2018 SC Worlds: Day Two Prelims Live Recap

2018 FINA SHORT COURSE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, December 11th – Sunday, December 16th
• Hangzhou, China
• Tennis Centre, Hangzhou Olympic & International Expo Center
• SCM (25m)
• Prelims: 9:30 am local, 8:30 pm ET / Finals: 7:00 pm* local, 6:00* am ET
• *The final night of finals will be one hour earlier, starting at 6:00 pm local and 5:00 am ET
• Live Results (Omega)

The second day of the 2018 FINA Short Course World Championships will feature seven events in prelims, including two 4×50 relays. You can read our full preview here, and refresh this update over the course of the session.

Women’s 4×50 Medley Relay – Prelims

• WR – USA – 1:43.27 – 7 DEC 16
• CR – USA – 1:43.27 – 7 DEC 16
• WJ – 1:53.11 (Best Time)

1. USA – 1:44.92
2. CHN – 1:45.54
3. JPN – 1:46.02
4. CZE – 1:46.31
5. NDE – 1:46.99
6. AUS – 1:47.49
7. RUS – 1:47.73
8. ITA – 1:47.81

The USA will swim out of the middle lane in tonight’s final. All four of the USA legs were solid swims, with Katie Meili probably having the strongest split – she was the only woman in the field under 30.

China had the 2nd-fastest time of the morning, thanks to a strong back half. Butterflier Wang Yichun and  anchor Wu Yue had the fastest splits on their legs, going 25.10 and 23.46, respectively.

Japan rounded out the top three, with Miyuki Takemura leading off with a strong 26.39, the fastest split in the field.

Men’s 200 Freestyle – Prelims

• WR – Paul Biedermann – 1:39.37 – 15 NOV 09
• CR – Park Tae Hwan – 1:41.03 – 7 DEC 16
• WJ – Kliment Kolesnikov – 1:41.75 – 23 DEC 17

1. Alexander Graham – AUS – 1:41.83
2. Luiz Melo – BRA – 1:42.13
3. Danas Rapsys – LTU – 1:42.39
4. Breno Correia – 1:42.64
5. Ji Xinjie – CHN – 1:42.70
6. Martin Malyutin – RUS – 1:42.76
7. Mikhail Vekovishchev – RUS – 1:42.77
8. Blake Pieroni – USA – 1:42.90

Alexander Graham is your top qualifier after blistering his way to a 1:41.84 out of the 5th heat. Graham had to run down South African star Chad le Clos in order to win that heat, as le Clos couldn’t hang on to his early lead and ultimately missed the final. Brazil’s Luis Melo touched 2nd in that heat, qualifying 2nd overall with a 1:42.13.

Three men were vying for the early throughout most of heat six, but Breno Correia rolled in over the final lap and won the heat with a 1:42.64, good for 4th overall. Mikhail Vekovishchev and Blake Pieroni also qualified from that heat, going 1:42.77 and 1:42.90 respectively.

In the final heat, Danas Rapsys went hard hard, faded a bit in the middle, but closed with a 25.70 to take the heat with a 1:42.39, giving him the 3rd fastest time of the morning. Ji Xinjie was in the lead heading into the final 50, and while he didn’t win the heat, his 1:42.70 was good enough for the 5th seed. Russia got two men into the top eight, thanks to a 1:42.76 from Martin Malyutin, also in that final heat.

Women’s 100 Freestyle – Prelims

• WR – Cate Cambell – 50.25 – 25 OCT 17
• CR – Femke Heemskerk – 51.37 – 5 DEC 14
• WJ – 52.09 (Best Time)

1. Mallory Comerford – USA – 52.18
2. Femke Heemskerk – NED – 52.27
3. Michelle Coleman – SWE – 52.37
4. Larissa Oliveira – BRA – 52.87
5. Ranomi Kromowidjojo – NED – 52.93
6. Barbora Seemanova – CZE – 52.94
7. Lia Neal – USA – 52.99
8. Mariia Kameneva – RUS – 53.00
9. Erin Gallagher – RSA – 53.09
10. Federica Pellegrini – ITA – 53.17
11. Zhu Meghui – CHN – 53.20
12. Anika Apostalon – CZE – 53.21
13. Tonomi Aoki – JPN – 53.54
14. Annika Bruhn – GER – 53.61
15. Veronika Andrusenko – RUS – 53.80
16. Carla Buchanan – AUS – 53.82

No surprises here, as all the big names made it through to the semifinals. Mallory Comerford looked very smooth and in control throughout her 52.18, which gave her the win in the final heat, and makes her the number one seed heading into tonight.

Femke Heemskerk, who still holds the meet record from four years ago, also seemed to very much in her element, as she won the 9th heat with a 52.27, good for the 2nd-fastest time. Just behind her, time-wise, was Michelle Coleman, who posted a 52.37 to win heat 8, the first of the circle-seeded heat.

Those were the only three women under 52.4, but they are by no means a lock for the top three yet. Other qualifiers included Ranomi Kromowidjojo, who swam almost two seconds faster in the finals of the 4×100 free relay yesterday than she did in prelims, splitting a 50.77, so she projects to be much faster than her 52.93 that put her 5th overall this morning.

