Just when it seems Australian backstroking ace, Emily Seebohm, couldn’t get any faster….she does. That’s been the modus operandi of 23-year-old Seebohm of 2015, a year that has seen her fastest 100m and 200m backstroke swims since 2012.
Already holding Australia’s National Record 100m backstroke mark of 58.23, Seebohm seems well on her way to wiping that off the map, bumping up dangerously close to the record during tonight’s finals at the World Cup Doha. After already registering a 58.26 in Kazan at the 2015 World Championships, followed by multiple sub-59 World Cup finishes, including the 58.37 last week in Tokyo, Seebohm threw down an incredible 58.34 to take gold in Doha.
Seebohm’s 58.34 now sits as the 2nd-fastest of 2015, only behind her World Championship-title-winning swim, but it also now lands as the 6th-fastest swim of all time. Taking out the supersuit-era swims of 2009 still on the books, Seebohm’s time tonight sits as the 4th-fastest ever. Below is the listing of the swiftest women’s 100m backstroke swims in history:
- 58.12 Gemma Spofforth, Great Britain, 2009
- 58.18 Anastasia Fesikova, Russia, 2009
- 58.23 Emily Seebohm, Australia, 2012
- 58.26 Emily Seebohm, Australia, 2015 (Kazan)
- 58.33 Missy Franklin, USA, 2012
- 58.34 Emily Seebohm, Australia, 2015 (Doha)
- 58.39 Emily Seebohm, Australia, 2012
- 58.39 Missy Franklin, USA, 2013
- 58.42 Missy Franklin, USA, 2013
- Anastasia Fesikova, Russia, 58.48, 2009
Seebohm’s splits from tonight’s race were as follows:
28.54, 29.80 = 58.34
The unstoppable Australian is set to compete in the final stop of this year’s World Cup Series, slated for Dubai on November 6th and 7th.
Gemma Spofforth is British, and not German like the article says
Another session of insane performances by Seebohm and Larkin.
No taper for them. Always at their best. Insane.
I agree.
But why cant Larkin have more dramatic improvement like Ryan Murphy in 100 back, and why cant Seebohm have much more dramatic improvement (and fall) like Camille Muffat rip?
Missy Franklin at best can pull off a `Nathan Adrian `, beating Seebohm by 0.01 where it matters most; in parallel reference to Magnusen’s loss in London 2012 when he was the red hot favourite. Anything is possible at an Olympic games. Coughlin could even medal in the 100 back final in Rio
Franklin beating Seebohm in Rio ? A very plausible scenario ……. for the W200BK. On the evidence of her career so far, Franklin’s optimum distance for both Back & Free is 200 rather than 100.
The W100BK in Rio is NOT a “lock” for Seebohm. For all her incredible consistent “excellence” of the past year; her gap on the field is not enormous. Wilson proved in Kazan that her sub59 domestic time was no fluke. I can’t see Nielsen “going away”. Should Hosszu decide to swim it then she’s an automatic major contender. Fu looks “next cab off the rank” for the sub59 club.
Franklin CANNOT and should not be ruled out but she certainly has a lot of… Read more »
lotta quotation marks going on there
Its hard to see this girl not winning in Rio
57.88 in Rio