2019 FINA World Championships: Day 2 Finals Preview

2019 FINA WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

• All sports: Friday, July 12 – Sunday, July 28, 2019
• Pool swimming: Sunday, July 21 – Sunday, July 28, 2019
• The Nambu University Municipal Aquatics Center, Gwangju, Korea
• Meet site
• Competition Schedule
• FinaTV Live Stream
• Entry Lists
• Start Lists
• Results

The 2019 FINA World Championships continues with four more world champions to be crowned in a few hours along with four semifinals to determine the eight qualifiers to battle for a medal.

Day 2 Finals Events:

• Men’s 100 Breast- Final
• Women’s 100 Fly- Final
• Men’s 100 Back- Semifinals
• Women’s 100 Breast- Semifinals
• Men’s 50 Fly- Final
• Women’s 100 Back- Semifinals
• Men’s 200 Free- Semifinals
• Women’s 200 IM- Final

In three of tonight’s finals, many heavy-favorites will be swimming clear paths to re-writing their own names in the history books. While their battles may come easy, some other battles this session will feature many contenders in the same race for the world title. Defending world champions, rising stars, and international veterans will all take their shots at carving out a spot for them on the podium or top 8 finalists.

DAY 2 FINALS TOP STORYLINES TO FOLLOW:

• Kicking off his 2019 individual gold medal campaign is American Caeleb Dressel, who leads the men’s 50 fly with an American/championship record time of 22.57. Followed closely behind Dressel is Nicholas Santos, who will be in the running to earn Brazil and South America their first pool medal of these championships. Looming behind the duo are world record-holder Andrii Govorov and defending world champ Ben Proud.
• History is expected to be re-written as Swede sprinter Sarah Sjostrom will fly to a 5th world title in the women’s 100 fly. Chasing down history as well will be Canadian Maggie MacNeil, who not only has a shot at the Canadian record but also earning Canada’s first 100 fly medal since 1978. But the 3rd-8th place qualifiers in this event are separated by only a tenth of a second, meaning the remaining swimmers (Wattell, McKeon, Throssell, di Liddo, Dahlia, Hansson) will certainly make this race all the more exciting to watch.
• Adam Peaty has already broken the 57-second barrier with his new world record time of 56.88. So the question in the men’s 100 breast is not who will win, but who will snag the silver and bronze medals behind the unbeatable Brit? Yan Zibei has made his marks in setting new Asian and Chinese records in the event. Yet Brit James Wilby has an opportunity to run down Yan and mark the first ever British men’s 1-2 finish in World championships history.
• Chasing down a legendary 4-peat in the women’s 400 IM is Iron Lady Katinka Hosszu, who swam a pair of 2:07s in prelims/semis to lead both ranks. With Hosszu’s times from yesterday, the Hungarian has another opportunity to re-write another dominant world record. The race for silver will be a thrilling battle among Canadian Sydney Pickrem and American Melanie Margalis. But the talent doesn’t stop there as 2012 Olympic champion Ye Shiwen is in shape to earn her first Worlds medal since 2011.
• Chinese Xu Jiayu looks poised after his 100 back prelims-leading position to defend his 2017 world title. Right behind him is Brazilian Guilherme Guido, who became the first South American to swim sub-52 in the event. There are many more top 8 contenders heading into semifinals, including 2013 world champ and 2017 runner-up Matt Grevers and 2015 world champ Mitch Larkin. World record-holder Ryan Murphy was quiet in prelims, qualifying 9th into the semifinals.
• The Sun Yang rivalries continue into the men’s 200 free as the Chinese will face Brit James Guy. Guy, the 2015 world champion, leads semifinals with a 1:46.18. Yet sitting in a tight second position with a 1:46.22 is Sun, the defending Olympic and world champion. Sun and Guy will not be the only battle to watch in this event as less than a second separates the entire top 16 qualifiers.
• Speaking of rivalries, Lilly King and Yulia Efimova lead the women’s 100 breast heading into the semifinals. The pair will not have each other to race in semifinals, but will have the clock in efforts to chase the 1:04-second barrier.
• The women’s 100 back semifinals will be just a small preview of what’s to come in the final. Both the defending world champ, Kylie Masse, and the current world record-holder, Kathleen Baker, will be featured in each of their respective semifinals. Aussie up-and-comers Minna Atherton and Kaylee McKeown will also contest in the final to continue the Aussie backstroke legacy.