Ruta Meilutyte Posts World Number One Time in Canet

2015 MARE NOSTRUM SERIES

• Canet-en-Roussillon, France – June 6-7
• Barcelona, Spain – June 10-11
• Monaco – June 13-14
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Women’s 50 Backstroke

Georgia Davies of Great Britain took the first event of the evening taking the 50 backstroke in a time of 27.87. That is a season’s best time for the Commonwealth Games champion. Her time now places her fifth in the world rankings. She was also the only in the field to break the 28 second mark.

Danish star Mie Nielsen collected the silver in a time of 28.00, which is just off her season’s best of 27.94. In her first event of the evening Hungarian Katinka Hosszu won the bronze in a time of 28.17.

Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe finished fourth in a time of 28.51 followed by Daryna Zevina (28.59) of the Ukraine, Mercedes Peris (28.67) of Spain and Elizabeth Simmonds and Lauren Quigley of Great Britain who tied for seventh in a time of 28.68.

Men’s 50 Backstroke

Frenchman Camille Lacourt pleased the home crowd in Canet by taking the men’s 50 backstroke in a time of 24.97. Lacourt, who won this event at the 2013 World Championships, was off his season’s best of 24.56 which sits atop of the world rankings.

British swimmer Christopher Walker-Hebborn finished second in a time of 25.19 followed by Juan Miguel Rando of Spain who posted a 25.42.

2013 World Championships silver medalist Jeremy Stravius of France finished fourth in a time of 25.45. Three swimmers, Jan Phillip of Germany, Jonatan Kopelev of Israel and Carl Louis Schwarz of Germany, tied for fifth with a time of 25.47.

Masaki Kaneko of Japan finished eighth touching in a time of 25.79.

Women’s 50 Freestyle

Jeanette Ottesen of Denmark won the women’s 50 freestyle in a time of 24.47. Although Ottesen did not break into the world’s top five she did beat her season’s best of 24.66 which she posted at the Danish Open in March. Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace of the Bahamas and Olympic champion Ranomi Kromowidjojo of the Netherlands had a tight battle for the silver. Vanderpool-Wallace hit the wall first in a time of 24.62 followed by Kromowidjojo who touched in a time of 24.68.

Kromowidjojo’s teammate Femke Heemskerk finished fourth in a time of 24.72 she was followed by Danish swimmer Pernille Blume (24.84), Fran Halsall of Great Britain (24.89), Canadian Chantal Van Landeghem (25.04) and Miki Uchida of Japan who recorded a 25.27.

Men’s 50 Freestyle

The men’s 50 freestyle was rather pedestrian as Katsumi Nakamura took the event in a time of 22.32. He was followed closely by Konrad Czerniak of Poland who posted a 22.35 and Ari Pekka Liukkonen of Finland who hit the wall in a time of 22.38.

Ben Proud of Great Britain finished fourth in a time of 22.41 he was followed by Hungarian Krisztian Takacs (22.57), Andrey Grechin of Russia and Markel Alberdi Sarobe of Spain (22.79) and Mindaugas Sadauskas Lithuania who tied for seventh in a time of 22.79.

Women’s 200 Backstroke

Hosszu had a fabulous prelims swim posting a time of 2:07.67 and was expected to better that in the final, but that was not the case. Hosszu did win the event, but recorded a time of 2:08.05.

Canadian Hilary Caldwell, who took the bronze in the event at the 2013 World Championships was the only other woman to break 2:10 putting up a 2:09.99. Jenny Mensing of Germany collected the bronze in a time of 2:10.43.

Zevina finished fourth in a time of 2:11.00 she was followed by Coventry (2:12.19), German Sonnele Ozturk (2:12.60), Simmonds (2:13.83) and Rosie Rudin of Great Britain who hit the wall in a time of 2:14.86.

Men’s 200 Backstroke

Ryosuke Irie of Japan, who sits atop of the world rankings with a time 1:54.62, took the men’s 200 backstroke in a time of 1:55.23. He took the event with relative ease beating reigning world champion American Ryan Lochte by over two seconds.

