Day 2 in Barcelona was a relative snoozer as compared to the first day, where we saw multiple Meet and Series Records get broken. Winners got 330 Euros, runners-up got 180 Euros, and third-place finishers received a prize of 90 Euros (plus huge bonuses for records).
Women’s 100 Freestyle
Canada’s Victoria Poon won the women’s 100 free in 55.42. That placed her ahead of Britain’s best young sprinter Jessica Lloyd, who at 17-years old is more than a decade younger than Poon. Lloyd took 2nd in 55.49.
Finland’s Hanna-Maria Seppala took 3rd in 55.79.
Men’s 200 Breaststroke
The men’s 200 breast was dominated by Britain’s Michael Jamieson in 2:11.21. That’s the third time this season that he’s been a 2:11 or better; he’s shown the ability in the past to be very good at multiple in-season meets. His countrymates James Goddard (2:13.68) and Andrew Willis (2:13.86) took 2nd and 3rd, respectively.
Women’s 200 IM
Finally as the meet came close to the end, the speed really picked up as Hannah Miley swam a 2:11.78 to win the women’s 200 IM. Even for a swimmer who has been as fast as Miley, that’s a best in-season time for her in the event. Paired with her 400 IM from earlier in the meet, she looks very strong (though, with about 7 weeks to go until the Olympics, a rest of some sort for this series wouldn’t be out of the norm).
Her teammate Sophie Allen was 2nd in 2:13.51, and Canada’s Erika Seltenreich-Goodson was 3rd in 2:14.64; that’s the second-best time in the 17-year old Canadian’s career.
Men’s 100 Fly
Kenyan Jason Dunford had another great swim with a big 52.51 win in the men’s 100 fly. That ends up being his best time of the season. Brazil’s Kaio Almeida was 2nd in 52.84.
Sweden’s Lars Frolander, newly named to their Olympic Team, took 3rd in 53.74.
Men’s 200 Free
Australia’s Jarrod Killey won the men’s 200 free in 1:48.78, which is nearly two seconds faster than he was at Australian Olympic Trials. Even had he done that in March, it wouldn’t have been enough for him to make the Olympic Team, but it would have been a far more satisfying performance from the young freestyler.
Russia’s Nikita Lobintsev took silver in 1:49.32, and another young Australian Tommaso D’Orsogna was 3rd in 1:49.83.
Women’s 400 Free
Spain’s Melania Costa-Schmid finished the meet with a best time in the women’s 400 free, posting a 4:06.83 for the win. That’s two-tenths better than she was at last year’s World Championships. Even though she’s not a part of the great training group with swimmers like Mireia Belmonte-Garcia at St. Andreu, she’s still showing a lot of potential in the distance freestyles in her own right headed toward the Olympics.
Britain’s Jazz Carlin was 2nd in 4:10.52.
Other Winners
- France’s Sebastien Rouault won the men’s 1500 free in 15:17.91 – he simply has not had a good 2012 season, after being demoralized by missing the Olympic Team.
- Britain’s Georgia Davies won the women’s 50 backstroke in 28.32, which put her in the top 15 in the world. Italy’s Elena Gemo was 2nd in 28.71.
- South Africa’s Cameron van der Burgh didn’t look quite as good in the 50 as he did in the 100 on Saturday (where he broke a Meet Record and went under a minute), but his 27.77 is still his best time of the season. That time ranks him 15th in the world this year.
- Italy’s Silvia di Pietro won the women’s 50 fly in 26.55.
- Italy took another win in the men’s 400 IM, where Luca Marin posted the best time of his season with a 4:15.69. That’s the fastest that he’s been since 2009.
- Australia’s Ben Treffers won the men’s 100 backstroke in 54.46, which is his best swim of the year outside of Trials. That bettered South Africa’s top backstroker Charl Crous in 55.56.
- Spain’s Marina Garcia Urzainqui won her third breaststroke event of the meet, taking over $1,000 home in prize money for her efforts, after winning the 100 in 1:09.19. That bettered Britain’s Stacey Tadd (1:09.43) and Canada’s Kierra Smith (1:09.92).
- Canada’s Brent Hayden added a second win in the men’s 100 free with a 22.47. Just like the 100, that’s another typical in-season swim for him, where he’s not always too fast. Cuba’s Hanser Garcia took 2nd in 22.63, which is his best time of 2012.
- Canada’s Sinead Russell made her first podium appearance with a win in the women’s 200 back in 2:11.20; that bettered South Africa’s Karin Prinsloo in 2:11.73.
- Canada’s Katerine Savard won the women’s 200 fly in 2:10.03. Britain’s Jemma Lowe nearly ran her down in the closing 50, but ended up 2nd in 2:10.18. Britain’s Hannah Miley was 3rd in 2:11.01, her best time since 2010 in what is a good IM training swim for her.
Miley is a work horse, and it seems her fly has improved. Combined with her much improved backstroke in the past year and her scary good breast, she’ll be very strong medalist in the 400 IM come London.
The women 400 IM is becoming more and more exciting.
Women 400 IM London may even turn out to be as fast as Beijing.
van der Burgh also swam a 2.14 breaststroke prelims, which I think is a good time for him. I wish he had swam the finals…to see what his time would be..