Day four was the first day of the competition that we did not see a European swimmer on top of the podium at the 2013 FINA World Championships, Pawel Korzeniowski and Federica Pellegrini came close, but neither had enough in the last 50 meters to take a title.
Pawel Korzeniowski has been having a very good July. First he won the 100 butterfly at the World University Games in Kazan posting a lifetime best of 51.75, which was impressive when considering his previous lifetime best of 52.32 was recorded in 2010.
On Wednesday evening he collected a silver in the 200 butterfly in Barcelona. He finished in a time of 1:55.01, 69 one-hundredths of a second behind Olympic champion from South Africa Chad le Clos.
Korzeniowski looked very good at the 150 meter mark where he took the lead by a very small margin, but could not match the final 50 meters of le Clos. To say that the Polish swimmer has a lengthy resume in this event on the international stage would be an understatement. The 28 year old won this event at the 2005 World Championships in Montreal, he collected a silver at the 2009 World Championships in Rome and added a silver to his collection in 2013.
After a poor showing at the 2012 Olympics in London Italian Federica Pellegrini declared that she would begin focusing on backstroke events and forgo the freestyle events in Barcelona. She changed her mind.
When the start lists came out Pellegrini had decided to scratch the 100 backstroke (still entered in the 200 backstroke) and swim the 200 freestyle. Coming into the world championships Pellegrini had posted a season’s best of 1:56.51, which was good enough for fourth in world behind Camille Muffat, Missy Franklin and Bronte Barratt.
Pellegrini qualified in the top position for the final recording a time of 1:55.78 in the semi-finals. In the final going into the last 50 meters she turned in fourth position, but showed very strong closing speed overtaking Muffat and Melanie Costa Schmid then she made a run at Franklin, but did not have enough pool and ultimately finished second in a time of 1:55.14 while Franklin won the event in a time of 1:54.81.
Pellegrini’s final 50 split was 29.07 compared to Franklin won swam a 29.76 in the final lap.
The silver was Pellegrini’s fifth World Championship medal in this event:
- 2005 – Silver – 1:58.73
- 2007 – Bronze – 1:56.97
- 2009 – Gold – 1:52.98
- 2011 – Gold – 1:55.58
One of the most energetic, at least for the crowd, races of the evening was the second semi-final of women’s 200 butterfly. The fans’ excitement was because Spaniard Mireia Belmonte Garcia won the race in a time of 2:06.53 and is the top qualifier going into Thursday night’s final.
Coming into the World Championships Belmonte Garcia was ranked third in the world with a season’s best of 2:06.70.
Thoughts:
- After unceremoniously being left off of the Swedish Olympic team Simon Sjodin has come back a year later to show his detractors why he should have received a ticket to London. Sjodin broke the Swedish record in the 200 IM posting a 1:58.02 in the prelims and then went on to qualify for the final finishing eighth overall in the semis.
- After a shockingly poor swim in the 400 freestyle Olympic champion Camille Muffat of France returned to the pool finishing third in the 200 freestyle in a time of 1:55.72. Muffat was not far off her season’s best of 1:55.48.
- It will be interesting to see what Frenchman Fabien Gilot can do in the 100 freestyle after throwing down a 46.90 on the third leg of the French 4 x 100 freestyle relay. He swam a 48.21 in semis which is a season’s best.
- Great Britain was extremely disappointed in their results in London where they won only three medals they may leave Barcelona with less
- Spanish swimmers have set the most national records in Barcelona with 11 in total
Records
Men’s 100 freestyle
- Belarus – Yauheni Tsurkin – 49.41
Women’s 50 backstroke
- Czech Republic – Simona Baumrtova – 28.20
- Spain – Mercedes Peris Minguet – 27.71
- Finland – Anni Alitalo – 28.61
- Iceland – Ingibjoerg Jonsdottir – 28.62
Men’s 200 IM
- Bosnia and Herzegovina – Ensar Hajder – 2:03.72
- Belarus – Yury Suvorau – 2:02.60
- Liechtenstein – Christoph Meier – 2:05.08
- Portugal – Diogo Carvalho – 1:59.39
- Sweden – Simon Sjodin – 1:58.02