Beijing World Cup Day One

Women’s 800 freestyle

World record holder Mireia Belmonte of Spain started out the night with a victory in the 800 freestyle posting a time of 8:07.59. It was the usual suspects once again in the top three in the women’s distance event with Lauren Boyle of New Zealand finishing second and Belmonte’s Spanish teammate Melani Costa finishing third.

Belmonte and Boyle swam head to head up until the 600 meter mark when Boyle fell off the pace eventually hitting the wall in a time of 8:10.47.

Costa had to contend with American teenager Rebecca Mann who with 50 meters to go was still almost two full seconds behind the Spaniard. Costa finished in a time of 8:18.03 followed by Mann who posted a time of 8:18.54.

Men’s 400 IM

Australia’s Thomas Fraser-Holmes dominated the 400 IM from start to finish winning the event in a time of 4:04.05. After the butterfly Fraser-Holmes had close to a three second lead over his competition turning in a time of 54.84. He never relinquished the control of the race finishing over three seconds ahead of Takeharu Fujmori of Japan who touched second in a time of 4:07.29.

Fellow Aussie Travis Mahoney finished third recording a time of 4:08.15.

Men’s 100 freestyle

Vlad Morozov, USC, wins the 100 free (40.76) at the 2013 Men’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships

There was no surprise that Russian Vlad Morozov hit the wall first in the men’s 100 freestyle, dominating the sprint freestyle events in the 2013 series, he took the event at the final stop in a time of 45.88. It was a surprise though to see World Cup point leader Chad le Clos of South Africa be the second athlete to put his hand on the wall finishing in a time of 46.60.

le Clos’s lifetime best in the the 100 freestyle short course was recorded in 2011 when he posted a 47.39, he put up his best long course time earlier this year swimming a 47.39.

Australian Tommaso D’Orsogna finished third in a time of 46.85.

Women’s 200 freestyle

World Cup point leader Katinka Hosszu of Hungary picked up her first win in Beijing taking the women’s 200 freestyle in a time of 1:53.82. Hosszu, who will swim a monster schedule as always, was the freshest athlete in the top three finishing ahead of 800 freestyle medal winners Melani Costa and Lauren Boyle.

Costa finished second in a time of 1:54.57 followed by Boyle who hit the wall in third touching in a time of 1:55.20.

Men’s 50 breaststroke

So far the evening in Beijing has pretty much gone as expected as the winners go and the men’s 50 breaststroke was no different with South African Roland Schoeman once again taking the event posting a time of 25.95. Australian 100 breaststroke world champion Christian Sprenger finished second in a time of 26.59 followed by Brazilian Joao Gomes Junior who finished third recording a time of 26.65.

Women’s 100 breaststroke

Without Yulia Efimova in the race to challenge her, Alia Atkinson of Jamaica won the women’s 100 breaststroke with ease posting a time of 1:03.81, finishing almost two seconds ahead of her next competitor. Atkinson has had some amazing results in this year’s World Cup series breaking 1:03 twice, having posted a season’s best of 1:02.91.

Sophie Allen of Great Britain finished second in a time of 1:05.74 followed by Xiaoyu Liu of China who finished third touching in a time of 1:06.24.

Women’s 100 butterfly

Australian Alicia Coutts and world champion Sarah Sjoestroem of Sweden had a tremendous battle from start to finish in the women’s 100 butterfly. Coutts, who broke the Commonwealth, Australian and World Cup records in Tokyo posting a time of 55.30, took the first 50 meters out in a time of 26.13 nine one-hundredths of a second ahead of Sjoestroem who turned in a time of 26.22.

Coutts increased her lead slightly in the second half winning the event in a time of 56.00 with Sjoestroem finishing second touching the wall in a time of 56.17.

Katinka Hosszu picked up her second medal of the evening finishing third in a time of 57.40.

Men’s 100 backstroke

Eugene Godsoe, 100 butterfly, 2013 US World Championship Trials (Photo Credit: Tim Binning, the swim pictures)

The top three finishers in the men’s 100 backstroke in Beijing mirrored the current world rankings with American Eugene Godsoe winning the event followed by Australian Robert Hurley and American Thomas Shields.

