World Cup Beijing Day 1 Prelims: Hosszu Takes On Monster Schedule

2018 FINA WORLD CUP – BEIJING

• Friday, November 2nd – Sunday, November 4th
• Beijing National Aquatics Centre, Water Cube
• Heats at 10am local/Finals at 7pm local
• SCM
• Entry List
• SwimSwam Meet Preview
• Results

Newly-minted 400m freestyle World Record holder Wang Jianjiahe of China is not competing in Beijing, which opened the door for a host of other competitors to take the gold in the teen’s absence.

Leading the charge this morning in the SCM 400 free was Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu, who snagged the top seed in 4:05.76. Next in line was Dutch Olympian Femke Heemskerk, who touched in 4:08.14, while Jianjiahe’s teammate Li Bingjie rounded out the top 3 morning finishers in 4:08.22.

The men’s 400m free is also shaping up nicely, with Ukraine’s Mykhailo Romanchuk leading the charge with his morning swim of 3:45.81. He represented one of five swimmers to delve under the 3:50 threshold this morning, with Ji Xinjie of China earning the #2 seed in 3:45.93.

USA’s Blake Pieroni is in the mix with the 3rd fastest 400m free time of prelims in 3:48.21.

Hosszu barely dried off before she was back in the pool to contest the women’s 100m IM sprint, clinching the top seed in 58.43. She was the only racer under 59 seconds this morning, with China’s Ye Shiwen finishing as the prelims runner-up in 59.42. Olympians Alia Atkinson, Emily Seebohm and Yulia Efimova also made the final for this evening.

Hosszu also raced the 50m back, but fell short of making the final, setting for a reserve spot. She came back to claim the 2nd seed in the 200m fly, stopping the clock in 2:08.44 behind leader Zhang Yufei of China, who touched in 2:08.01.

Ye Shiwen snared the top seed in the women’s 200m breast in 2:22.71, while Hosszu also went sub-2:23 in a time of 2:22.96. Efimova is ready to move up this evening, however, positioned as the 3rd seed in 2:24.31.

Reigning world champion in the men’s 100m IM, American Michael Andrew, looked sharp en route to claiming the top seed in 51.91, a second ahead of China’s Wang Shun. Wang touched in 52.99, while Russia’s world record holder Vladimir Morozov lurks as the 3rd seed in 53.29.

Both Andrew and Morozov will meet again in tonight’s 50m free final, where Morozov leads the pack with a prelim time of 21.42. Andrew is right behind in 21.51, while fellow American Pieroni is in the mix with an AM swim of 21.92.

Swedish speedster Sarah Sjostrom led a stacked field in the women’s 50m free, notching the top seed in 23.74.  Dutch Olympian Femke Heemskerk was the other sub-24 second racer of the morning in 23.99, while teammate Ranomi Kromowijdojo rounded out the top 3 in 24.01.

Additional Top Seeds:

• China’s Fu Yuanhui topped the women’s 50m back in 26.27.
• Xu Jiayu is the front-runner in the men’s 200 back with his morning effort of 1:54.33.
• Li Zhuhao got it done in the men’s 100m fly this morning, notching 51.13 for the pole position.
• The men’s 100m breast saw Russian Kirill Prigoda wind up on top of the prelims in a time of 57.37.