World Short Course Championships: Day Two Prelims

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MANCHESTER, England, April 10. WITH three world records in the bag, what is in store during the second day of swimming at the FINA World Short Course Championships? Plenty of national records during day two prelims, that's what. This evening should feature some phenomenal swimming as well.

Women's 100 free
Fran Halsall started the morning off right as she nipped Great Britain's record in the event with a time of 53.24. The previous record had been a 53.26 set by Susan Rolph nearly 10 years ago in 1999.

Kara Denby of the U.S. qualified second with a time of 53.34, while Marleen Veldhuis of the Netherlands touched third in 53.59. Veldhuis will be looking to improve upon her silver finish in 2006 as the door is wide open since two-time defending champ Libby Trickett (nee Lenton) is not at the meet.

Finland's Hanna-Maria Seppala (53.73), Emily Silver of the U.S. (53.81), Sweden's Josefin Lillhage (53.94), Great Britain's Caitlin McClatchey (53.95) and Ranomi Kromowidjojo of the Netherlands (54.09) made up the rest of the top eight.

Other semifinalist include Australia's Shayne Reese (54.23), Sweden's Claire Hedenskog (54.24), Spain's Tatiana Rouba (54.34), Serbia's Miroslava Najdanovski (54.41), New Zealand's Hayley Palmer (54.54), South Africa's Melissa Corfe (54.89), Australia's Alice Mills (54.98) and Russia's Kira Volodina (55.18).

Event Results

Men's 400 IM
The hometown crowd had another top seed to cheer for as Great Britain's Thomas Hatfield won the preliminary round with a time of 4:09.22. He still has plenty of room to improve during finals to catch up to Robin Francis' national record of 4:05.20 set in 2003.

Robert Margalis, representing the United States, qualified second with a time of 4:09.29, while Greek national-record holder Ioannis Drymonakos took third in 4:09.49.

Austria's Dinko Jukic qualified fourth in a time of 4:10.24 to wipe out his country's national record of 4:11.43 previously held by Michael Windisch since back in 2000.

Ryan Lochte of the U.S., the defending champ with a time of 4:02.49 in 2006, finished fifth in 4:10.52. Lochte will be looking to become the first back-to-back winner in the event since Matthew Dunn of Australia won the 1995, 1997 and 1999 crowns.

Great Britain's Euan Dale and Russia's Alexander Tikhonov tied for sixth with matching 4:11.26s, while Poland's Lukasz Wojt snared the final transfer spot with a 4:11.85.

Event Results

Women's 50 fly
A pair of swimmers dipped under 26 seconds to snag the top two qualifying spots into the semifinal round this evening. Inge Dekker of the Netherlands led all preliminary swims with a 25.96, while Rachel Komisarz of the United States qualified second in 25.97.

Israel's Anna Gostomelsky crushed a national record with a third-place time of 26.05. The previous Israeli record had been a 26.38 set by Vered Borochovsky back in 2002.

Fran Halsall of Great Britain followed with her second national title of the morning with a fourth-place 26.10. That performance wiped out the 26.36 set by Rosalind Brett in 2005.

Australia's Felicity Galvez and Hinkelien Schreuder of the Netherlands tied for fifth with matching 26.38s, while Poland's Agata Korc placed seventh in 26.51. Jemma Lowe of Great Britain rounded out the top eight in 26.70.

The rest of the semifinal round will be made up of South Africa's Lize-Mari Retief (26.71), France's Diane Bui Duyet (26.72), China's Hong Wenwen (26.74), Colombia's Carolina Colorado (26.80), Margaret Hoelzer of the United States (26.82), Norway's Katharina Stiberg (26.88), Singapore's Li Tao (26.92) and Canada's Jennifer Carroll (26.92).

A new world champion is guaranteed in the event as Sweden's Therese Alshammar is not here to defend her 2006 title. All three medalists will also be new as Austria's Fabienne Nadarajah and Sweden's Anna-Karin Kammerling did not compete.

