Lochte Wins 2 Golds on Day 6, Franklin Breaks American Record

Women’s 100 free finals – Medal Race

This women’s 100 free came down to a big surprise at the touch, with a tie for the gold medal between Denmark’s Jeanette Ottesen and Belarus’ Aleksandra Herasimenia in 53.45. Through the first two ronds, Ottesen had identical times, which might have led one to believe that she was close to top speed. Not so, the Dane played this perfectly and with her final touch nailed Herasimenia for the tie. This is Ottesen’s first ever World Championships medal, and the 3rd in swimming for Denmark. The Danish are really having a breakout meet with two gold medals (Lotte Friis won the women’s 1500) to exceed their championship total from all previous events combined.

As for Herasimenia, she looked strong throughout. If I was going to pick an upset gold medal for her in this meet, I would have gone with either the 50 backstroke or the 50 free, but to place as a World Champion in this 100 freestyle is a great performance for her. That time (53.45) is a career-best and a Belarusian National Record for her.

Both swimmers went out very fast, which bodes well for them in the 50 as well.

I hope that the organizing committee had a few extra gold medals lying around, because this was the 3rd tie in the history of the World Championships in pool swimming, and after the even-finish between the French 100 backstrokers the 2nd of this meet. You might go the rest of your lifetime before seeing two ties for gold in the same World Championship meet again.

(The other World Championshp tie was between Filippo Magnini of Italy and Brent Hayden of Canada in the men’s 100 free in 2007.)

Charging hard for bronze was the Netherlands’ Ranomi Kromowidjojo in 53.66. After being in 7th place at the turn, Kromowidjojo tore home to the finish, with the fastest closing-split in the field, to blow by the most of the field, including her dutch teammate Femke Heemskerk, who was the favorite going into this final. Heemskerk ended up tied for 4th with Fran Halsall of the UK at 53.66. This marks the 2nd-straight final for Heemskerk (after the 200 free) where she’s gone out hard and taken the lead at the halfway mark only to fall off of the medals stand.

Americans Dana Vollmer (54.19) and Natalie Coughlin (54.22) finished 7th and 8th.

Full women’s 100 free finals results.

Men’s 200 backstroke final – Medal Race

Ryan Lochte played this swim about as perfectly as one can play it to come home with the gold in 1:52.96, which clears the old textile-best in this event by over a second. Though still a full second off of Aaron Peirsol’s World Record, that gives Lochte the 4th-fastest time in this event ever, as well as his personal best in this event.

Lochte was cruising through the 100 meter mark, and while on the 3rd 50, most of his competition stayed the same or got slower, Lochte blasted a 28.5 (compared to Irie’s 29.0) to put a full body-length between him and everyone else in this race. We’ve seen it multiple times in Shanghai that Lochte really is going to attack that third wall, and it’s a strategy that has worked out splendidly for him thus far.

Ryosuke Irie swam a 1:54.11 for silver, which is a time that he’s already been faster than this year. It was not a surprise for him to miss his season-best, given that he’d been 1:54 five times already this season before this meet starts, which didn’t leave much room for a taper. The USA grabbed a second medal with Tyler Clary taking bronze in 1:54.69, though those top three clearly separated from the rest of the heat.

Full results from the men’s 200 back final.

Women’s 50 fly semifinal

Therese Alshammar upped the ante a little bit more in this 50 fly semifinal to take the top seed in 25.52, which is a hair faster than she went in the morning prelims. The Netherlands’ Inge Dekker took the 2nd seed with a 25.78, followed by Ying Lu of China in 25.87 and another Swede, Sarah Sjoestrom in 25.90.

Alshammar continues to be the best in the world in this event, which she has been for all of the past two years, and I think that she’ll take this win comfortabley. The battle for silver got pretty interesting with this result, especially with Jeanette Ottesen failing to make the final exactly 17 minutes after winning gold in the 100 free (she was the 2nd-fastest in prelims).

Besides those who are currently highly-seeded, I think the USA’s Dana Vollmer has a really good chance to move up and take a medal. She was the 100 fly champion, and barely scraped into this final in 26.32 (by .02); but like Ottesen, she was coming on a very quick turnaround from the 100 free, and with this being the first race of tomorrow’s finals session, she should be much better.

Full women’s 50 fly semifinal results.

Men’s 50 free semifinal

In the men’s 50 free semifinal, a Brazilian took the top seed, though it probably isn’t the one you’re expecting. The young 20-year old Bruno Fratus put up a 21.76 for the fastest time in the field, and a career-best swim. Our Brazilian readers have been singing the praises of Fratus for about the past year now, and saying that he would be the next Brazilian sprinter to sort of break ahead of the pack, and Fratus has shown that right here. Even more exciting is that he’s earned a reputation for being a great relay anchor, which could work out well in combination with Cielo who has a very good flat-start (albeit inconsistent at times).

Cielo took the 2nd-seed though, not far behind, in 21.79. These two will square off side-by-side in the final, and though Fratus had the upper-hand here, my feeling is that there will be a touch of intimidation from the Cesar Cielo, who is immensely popular in Brazil. Remember that in this semifinal, Fratus was swimming in an outside lane, so he didn’t have that same Cielo-pressure.

