World #2 Jiao Liuyang Looks Flat in 200 Fly at Military World Games; Fabiola Molina Makes Comeback

For those who are still completing their last-minute predictions for the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai, they’ll be interested at looking clear across the world at the 2011 Military World Games hosted in Rio de Janiero, Brazil.

Jiao Liuyang, who will compete in the 50 and 200 fly for China at the World Championships over the next week, took gold in all three butterfly distances, didn’t look great in her specialty: the 200. She is seeded 2nd at the World Championships in this race at 2:04.44 from Chinese Nationals, but in Rio she swam only a 2:09.57.

Liuyang was pulled from the 100 fly at World’s, because of her late arrival back in China and with the 100 fly coming on an early day of competition. In Rio, however, that is the race where she really looked the best, with a winning mark of 57.78 that was a meet record as well as a season-best for her (she now ranks 9th in the World, for at least a few days). Her third gold came in the 50, with another season best of 26.77, which is unlikely to even semi-final in Shanghai.

But as for the 200, where she’s a strong medal favorite in Shanghai, that time could not have been what she wanted. Though there’s a big dropoff in talent in this 200 fly, Germany’s Franziska Hente gave her at least somewhat of a push. Though her 100 was pretty good, her pacing and endurance didn’t look great in the 200.

The World Military Games are not a major, FINA organized event, however there’s still a surprising level of competition at the meet. The home-pool Brazilians also had a large, fairly recognizable, contingent at the meet, and them and the Chinese combined to take 67 of the event’s 109 awarded medals.

Among the top Brazilian swimmers at the meet was breaststroker Tales Cerdeira. Cerdeira was supposed to be Henrique Barbosa’s replacement at the World Championships, after Barbosa’s qualifying marks from Brazil’s Maria Lenk Trophy at this same meet were vacated following the now-infamous furosemide test. Cerdeira chose to decline that invite, however, to compete at these World Military Games, where he took gold in the 200 breast (2:14.08) and silver in the 100 (1:01.64).

Fabiola Molina also made an appearance at this meet. Her two-month suspension for a positive test for methylhexanemine, common in nasal decongestants, has expired, but the suspension wiped out all of her qualifying marks for the World Championships. Molina was surely disappointed to not go to World’s, but she made the best of her swims in front of  a home crowd, where she’s wildly popular, with a win in the 100 back in 1:01.00, which just misses her best time of the season.Now she can begin training for London 2012.

Also deserving recognition for the Brazilians is veteran Gabriel Mangabera, who took four individual gold medals in the 50 fly, 100 fly, 50 back, and 100 back.

The American contingent included several former college athletes, like former Navy Honorable Mention All-American Joe Smutz and Lisa Broadfield. Broadfield swam at Southern Connecticut in college, and as recently as 2009 was an international-level Olympic hopeful in open water swimming.

The World Military Games take palce every four years and are a great opportunity for military personell from around the world to come together and compete in athletic competition. Sports are something that the whole world has in common, and should serve as a reminder to all involved that ultimately, we are all people with the same basic needs and desires. This year’s event included 4,900 athletes from 108 nations. While many sporting events, including the Olympics, bring together athletes from countries that are usually at odds, this one is unique in that all are members of their respective militaries, which puts a unique perspective on the event.

Full Meet Results available here.