Lochte won the silver in a time of 1:57.96. He was followed by Radoslaw Kawecki who recorded a 1:58.32.

Japanese swimmer Masaki Kaneko finished fourth in a time of 1:58.91 followed by German Christian Diener (1:59.79), Hungarian Gabor Balog (2:00.87), Jan Philip Glania (2:01.83) of Germany and Matias Lopez (2:02.90) of Paraguay.

Women’s 100 Breaststroke

Lithuanian Ruta Meilutyte dominated the women’s 100 breaststroke recording a time of 1:05.46. Meilutyte now takes over the top spot in the world rankings, replacing Russian Yulia Efimova who posted a 1:05.89 earlier this year. This is a strong in season performance for Meilutyte who in 2013, the year that she put up the world record in the event, swam a 1:05.20 in early June.

Rikke Moeller Pedersen of Denmark finished a second and a half behind Meilutyte to win the silver in a time of 1:07.01. Jessica Vall Montero of Spain collected the bronze in a time of 1:07.69.

American Mich Lawrence finished fourth in a time of 1:07.86 she was followed by Moniek Nijhuis (1:08.25) of the Netherlands, Australian Sally Hunter (1:08.26), Jenna Laukkanen (1:08.36) of Finland and German Vanessa Grimberg (1:08.69).

Men’s 100 Breaststroke

World record holder Adam Peaty of Great Britain was challenged by Yasuhiro Koseki of Japan. Koseki made up some ground on Peaty in the second half of the race, but ultimately the British swimmer led from start to finish posting a time of 59.83. Koseki recorded a time of 59.96.

Cristian Vom Lehm of Germany won the bronze in a time of 1:00.24.

South African Cameron van der Burgh finished fourth in a time of 1:00.36 he was followed by German Marco Koch (1:00.63), German Hendrik Feldwehr (1:00.70) and British swimmers Ross Murdoch (1:00.89) and Craig Harry Benson (1:01.10).

Women’s 200 IM

Hosszu collected her second gold of the evening in the women’s 200 IM, but it wasn’t easy. Siobhan-Marie O’Connor led the race through the breaststroke leg, which is when Hosszu took a slight lead over the Brit. Hosszu took the event in a time of 2:10.09 followed by O’Connor who hit the wall in a time of 2:10.57.

• Hosszu – 28.98/1:02.43 (33.45)/1:39.84 (37.41)/2:10.09 (30.25)
• O’Connor – 28.04/1:02.33 (34.29)/1:39.72 (37.39)/2:10.57 (30.85)

Kanako Watanbe of Japan won the bronze in a time of 2:11.56.

Hannah Miley finished fourth in a time of 2:11.82 followed by American Melanie Margalis (2:12.17), Sakiko Shimzu (2:12.64) of Japan, Hungarian Zsuzanna Jakabos (2:12.78) and Lisa Zaise (2:14.49) of Austria.

Men’s 400 IM

Japanese Kosuke Hagino, Daiya Seto and Hungarian David Verraszto had an incredible battle for gold in the men’s 400 IM. The lead changed four times with all three athletes in the top position at one point in the race. Ultimately Hagino took the event in a time of 4:11.16 followed by Seto who recorded a 4:11.48 and Verraszto who hit the wall in a time of 4:11.52.

• Hagino – 56.58/1:59.36 (1:02.78)/3:12.46 (1:13.10)/4:11.16 (58.70)
• Seto – 56.50/2:02.09 (1:05.59)/3:12.70 (1:10.61)/4:11.48 (58.78)
• Verrsazto – 57.33/2:01.60 (1:04.27)/3:12.36 (1:10.79)/4:11.52 (59.16)

German Jacob Heidtmann finished almost six seconds behind Verrsazto hitting the wall in a time of 4:17.38. Hungarian Ben Gratz finished fifth in a time of 4:17.90 followed by British swimmers Max Litchfield (4:20.48), Roberto Pavoni (4:21.68) and Daniel Wallace (4:21.72).