Men’s 100 Butterfly – Prelims

• WR – Chad le Clos – 48.08 – 8 DEC 16
• CR –Chad le Clos – 48.08 – 8 DEC 16
• WJ – 50.53 (Best Time)

1. Caeleb Dressel – USA – 49.23
2. Chad le Clos – RSA – 49.34
3. Marius Kusch – GER – 49.54
4. Piero Codia – ITA – 50.07
5. Jack Conger – USA – 50.20
6. Li Zhuhao – CHN – 50.29
7. Takeshi Kawamoto – JPN – 50.34
8. Mehdy Metella – FRA – 50.42
9. Yauhen Tsurkin – BLR – 50.58
10. Kengo Ida – JPN – 50.74
11. Aleksander Kharlanov – RUS – 50.99
12. Tomoe Hvas – NOR – 51.04
13. Roman Shevliakov – RUS – 51.21
14. Deividas Margevicius – LTU – 51.25
15. Konrad Czerniak – POL – 51.28
16. Liubomyr Lemeshko – UKR – 51.35

Three men broke 50.0 in the heats, led by Caeleb Dressel, who looked strong, if a little rough on the turns, to take the top seed in 49.23. Chad le Clos didn’t mess around after missing out on the 200 free final earlier this morning, and he’ll go into the semis with the 2nd-fastest time, a 49.34. Marius Kusch was third man under 50.0, registering a 49.54.

The USA got two men in the top eight, with Jack Conger placing 3rd in the final heat, the same as le Clos and Kusch, to put up the 5th-fastest time of the morning with a 50.20.

Notably, Italy’s Matteo Rivolta, who came in the 2nd-fastest seed time, and was swimming in lane 4 of heat 7, broke his streamline off of the start, turned around, and got out of the pool. No word yet on the cause.

Women’s 200 Butterfly – Prelims

• WR – Mireia Belmonte – 1:59.61 – 3 DEC 14
• CR – Mireia Belmonte – 1:59.61 – 3 DEC 14
• WJ – Suzuka Hasegawa – 2:02.96 – 14 JAN 17

1. Kelsi Dahlia – USA – 2:03.51
2. Katinka Hosszu – HUN – 2:04.68
3. Lara Grangeon – FRA – 2:05.11
4. Suzuka Hasegawa – JPN – 2:05.19
5. Nao Kobayashi – JPN – 2:05.28
6. Zhang Yufei – CHN – 2:05.99
7. Ilaria Bianchi – ITA – 2:06.40
8. Ana Montiero – POR – 2:06.49

With only three heats in this events, Kelsi Dahlia performed the relatively rare feat of putting down the fastest time in prelims out of the very first heat, going through in 2:03.51. Katinka Hosszu qualified 2nd in her only event of the day, touching in 2:04.68 out of the third and final heat.

Japan was the only country to qualify two women, with Suzuka Hasegawa and Nao Kobayashi  coming within a tenth of a second of each other, touching in 2:05.19 and 2:05.28 respectively. Hasegawa is the current world junior record holder.

Mixed 4×50 Freestyle Relay – Prelims

• WR – NED – 1:28.39 – 14 DEC 17
• CR – USA – 1:28.57 – 6 DEC 14
• WJ – 1:33.37 (Best Time)

1. USA – 1:29.80
2. RUS – 1:29.96
3. AUS – 1:30.12
4. JPN – 1:30.32
5. NED – 1:30.56
6. BRA – 1:30.78
7. FIN – 1:31.51
8. ITA – 1:31.88

The American team of Michael Andrew, Michael Chadwick, Olivia Smoliga and Madison Kennedy qualified 1st in the mixed 200 free relay in 1:29.80, just ahead of Russia (1:29.96). Omega Timing is currently down, so splits aren’t available.

In 4th, Japan broke the Asian Record in 1:30.32, getting under China’s 1:30.89 from the 2013 World Cup.

Women’s 800 Freestyle – Prelims

• WR – Mireia Belmonte – 7:59.34 – 10 AUG 13
• CR – Mireia Belmonte – 8:03.41 – 4 DEC 15
• WJ – Wang Jianjiahe – 7:59.44 – 6 OCT 18

1. Wang Jianjiahe, CHN, 8:07.59
2. Leah Smith, USA, 8:12.28
3. Sarah Kohler, GER, 8:15.15
4. Simona Quadarella, ITA, 8:16.68
5. Li Bingjie, CHN, 8:16.75
6. Anna Egorova, RUS, 8:19.45
7. Haley Anderson, USA, 8:19.52
8. Mayuka Goto, JPN, 8:19.93

Wang Jianjiahe looked like she was on cruise control as she coasted to the top time of the morning in the women’s 800, clocking 8:07.59 to the foot as she miscounted the race. Simona Quadarella, who was 2nd in the heat and 4th overall in 8:16.68, followed Wang in flipping at the 800 mark.

Leah Smith, the defending champion, won the other seeded heat in 8:12.28 and qualifies for the final in 2nd.