Godsoe and Hurley had another exciting head to head match up with Godsoe turning 15 one-hundredths ahead of Hurley at the 50 meter mark. Hurley narrowed the gap in the final 50 meters eventually, finishing nine one-hundredths of a second behind Godsoe. Godsoe won the event in a time of 50.15 followed by Hurley who recorded a time of 50.24.

In Tokyo the two put up the top two ranked times in the world, which are only separated by five one-hundredths of a second with Godsoe posting a 49.87 and Hurley swimming a 49.92.

Shields finished third in a time of 50.52.

Women’s 50 backstroke

Elizabeth Simmonds of Great Britain took the event in a time of 26.83. She was followed Yuanhui Fu of China who finished second recording a time of 26.95 followed by Daryna Zevina of the Ukraine and Haihua Cheng who tied for third in a time of 27.07.

Men’s 200 butterfly

Chad le Clos picked up his second gold of the evening in the 200 butterfly winning the event in a time of 1:51.70. The final time was not impressive, as it is over three seconds slower than his world record of 1:48.56, but as always his final 50 meters was.

Shun Wang of China had a lead of just under a second over le Clos at the 150 meter mark, that is when the South African put on his back burners posting a 27.97 in his final 50 meters compared to Shun’s 29.13. Shun eventually finished second in a time of 1:51.94 with Pawel Korzeniowsky of Poland finishing third in a time of 1:53.11.

Women’s 200 IM

Katinka Hosszu picked up her second gold of the evening winning the event in a time of 2:05.34. She was not the only swimmer to pick up additional hardware in the event, Alicia Coutts and Sophie Allen both added another medal to their evening’s collection.

Coutts finished second in a time of 2:06.23 followed by Allen who won the bronze in a time of 2:06.71. Mireia Belmonte was looking to become a multiple medalist on the evening, but fell eight one-hundredths of a second short recording a time of 2:06.79.

Men’s 400 freestyle

Thomas Fraser-Holmes won his second gold of the evening taking the men’s 400 freestyle in at time of 3:39.86, but it was anything but easy.

Fraser-Holmes and Myles Brown of South Africa had a tremendous battle for the entire race, with Brown finishing second in a time of 3:39.98.

• Fraser-Holmes – 49.94/1:53.27/2:45.77/3:39.86
• Brown – 49.56/53.36/2:45.34/3:39.98

Fraser-Holmes Australian teammate Robert Hurley finished third posting a time of 3:42.99.

Women’s 50 freestyle

Cate & Bronte Campbell, 50 freestyle World Record, semi final, 2013 FINA World Championships (Photo Credit: Victor Puig)

Australian Cate Campbell took the women’s 50 freestyle for the third competition in a row touching in a time of 23.65. She was followed by Fran Halsall of Great Britain who posted a time of 24.03 and sister Bronte Campbell who finished third recording a time of 24.13.

Men’s 200 breaststroke

Hungarian Daniel Gyurta picked up another 200 breaststroke victory winning the event in a time of 2:03.09. The world champion has picked up bonus points for a top three performance in Singapore and Tokyo, his performance in this race earned a FINA point total of 942.

Michael Jamieson of Great Britain finished second in a time of 2:04.26 followed by Feilian Mao of China who recorded a time of 2:05.34.

Men’s 100 IM

Vlad Morozov collected his second gold of the evening winning the men’s 100 IM in a season’s and lifetime best time of 50.97. Morozov’s previous best of 51.13 was the top ranked time in the world this year.

George Bovell III of Trinidad and Tobago finished second in a time of 51.72 followed by Chad le Clos who won his third piece of hardware of the evening touching in a time of 52.14.

Women’s 200 backstroke

After finishing third in the 50 backstroke Daryna Zevina returned to pool and picked up another 200 backstroke win posting a time of 2:01.47. She was followed by Australian Emily Seebohm who hit the wall in a time of 2:03.95 and Elizabeth Simmonds who posted a time of 2:04.14.

Men’s 50 butterfly

In the final individual event of the evening Nicholas Santos of Brazil took the men’s 50 butterfly in a time of 22.13. Santos’ time is a new Brazilian national record breaking his own record of 22.13, which he set in 2009.

Roland Schoeman picked up the silver posting a time of 22.37, while Tom Shields collected his second bronze of the evening hitting the wall in a time of 22.78.