Ruta Meilutyte won the 100 breaststroke destroying the field by almost three full seconds in a blazing 1:05.20 setting meet record, a world’s best and a new European record, breaking her own mark of 1:05.21. The previous number one time in the world had been set by Rikke Moller Pedersen who swam a 1:06.20 in March at the Danish Open, Meilutyte season’s best had been a 1:06.75.
Earlier in the evening Meilutyte had posted a 30.74, which is the fastest qualifying time going into the next round of the women’s 50 breaststroke.
Kanako Watanabe finished second in a time of 1:07.92 followed by Valentina Artemyeva who posted a time of 1:08.56 to finish third.
In the women’s 100 butterfly Jeanette Ottesen Gray and Sarah Sjoestroem both broke the meet record, tying for the win in a time of 57.63. Their times currently rank second in the world behind Alicia Coutts who went a time of 57.18 at the EnergyAustralia National Championships in April. Sjoestroem’s previous season’s best of 57.66 had ranked second, while Ottesen Gray’s previous season’s best of 57.94 had been ranked third.
Jemma Lowe finished third in a time of 58.91.
Daiya Seto bettered Laszlo Cseh by 69 one-hundredths of a second to take the men’s 200 IM in a meet record time of 1:58.14. Seto season’s had been a 1:58.27, which was recorded at the Japanese Nationals in April. Cseh finished second posting a time of 1:58.73 while Jeremy Stravius finished third in a time of 2:01.44.
In the men’s 200 breaststroke Vyacheslav Sinkevich took the event in a time of 2:10.67. Sinkevich season’s best of 2:08.62 which we swam at the Russian Nationals in April is currently the world’s top ranked time. Marco Koch finished second in a time of 2:11.42 followed by Andrew Willis who finished third in a time of 2:13.34.
In the women’s 200 freestyle Camille Muffat posted a time of 1:56.00 to win the event, just off her season’s best of 1:55.48 which is currently a world’s best. In her second event of the evening Katinka Hosszu finished second in a time of 1:57.73 followed by Muffat’s teammate Charlotte Bonnet who finished third recording a time of 1:58.57.
Hosszu, who continued her ironwoman ways, took the women’s 400 IM earlier in the evening in a season’s best posting a time of 4:37.74. Victoria Andreeva finished second in a time of 4:44.91 followed by Boglarka Kapas who recorded a time of 4:49.69.
Chad le Clos who the men’s 200 butterfly in a season’s best time of 1:56.34. His previous season’s best was a 1:56.35, which he swam at the South African Nationals in April.
Bence Biczo finished second in a time of 1:57.23 followed by Yuki Kobori who finished third posting a time of 1:57.68.
Andrey Grechin finished first in the men’s 100 freestyle recording a time of 49.09. He was followed by Evgeny Lagunov who finished in a time of 49.37 and Luca Dotto who posted a 49.72 for third.
Vitaly Borisov took the men’s 100 backstroke in a time of 55.52 seven one-hundredths of a second ahead of Peter Bernek who finished second in a time of 55.59. Benjamin Strasiulis finished third in a time of 55.81.
Daryna Zevina won the women’s 200 backstroke in a 2:09.05, bettering her season’s best of 2:10.92 by nearly two seconds. Daria Ustinova finished second in a time of 2:10.63 followed by Evelyn Zevina who recorded a time of 2:11.16 for third.
Myles Brown took the men’s 400 freestyle in a time of 3:50.90 followed by Damien Joly who posted a time of 3:51.81 and Yohsuke Miyamoto who finished third recording a time of 3:52.74.
The results in the second round of the 50s were as follows:
Men’s 50 butterfly
Roland Schoeman was the fastest qualifier swimming a 23.49. Steffen Deibler qualified second in a time of 23.97 with Chad Le Clos and Dence Pulai qualifying third both finishing with a time of 24.32.
Women’s 50 butterfly
Ranomi Kromowidjojo qualified first in a time of 26.61. Jeanette Ottesen Gray qualified second in a time of 26.79 just ahead of Melanie Henique who posted a time of 26.80.
Men’s 50 backstroke
Vitaly Borisov qualified first in a time of 26.27. Jeremy Stravius who currently holds the world’s number one ranking posting a 24.61 qualified second in a very pedestrian 26.37 followed by Jordan Coelho who finished in a time of 26.90.
Women’s 50 backstroke
Aya Terakawa qualified first in a time of 28.39. Georgia Davies qualified second in a time of 28.48 followed by Mercedes Peris Minguet who posted a 28.58.
Men’s 50 breaststroke
Damir Dugonjic qualified first in a time of 28.21. Oleg Utekhin qualified second in a tiem of 28.45 followed by Niccolo Ossola who finished in a time of 28.49.
Women’s 50 breaststroke
Ruta Meilutyte qualified first in a time of 30.74. Her season’s best which ranks number in the world is 30.57. Mariya Liver qualified second in a time of 31.09 followed Valentina Artemyeva who posted a time of 31.23.
Men’s 50 freestyle
Shinri Shioura qualified first in a time of 22.56. Andrey Grechin and Marco Orsi qualified second and third both posting a time of 22.64.
Women’s 50 freestyle
Rozaliya Nosretdinova qualified first in a time of 25.00 knocking 46 one-hundredths of a second off her season’s best. Ranomi Kromowidjojo qualified second in a time of 25.21 followed by Sarah Sjoestroem who posted a time of 25.33.
>A vastly superior Ruta!
