Reported by Karl Ortegon.
WOMEN’S 50 BREAST (SHOOT-OUT)
Prelims (top 9 from morning prelims)
- Lilly King 31.43
- Melissa Rodriguez 31.63
- Kim Williams 32.38
- Kennedy Lohman 32.42
Two women broke 32 seconds, with world record holder Lilly King winning round 1 with a cool 31.43. Melissa Rodriguez of Mexico was just behind for 2nd in 31.63. Kim Williams (32.38) and Kennedy Lohman (32.42) also make it to round 2.
Keep in mind Yulia Efimova‘s 29.93 from Canet earlier today as we move through the next two rounds.
Semis (top 4 from night prelims)
- Lilly King 30.66
- Melissa Rodriguez 31.56
- Kennedy Lohman 32.15
- Kim Williams 32.24
King looked sharper here in the semis, going 30.66 to finish well ahead of 2nd place Rodriguez (31.56), but both will race in the final. King is now within seven tenths of Efimova’s time.
Final (top 2 from semis)
- Lilly King 29.62
- Melissa Rodriguez 31.24
King was absolutely cooking down the pool, churning out a 29.62 for the new world #1 ahead of Molly Hannis (29.71) and Efimova (29.93). That’s her third-best time ever (she’s been 29.40 WR and 29.60), and the eight-best performance in history.
She speaks with so much energy that every time I watch her interviews I wonder if it was sped up to avoid some copyright infringement, but no, that’s just her. It’s pleasantly amusing how she gets through 2-3x as many questions as other interviewees.
I just wish king was in Rebecca Soni era she would’ve had a little something to show her lol
and Usa is very fortunate that she came along after Soni retired
King wins a lot of her races without being pushed. So she tries to juice her motivation and competitive spirit by gunning for Efimova’s times.
I’m sure Efimova hears about King beating her times.
It gives Lilly a psychological advantage over Efimova when they do line up next to each other the few times they actually race.
I’m guessing that Efimova doesn’t talk about King nearly as much as King talks about Efimova.
I’m guessing that Efimova doesn’t beat King nearly as much as King beats Efimova.
I bet she thinks about her quite a bit though.
To be fair, King can’t get through one interview without someone bringing Efimova up. It isn’t like she goes out of her way to talk about her so much, and she is obviously going to give her brutally honest response when she’s asked about her.
I think it’s mostly the reporters and stuff bringing it back up
Jesus. Let the beef go. The olympics were two years ago.Swim your race. Stay in your lane.
It’s healthy beef. Stuff like this makes swimming more exciting..
Couldn’t agree more. She is a fabulous competitor–the kind that will make all her teammates better at whatever event she is swimming.
It started off with king having some harsh words about yulia (rightfully so), but now it seems like a friendly competetion to one up each other. Exacrly what any sport needs.
Yes let the cheater go
Great interview! I’m very excited to see what she can do this summer if this is what she can do during heavy training. Should be on fire.