Other contenders in the final appear to be the USA’s Nathan Adrian (21.94) and Luca Dotto of Italy (21.97). Kriztian Takacs, from a Hungarian country that’s not known for its sprinters, tied with Dotto in 21.97.

Both Australian swimmers failed to make the final, with Matt Targett tying for 9th (22.09) and Matthew Abood in 12th (22.16). The Russians weren’t able to get a single swimmer through to the top 8 either. Perhaps not surprisingly given the country’s reputation for sprinting, the Brazilians were the only country to earn two finalists.

Men’s 50 free semifinal results.

Women’s 200 breaststroke final – Medal Race

As expected, this was Rebecca Soni’s race just about the whole way through, and she took home the victory in 2:21.47. While that was a bit slower than her semifinals time, and nowhere near the World Record, but most importantly, she didn’t take this race out as fast in the semifinals. That might sound odd as an “important thing,” but in 2009 Soni burst out on the first 100 meters and didn’t leave anything to finish the race. While like all good athletes, she certainly blocked that disappointment out of her mind at race time, that doesn’t mean that she didn’t learn from it. She has established herself as the single most dominant swimmer in any stroke in the world right now, and I can’t wait to see what she does in the 50 (the only race where she’s probably not the favorite).

This was a 1-2 finish for Trojan Aquatics, with Russia’s Yuliya Efimova taking the silver in 2:22.22. Though in time, she was well ahead of bronze medalist Martha McCabe (2:24.81), don’t be fooled by the final result: this was a tight race most of the way for silver. It wasn’t until her final 50 where Efimova really put hersel into a new gear and nailed down this silver. In reality, she almost made this thing a race with Soni, and don’t be surprised if she’s closed the gap even further by London 2012.

McCabe’s bronze continued an excellent meet for the Canadians as she easily outpaced the World Record holder Annamay Pierse (another Canadian) in this final. With the 1-2-3 of Soni-Efimova-McCabe, that means we didn’t have any swimmers repeat as a medalist in this race.

Full women’s 200 breaststroke final results.

Men’s 100 butterfly semifinal

There’s still one race on the Olympic schedule where Phelps is no-doubts the best in the world, almost regardless of training, it’s the 100 fly. Phelps, still in first or 2nd gear, swam a 51.47 to take the top seed headed into the final. We know he’s capable of a 50-low, and I don’t think anyone else in this field is, so expect a body-length win in the final.

Poland’s Konrad Czerniak took the 2nd seed in 51.54 that led a bunching that included Tyler McGill of the USA (51.56) and Takuro Fujii of Japan (51.69). For McGill, that’s a textile career-best time he’s swum in as many rounds of this event, which should be encouraging for him headed into the 2012 Olympic season.

The finals will be filled out by Evgeny Korotyshkin (Russia – 51.77), Geoff Huegill (Australia – 51.85), Jason Dunford of Kenya (51.92) and Joeri Verlinden of the Netherlands (51.97). Dunford went out very hard to lead the first heat early, but faded a bit at the end. If he can hold that speed a touch better in the final, he could easily move up to a medal position.

The two biggest surprises to be left out were the two who tied for 9th: Ben Starke of Germany and Laszlo Cseh of Hungary in 52.18.Starke and Cseh entered the meet as the second and fifth fastest performers in the world this year, though interestingly both swimmers had very late National Championship meets.

Full men’s 100 fly semifinal results.

Women’s 200 back semifinal

Missy Franklin. MISSY Franklin. The only thing that’s keeping Missy Franklin (learn that name, if you don’t know it yet) from being the star of this meet is the fact that the US Trials, held in 2010, kept her from swimming more races. After going a textile-best in the 200 free yesterday to lead off the American relay, she did another one here in this women’s 200 backstroke to take the top seed in 2:05.90. Even more impressively, this swim broke the American National Record, previously set by Margaret Hoelzer in 2008. If Franklin can put a bit more power into her underwaters, then the World Record in this race is not entirely out of reach.

With Kirsty Coventry and, maybe more surprisingly Anastasia Zueva, out of this race, anyone else is going to half to post a lifetime best by more than half-a-second to beat out Franklin for the gold. The two swimmers mentioned above are the only ones who have ever been faster than Missy.

Belinda Hocking of Australia is seeded 2nd in 2:07.76, followed by Elizabeth Beisel in 3rd at 2:07.82. I still don’t think we’ve seen a best swim from beisel in this race, as she’s just now warming up with her first day of swims. As you continue to work down the lieup for the finals, it jumps out at you that 5 of the 8 finalists are teenagers, with the exceptions being Hocking (20), Alexianne Castel (21), and Meagen Nay (22). This might be the youngest field in the whole meet.

Besides the two previously mentioned, another surprise to miss the final was China’s Jing Zhao, who was the fastest swimmer in the world in 2010 (where she set thge previous textile best).

Full women’s 200 back semifinal results.

