The big times keep rolling from the Speedo Sectional meet in Athens, Georgia. Japanese backstroker Junya Koga blasted a season-best 53.50 to win the 100 back and highlight night 2.
That vaults Koga into the top 10 in the world this year, just barely passing up his Japanese countryman Masaki Kaneko.
2014-2015 LCM Men 100 Back
MURPHY
52.18*relay
| 2 | Mitchell LARKIN | AUS | 52.37*relay | 08/09 |
| 3 | Camille LACOURT | FRA | 52.48 | 08/04 |
| 4 | Matt GREVERS | USA | 52.66 | 08/04 |
| 5 | Jiayu XU | CHN | 52.74*relay | 08/04 |
| 6 | Christopher WALKER-HEBBORN | GBR | 52.88 | 04/14 |
| 7 | Ryosuke IRIE | JPN | 52.99 | 04/08 |
| 8 | Guilherme GUIDO | BRA | 53.12 | 07/18 |
| 9 | Evgeny RYLOV | RUS | 53.14 | 08/03 |
| 10 | Liam TANCOCK | GBR | 53.19 | 08/03 |
Koga will not compete for Japan at the World Championships – he’s part of a really tough group of backstrokers, and was the odd man out with world #2 Ryosuke Irie and Kaneko taking the backstroking spots.
That was just one of several outstanding swims on the night. The men’s 200 free was one of the most entertaining races, with Dynamo’s Matias Koski nipping SwimMAC’s Ryan Lochte for the win by four hundredths.
Koski, a standout in the college realm for the Georgia Bulldogs, felt right at home in his college city, going 1:47.65 and overcoming Lochte in the final 50 meters. The two men were nearly dead even the entire way. Koski led by .02 at the 100 turn, but Lochte took over by less than a tenth at the 150. Koski’s closing split of 27.04 was enough to hold off Lochte, who went 1:47.69 for second.
The wins just kept on coming for former Bulldog Melanie Margalis, too. The double winner on night one added a big 200 free victory on night two, going 1:59.04 and beating Club Wolverine’s Gabby DeLoof (2:01.99).
SwimMAC youngster Kathleen Baker won the women’s 100 back, beating her Team Elite teammate Kirsty Coventry, a former Zimbabwean Olympian. Baker was 1:00.18, Coventry 1:00.80.
Their teammate Cammile Adams won the 400 IM, adding a second win to her 200 fly title last night. Adams went 4:41.13, a season-best for her and the best time she’s swum since last year’s Pan Pacific Championships. In fact, Adams was faster tonight than she went at last summer’s U.S. Nationals.
The men’s 400 IM went to 18-year-old Sam Stewart of Crawfish Aquatics. He was 4:21.64, a lifetime-best by three full seconds, to beat Dynamo’s Mick Litherland, a rising sophomore with Georgia.
Full results are available on Meet Mobile.
Koga : what a damn good backstroker ! JAPAN really has the luxury to leave him out of their selection for worlds .
Had hoped for Coventry to be faster than,1.00.80. It’ll be hard for her to final in Kazan unless she drops at least 1.5sec on taper
I’m not a fan of Kathleen Baker’s technique but it’s clear she has reached a new level now. She could target a final at worlds.