Women’s 100 Butterfly

Ottesen took her second event of the evening winning the women’s 100 butterfly in a time of 57.31. She was just off her season’s best of 57.23 which she posted in March. Canadian Katerine Savard finished second in 57.76 beating her season’s best of 58.18. Marie Wattel of France collected the bronze in a time of 58.43.

German Alexandra Wenk finished fourth in a time of 59.04 followed by Hungarian Lilianna Szilagyi (59.08), Natsumi Hoshi (59.11) of Japan and British swimmers Rachel Kelly (59.20) and Jemma Lowe (59.41).

Men’s 100 Butterfly

World champion South African Chad le Clos was the only swimmer to break the 52 second barrier. le Clos recorded a time of 51.88 beating his previous season’s best of 52.03. Lochte collected his second silver of the evening posting a time of 52.29. Takeshi Kawamoto of Japan finished third in a time of 52.30.

Hungarian Laszlo Cseh finished fourth in a time of 52.34 followed by teammate Bence Paulai (52.94), Alexandru Coci (53.11) of Romania, Takuro Fuji (53.16) of Japan and Tom Laxton (53.49) of Great Britain.

Women’s 200 Freestyle

Charlotte Bonnet of France won the women’s 200 freestyle posting a time of 1:56.16 beating her season’s best of 1:56.86. She finished ahead of world leader Femke Heemskerk of the Netherlands who recorded a time of 1:56.82.

Hosszu finished third in a time of 1:58.64.

Chihiro Igarashi of Japan finished fourth in a time of 1:59.02 followed by American Melanie Margalis (1:59.22), Tomomi Aoki (1:59.98), German Annika Bruhn (2:00.09) and Jaz Carlin (2:02.04) of Great Britain.

Men’s 200 freestyle

Sebastiaan Verschuren of the Netherlands and James Guy of Great Britain had an extremely tight race in the men’s 200 freestyle. Guy turned with the lead of seven one-hundredths of a second at the 100 meter mark, but Verschuren was the faster of the two competitors in the last 50 meters, winning the event in a time of 1:48.05. Guy finished second in a time of 1:48.07.

• Verschuren – 25.71/53.31 (27.60)/1:21.22 (27.91)/1:48.05 (26.83)
• Guy – 25.59/53.24 (27.65)/1:20.94 (27.70)/1:48.07 (27.13)

South African Myles Brown collected the bronze in a time 1:48.51 followed closely by Stephen Milne of Great Britain in a time of 1:48.53. Robbie Renwick of Great Britain finished fifth in a time of 1:48.73 followed by Christoph Fildebrandt (1:48.83) of Germany, Yuki Kobori (1:48.95) of Japan and Calum Jarvis (1:50.22) of Great Britain.

Women’s 1500 Freestyle

Carlin took the women’s 1500 freestyle with relative ease posting a time of 16:09.69, nearly 12 seconds ahead of the field. Spaniard Maria Vilas Vidal who hit the wall in a time of 16:18.14 followed by Jessica Thielmann of Great Britain who recorded a 16:23.23.

Jimena Perez Blanco of Spain finished fourth in a time of 16:31.68 followed by Yang Chang (16:39.96), Spaniard Africa Zamorano Sanz (16:56.26), Ophelie-Cyrielle Etienne (16:59.53) of France and Italian Alice Mizzau (16:59.91).

Men’s 400 Freestyle

Guy took the men’s 400 freestyle in a time of 3:46.84. He was followed by Brown won the silver in a time of 3:48.28 followed by Canadian Ryan Cochrane who posted a 3:49.95.

German Florian Vogel finished fourth in a time of 3:50.27 followed by Ahmed Mathlouthi (3:50.43) of Turkey, Nicholas Grainger (3:52.15) of Great Britain, Pal Joensen (3:53.03) of the Faroe Islands and Jordan Pothain (3:55.32) of France.