course World Championships: Day 2 Finals Live Recap

2016 SHORT COURSE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

• December 6th – December 11th, 2016
• Windsor, Ontario, Canada
• WFCU Centre
• SCM (25m)
• Prelims: 9:30 AM EST/Finals: 6:30 PM EST
• Start Lists/Results
• Live Stream ($)

We’ve got a slew of races ahead us this evening at the 2016 FINA Short Course World Championships.  Tonight features finals in the 100 back, 100 breast, and 200 free for the men and in the 4×50 medley relay, 200 fly, 50 breast, and 100 back for the women.  Additionally, we’ll see the semifinals of the women’s 100 free and the men’s 100 fly, along with the finals of the mixed 4×50 relay to end the evening.

Women’s 4×50 Medley Relay – Final

• 2014 World Champion: Denmark, 1:44.24
• World Record: Denmark, 1:44.24, 2014
• Championship Record: Denmark, 1:44.24, 2014

GOLD: USA (1:43.27)
SILVER: Italy (1:45.38)
BRONZE: Denmark (1:45.58)

The USA foursome kicked off the night in dominating fashion, breaking the world record* by over a second and finishing roughly two body lengths ahead of their nearest competitors.  Each of the USA’s first three swimmers — Ali DeLoof, Lilly King, and Kelsi Worrell — had the fastest split in the field in their discipline, as the US built a massive lead, and Katrina Konopka put down a solid anchor leg to beat the world record.

*Notes: as pointed out by one of our astute readers in the comments below, while this is technically the new world record, the Dutch women did record a faster time than this in 2009.  Their mark of 1:42.69 at the European Short Course Championships came before FINA began officially recognizing this event.

Men’s 100 Backstroke – Final

• 2014 World Champion: Mitch Larkin (AUS), 49.57
• World Record: Matt Grevers (USA), 48.92, 2015
• Championship Record: Stanislav Donets (RUS), 48.95, 2010

GOLD: Mitch Larking (AUS), 49.65
SILVER: Andrei Shabasov (RUS), 46.69
BRONZE: Jiayu Xu (CHN), 50.02

Junya Koga of Japan blasted some outside smoke from lane 8 for the first 50, but Russia’s Andrei Shabashov emerged in the lead out of the final turn.  Neither one could hold on, however, as the defending champion, Mitch Larkin of Australia, came on like a freight train the final length to pick up the win.  China’s Jiayu Xu touched 3rd, while Koga ended up just out of the medals, in 4th place.

Women’s 200 Butterfly – Final

• 2014 World Champion: Mireia Belmonte (ESP), 1:59.61
• World Record: Mireia Belmonte (ESP), 1:59.61, 2014
• Championship Record: Mireia Belmonte (ESP), 1:59.61, 2014

GOLD: Katinka Hosszu (HUN), 2:02.15
SILVER: Kelsi Worrell (USA), 2:02.89
BRONZE: Yufei Zhang (CHN), 2:05.10

Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu earned her second victory of the meet, leading from wire-to-wire in this event tonight.  Kelsi Worrell did her best to catch up to Hosszu, taking advantage of her great underwater skills and regularly exceeding 10 meters underwater on each turn, but couldn’t quite run down the Iron Lady, but still earned a silver medal with an American Record time of 2:02.89.  Yufei Zhang of China was only in 5th place going into the last 50, but had the fastest final 50 of anyone other than Hosszu or Worrell, and beat out American Ella Eastin for the bronze medal.

Men’s 100 Breaststroke – Final

• 2014 World Champion: Felipe Silva (BRA), 56.29
• World Record: Cameron Van Den Bergh (RSA), 55.61
• Championship Record: Felipe Silva (BRA), 56.29, 2014

GOLD: Mario Koch (GER), 56.77
SILVER: Vladimir Morozov (RUS), 57.00
BRONZE: Fabio Scozzoli (ITA), 57.04

Going into tonight, this sure looked like it could be anyone’s race, with a very evenly matched field, and the competitors did not disappoint.  It looked like Italy’s Fabio Scozzoli might have been showing up early speed from lane 7, but it was sprint star Vladimir Morozov of Russia who touched first at the 50.  At that point, all eight men were within 0.41s of each other, and even at the final turn, it appeared to still be anyone’s race.  But, it was Marco Koch, who really worked the underwaters throughout the race, who ultimately prevailed at the touch, winning in 56.77 to give Germany its first medal of the meet.  Morozov just touched out Scozzoli for 2nd, while the next three competitors were within a few hundredths of a second of each other, and only .51s difference across the entire field.

Women’s 50 Breaststroke – Final

• 2014 World Champion: Rūta Meilutytė (LIT), 28.84
• World Record: Alia Atkinson (JAM), 28.64, 2016
• Championship Record: Rūta Meilutytė (LIT), 28.84, 2014

GOLD: Lilly King (USA), 28.92
SILVER: Alia Atkinson (JAM), 29.11
BRONZE: Molly Hannis (USA), 29.58

This was a battle between the two middle lanes the whole way.  Jamaica’s Alia Atkinson, the world record holder in this event, got off to a great start, but Rio 100 breast gold medalist Lilly King closed the gap heading into the turn.  Atkinson again appeared to be in the lead coming out of the turn, but again King chased her down, and looked to be in the lead coming into the final few strokes.  After the final touch, King emerged victorious with a new American Record.  Her teammate Molly Hannis picked up the bronze, with Atkinson sandwiched between them.

It’s worth noting that the margin between first and third place in this event (.66 seconds), was greater than the margin between first and eighth in the men’s 100 breaststroke a few minutes earlier.