Event Results

Men's 50 free
The United States went 1-3 in preliminary qualifying of the men's splash-and-dash. Bryan Lundquist paced the preliminary field with a fantastic time of 21.44, while Ryan Lochte took third in 21.61.

The ageless Mark Foster, representing Great Britain, split the difference with a second-place 21.60, while defending champ Duje Draganja of Croatia placed fourth in 21.67.

Australia's Grant Brits and Algeria's Nabil Kebbab tied for fifth with matching 21.77s, while Slovenia's Jernej Godec placed seventh in 21.81 to tie Peter Mankoc's national record set in 2002. Spain's Eduard Lorente completed the top eight with a time of 21.88.

Kenya's David (21.89) and Jason (21.92) Dunford, Trinidad and Tobago's George Bovell (21.92), South Africa's Gerhard Zandberg (21.98), Argentina's Jose Meolans (22.00), Great Britain's Matthew Tutty (22.03), Algeria's Salim Iles (22.06) and Brazil's Fernando Silva (22.06) will also compete in the semifinal round.

Event Results

Women's 100 IM
In what world-record holder Natalie Coughlin calls one of her favorite events, the ever-popular 100 IM, several national record books took a hit.

While Hanna-Maria Seppala of Finland paced qualifying with a 1:00.49, just short of her national record time of 1:00.23 from last December, Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry clipped her standard of 1:00.78 from 2005 with a second-place 1:00.62.

Australia's Shayne Reese finished third in 1:00.73, under a second away from Brooke Hanson's national record 1:00.01 to win the world title in 2004. With Hanson's break from the sport, the event will have a new champion after Hanson's back-to-back in 2004 and 2006.

The Netherlands' Femke Heemskerk nipped teammate Hinkelien Schreuder's national record with a fourth-place 1:00.74. Schreuder previously owned the record with a 1:00.75 from last December. Schreuder, meanwhile, placed fifth in 1:01.43.

China's Li Jiaxing finished sixth in 1:01.45, while Belarus' Sviatlana Khakhlova (1:01.47 and Poland's Aleksandra Urbanczyk (1:01.51) rounded out the top eight.

Other semifinalists include Great Britain's Hannah Miley (1:01.54), Russia's Daria Belyakina (1:01.63), the United States' Mary DeScenza (1:01.64) and Julie Stupp (1:01.64), Australia's Kristy Morrison (1:01.79), Norway's Katharina Stiberg (1:01.81), South Africa's Mandy Loots (1:02.12), and China's Liu Jing (1:02.37).

Notably, Stiberg's time eclipsed her national record of 1:01.88 set at the Berlin World Cup stop in 2007.

Event Results

Men's 800 freestyle relay
The United States quartet of Robert Margalis, Larsen Jensen, Doug Van Wie and Ryan Lochte came close to the American record of 7:01.33 set back in 2000 when the current squad led qualifying with a time of 7:02.51. This evening, the foursome will put the world record of Australia (6:52.66) in its cross hairs.

Great Britain's team of Robert Renwick, David Carry, Andrew Hunter and Ross Davenport placed second in 7:03.15, just off the national record of 7:03.06 from 2000, while the Netherlands' squad of Stefan Dosting, Bas Van Velthoven, Olaf Wildeboer and Joost Reijns took third in 7:05.74.

The rest of the championship final will be made up of defending champ Italy (7:05.92), Australia (7:05.98), Russia (7:08.94), Poland (7:13.07) and Portugal (7:14.87).

Notably, Poland's team of Lukasz Gasior, Michal Rokicki, Lukasz Giminski and Przemyslaw Stanczyk crushed the national record of 7:25.56 set back in 2004.

Event Results

Women's 800 free – Slower Heats
The U.S. women put up the times to shoot for during finals in the timed final event. Katie Carroll stopped the clock in 8:22.94, while Maggie Bird finished second in the slower heats with an 8:28.56.

Other top finishers in the slower heats were China's Mi Mengjiao (8:35.81), Japan's Ryo Sawada (8:36.65) and El Salvador's Golda Marcus (8:44.97).

Event Results

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