And all of that while swimming it right way – high out of water looking straight, with great fundamentals – beautiful breaststroke. Hopefully all 10 year old girls can now try to copy her instead of Soni and her breaststroke style that works for her only.
Undeniably, Soni´s breastroke seems unique but there is something tempting in it.
There’s a fantastic article on Ruta on Swimvortex right now. She’s been through quite a bit to get where she is. Amazing talent who should be lighting it up for years to come.
Yes, I read that article too.
And amazing sacrifices by her family (I mean her dad) to get her to train properly.
Very inspiring.
Just reading that article inspires me so much more than watching What Would Ryan Lochte Do the whole season. And that is an understatement.
Concluding from Meilutyte´s facebook and twitter profiles, she appears to be quite popular in Lithuania (e.g. the number of comments in Lithuanian), and with good reason. If Meilutyte manages to be in the front line for years to come, which seems probable, she will inevitably enhance popularity of swimming in Lithuania. There must be facilities ready to meet the demand if kids decided to swim due to her success. One more gold at WC and a new swimming hall with Olympic-size pool must be named after her 🙂
Go to Gainesville and watch him train. You might feel differently then.
Some great times in the quarter-finals of the 50’s too.
Jeanette Ottesen Gray in 26.10 in the 50 fly.
Sarah Sjöström in 24.77 in the 50 free.
I hope Sjöström is still holding back.
Sjoestrom always swim fast all season.
Unfortunately, she does not usually drop much during the most important champiosnhips.
There is going the Brazilian Winder Junior Champs
14 year old Fernanda went 25.9 50 free..
Note: I mean 50 Free men and women only.
Your results of the 50 quarters include only the first heat (we had 2 heats due to a tie 8th – no spare time to run swim-offs! – so we decided to have 9 swimmers at quarters instead of 8)
Please check the results here (50’s on the right side, small square G for Garçons (boys) and F for Filles (girls)
http://www.montecarlo-swimming.org/Resultats2013.html
IMPRESSIVE Ruta Meilutyte! Can she break the world record of Jessica Hardy in Barcelona? I think so.
Good first day for Camille Muffat too. 1.56.00 is interesting. She was in 1.54.66 last year in her first 200 free of the Mare Nostrum. And a great 59.22 in the 100 fly just after her 200 free.
Ruta may break Hardy’s WR before Rio, but I don’t think she’ll do it in Barca.
A vastly superior Ruta! I cannot imagine anyone to challenge her in 100BR at BCN. Rikke-Moller Pedersen is in good shape but she is in need of more speed. In 200m BR Rikke-Moller is my favourite for the gold. Muffat´s performance was a bit of disappoinment. I hope it was because of ongoing tough training.
Katinka Hosszu is – surprisingly – swimming more events than the rest. She has signed up for ten events. It is difficult to decide her condition since her best performances are always hindered by her other events. One thing is for certain. She can take her schedule in BCN as a vacation.
Hi guys,I’m italian and i’m posting here for the first time.
Rikke Pedersen is improved a lot during the season but i can’t pick her as the favourite for gold medal in BCN in the 200 BR. I think it’s a huge chance for Yuliya Efimova,without pressure (the presence of Rebecca Soni) she’s capable of great performances.
What about Ruta? Simply amazing, pretty sure she will lift the crown and she’s gonna go sub 1:05 (not yet WR imho).
Paolo, thanks for your comments.
I hope for that you are correct about Efimova´s capabilites. Otherwise 200m BR will be boring to watch. Efimova´s best is 2:24.31 so far in this season and she went in 2:26.51 yesterday. Rikke-Moller Pedersen did a time of 2:20.53 already in March. Indeed a “Soni-free” summer creates possibilities for others, but Pedersen seems to be a huge favourite statistically. Efimova will have to cut about 4 seconds off her season best and make a new personal best by far in order to challenge Pedersen in BCN.
Having delibarated this subject more closely, I would go even further. Rebecca Soni´s WR in 200m BR (2:19.59) is even in greater danger due to Pedersen than WR… Read more »
It will be interesting to see what sort of times Rikke can post in Barcelona and Canet this week coming off three weeks in Sierra Nevada. She was only 2/100ths off her 100 PB in March, which still dates from the shiny suit days.
I can’t see her getting close to Ruta on this sort of form though, she doesn’t have the raw speed being more 200 focused. Ruta is just so impressive, has to be a massive favourite for both the 50 and 100 BR.
In the 200 I’d love to see Rikke finally get one over on Efimova, but don’t forget about Satomi Suzuki. Could be a classic race if all three swim well on the day.… Read more »
You can be happy about the state of Danish swimming if compared to Finnish one. I’d be pleased to have even one Finnish medal prospect to cheer on, but at the BCN there is none. By the way, Finnish Swimming Association´s new national head coach comes from Denmark, Bo Jacobsen. Waiting for medal rain at Rio 2016 or 2020 🙂
I’m 100 percent sure that Rikke-Moller Pedersen will win a medal or two. As for Jeanette Ottesen, it is more difficult to predict but I believe she has excellent chances in butterfly. Sprint freestyle events are so fiercely competed that anything can happen.
Katinka Hosszu swimming more events than the rest is not surprising.
She has been swimming 8-10 events in ALL meets after the Olympics.
Meilutyte is an absolute talent. Can’t wait to see what she puts up this summer and what she’s capable of in expanded events. Given Lithuania’s limited depth, she can pretty much swim any event she wants. Hopefully she picks the correct ones that tailors to her sprint talent.