Men’s 200 breaststroke final – Medal Race

Japan’s Kosuke Kitajima went out very hard in this race, and was well ahead of World Reecord pace through 150 meters. However, as the final 50 wore on, it was clear that he was tightening up as Hungary’s Daniel Gyurta began to get stronger. In a matter of maybe two lunging strokes, with about 30 meters to go, Gyurta made up the whole of the half-second gap that Kitajima had put on him and tore home to the finish. At the touch, it was Gyurta in 2:08.41, followed closely by Kitajima in 2:08.63.

Germany’s Christian Vom Lehn (2:09.06) also had an awesome finishing length to steal 3rd away from the USA’s Eric Shanteau (2:09.28). For the Germans, who came in fairly highly seeded, this is their first medal not won by a swimmer named Paul Biedermann in this meet, for a total of 3 bronzes so far. That’s a huge dropoff after being 2nd in the 2009 standings with 4 gold, 4 silver, and 1 bronze.

Despite all of his Olympic successes (he’ll enter London as the defending champion in both the 100 and 200), he’s performed relatively poorly at the World Championship level. In the last 4 such meets, he’s come away with only 1 gold medal. Gyurta, on the other hand, has now won two-straight 200 breaststroke titles, but his only Olympic medal is a silver from Athens in 2004. The point is, this race might not be an ultimate indicator of what will happen in 2012.

Full men’s 200 breaststroke final results.

Men’s 800 free relay final – Medal Race

On paper, this race looked like an American win all the way. In the pool, however, the French made it much tighter than anyone predicted.

The race started off slow for the Americans, with Michael Phelps splitting a 1:45.53 (about a second off of his individual time). That left tthe Americans in 3rd behind Yannick Agnel’s 1:45.25 and Paul Biedermann’s 1:45.20. As the German’s fell off the pace on leg two, the USA’s Peter Vanderkaay appeared to put the US back in control of this race with a 1:46.07, compared to a 1:47.81 from Gregory Mallet of France.

But then on leg 3, Jeremy Stravius, whose maybe been France’s best performer so far in this meet, dropped a 1:45.40 on Ricky Berens’ 1:46.51 to give the big lead back to the French. This was not really a huge surprise from Stravius’ time, as he’s been a very good relay swimmer in the past, but I think many expected that Berens would hang with him better.

But them came the great equalizer. The French had used their best three legs already, and though anchor Fabien Gilot is one of the leaders of the team, he’s really more of a 100 guy than a 200 guy. Gilot fought admirably to hold off Lochte at the 700 meter mark, but at that point Lochte (once again coming off of his 3rd wall) decided that it was time for him to blow the French away. Lochte ended up splitting a 1:44.56, ahead of Gilot’s 1:47.35, to give the USA the win.

Despite the final marks of 7:02.67 for the USA and 7:04.81 for the French, this was another race where the final margin was not indicative of the true separation between the teams. Hats off to the French for swimming very well, but as we knew all along, the Americans’ big advantage is the presence of the 2nd top-flight 200 freestyler, which nobody else has.

Germany was hanging with China for bronze, but China’s Sun Yang burst away to the finish with a split of 1:45.14, which was 2nd-fastest only to Lochte’s in the race. China’s finishing time was 7:05.67, and Germany touched in 7:08.32 to just hold off Australia (7:08.48).

Full men’s 800 free relay results.

Full Analysis & Medal Table

The Americans have asserted control over this meet with three gold medals today, and great positioning for at least two more tomorrow. The Russians are really struggling; their 800 free relay failed to even final, when they were expected to medal.

Individually, Ryan Lochte and Missy Franklin are becoming the stars of this meet. Michael Phelps will probably end with four gold medals and three silvers, which is not a bad haul for a guy who hasn’t been focused on his training. That women’s 100 free final was a great finish, though it’s probably going to be played up less than the French tie earlier in the meet because Ottesen and Herasimenia might have been the only two swimmers in this final that weren’t seemingly pegged for gold.

The Americans now have 6 mode medals than the 2nd-place China, including 9 big gold medals. As a comparitive to 2009, the Americans then had 7 gold, 6 silver, and 4 bronze at this point, so overall Team USA is doing well.

China is still holding strong in 2nd, with Australia having 9 medals, despite seeming struggles. The big bridesmaid in this meet so far has been Japan, who has 4 silver medals but no golds.

For full results from day 6, click here.

(Only pool swimming medals included)

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	9	4	5	18
2	China	4	1	7	12
3	Australia	2	6	1	9
4	France	2	3	3	7
5	Italy	2	2	0	4
6	Brazil	2	0	0	2
	Denmark	2	0	0	2
8	Russia	1	2	0	3
9	Hungary	1	0	2	3
10	Netherlands	1	0	1	2
11	Belarus	1	0	0	1
	Norway	1	0	0	1
	South Korea	1	0	0	1
14	Japan	0	4	1	5
15	Canada	0	2	1	3
16	Great Britain	0	2	0	2
17	Germany	0	0	4	4
18	South Africa	0	0	2	2
Total		29	25	27	81