Men’s 200 Freestyle – Final

• 2014 World Champion: Chad le Clos (RSA), 1:41.45
• World Record: Paul Biedermann (GER), 1:39.37, 2009
• Championship Record: Ryan Lochte (USA), 1:41.08, 2010

GOLD: Park Tae Hwan (KOR), 1:41.03
SILVER: Chad le Clos (RSA), 1:41.64
BRONZE: Aleksandr Krashnykh, 1:41.95

We expected an Olympic silver medalist in this event to take it out fast, but we were thinking it would be the 2016 silver medalist, not the 2008 and 2012 one.  Indeed, Park Tae Hwan of South Korea cooked out some outside smoke from lane 1, emerging as the leader after the first 50, and holding on the rest of the way to win a new championship record time of 1:41.03.

2016 Rio silver medalist, Chad le Clos, meanwhile, used a very different strategy than we saw in Rio.  While he at first appeared to be among the leaders, he faded to 8th at the halfway point, and was still only in 7th at the 150 mark, but was the only man under 25 in the final 50.  He appeared to be making a move for the victory, but ran out of pool, and ended up 2nd.  In doing so, he passed Aleksandr Krashnykh, who was in 2nd place at the 150, and settled for bronze.  Dylan Carter managed to knock over half a second off his top seeded time from this morning, but it wasn’t enough to pick up a medal, as he finished 4th.

Women’s 100 Freestyle – Semis

• 2014 World Champion: Femke Heemskerk (NED), 51.37
• World Record: Cate Campbell (AUS), 50.91, 2015
• Championship Record: Femke Heemskerk (NED), 51.37

1. Brittany Elmsilie (AUS), 52.19
2. Penny Oleksiak (CAN), 52.19
3. Rikako Ikee (JPN), 52.47
4. Sandrine Mainville (CAN), 52.58
5. Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED), 52.76
6. Federica Pellegrini (ITA), 52.77
7. Menghui Zhu (CHN), 52.90
8. Veronika Popova (RUS), 52.94

You don’t typically see a team win a 4×100 freestyle relay without putting a swimmer into the final of the individual 100, but there will not be any USA women competing for an individual title after Amanda Weir and Madison Kennedy finished 10th and 12th, respectively.

Meanwhile, Australia’s Brittany Elmsilie and Canada’s Penny Oleksiak swam the exact same time, as each swam in lane 4 in their respective heat of the semifinals.  That should set up a great showdown tomorrow night between Oleksiak, the defending Olympic gold medalist in this event, and Elmsilie, who has a pair of Olympic gold medals herself as a member of Australia’s 4×100 free relay squad in 2012 and 2016.

Men’s 100 Butterfly – Semis

• 2014 World Champion: Chad le Clos (RSA), 48.44
• World Record: Chad le Clos (RSA), 48.44, 2014
• Championship Record: Chad le Clos (RSA), 48.44, 2014

1. Adam Barrett (GBR), 49.21
2. Tom Shields (USA), 49.46
3. Chad le Clos (RSA) 49.84
4. David Morgan (AUS), 50.06
5. Jeremy Stravius (FRA), 50.38
6. Tommaso D’Orsogna (AUS), 50.39
7. Mehdy Metella (FRA), 50.46
8. Takeshi Kawamoto (JPN), 50.54

In the first heat, David Morgan of Australia looked very strong in the first semi, using some really big underwater to power through to win the heat, despite being the one man without a cap.  France’s Jeremy Stravius also is known for working the underwaters, and after being first at the 50, he finished 2nd in the heat behind Morgan.

The top three finishers in the second heat all finished ahead of Morgan, led by Adam Barrett of Great Britain, who set a new national record.  The next two finishers were American Tom Shields, and South Africa’s Chad le Clos, who figure to be the favorites heading into tomorrow’s final.

Women’s 100 Backstroke – Final

• 2014 World Champion: Katinka Hosszú (HUN), 55.03
• World Record: Katinka Hosszú (HUN), 55.03, 2014
• Championship Record: Katinka Hosszú (HUN), 55.03, 2014

GOLD: Katinka Hosszu (HUN), 55.54
SILVER: Kylie Masse (CAN), 56.24
BRONZE: Georgia Davies (GBR), 56.45

The Iron Lady continues to accumulate precious metal, earning her 2nd gold medal of the night with a victory over a strong field in the 100 back.  Hosszu looked smooth and in control throughout this race, taking it out in 27.21 at the first 50.  At that point, the USA’s Ali DeLoof was in 2nd place, only 0.04 behind Hosszu.  DeLoof faded over the back half, however, while Canadian star Kylie Masse moved up from 3rd to take silver in 56.24.  Georiga Davies of Great Britain just touched out Australia’s Emily Seebohm for bronze, 56.45 to 56.46.

Mixed 4×50 Freestyle Relay – Final

• 2014 World Champion: United States, 1:28.57
• World Record: United States, 1:28.57, 2014
• Championship Record: United States, 1:28.57, 2014

GOLD: Russia, 1:29.73
SILVER: Netherlands, 1:29.82
BRONZE: Canada, 1:29.83

200 meters of racing came down to one tenth of a second, in a thrilling conclusion to this finals session.  The Russian team went from 4th to 1st on the strength of Vladimir Morozov‘s blistering 20.44 split.  The Netherlands then battled back as Ranomi Kromowidjojo split 23.34, to give the Dutch a 0.09s lead going into the final exchange.  Maaike De Waard of the Netherlands split a very solid 24.06, but Russia’s Rozaliya Nasretdinova went 23.88 to secure the gold for Russia, while Canada’s Sandrine Mainville nearly caught to De Waard while going 23.68, only 0.01s out of 2nd and 1.0s behind Russia.