FINA World Championships, Swimming: Paul Biedermann, Michael Phelps Qualify 1-2 in Men’s 200 Free

Click here for the latest Swimming World coverage of the FINA World Championships, including full results and recaps

UniversalSports.com Daily Coverage, including webcasts

ROME, Italy, July 27. AFTER Germany's Paul Biedermann lowered the men's 400 free world record last night, the swimming community looked towards a potential epic matchup between the newly-minted world record holder and superstar Michael Phelps in the 200 free.

Biedermann and Phelps did their part in prelims with a 1-2 finish. Biedermann qualified first in 1:45.30, while Phelps took the second seed into semis with a 1:45.60. With both likely moving through semis this evening, the two could put on an historic battle in the finale.

Russia's Danila Izatov qualified third in 1:45.86, while South Africa's Jean Basson touched fourth in 1:45.88. The Netherlands' Sebastiaan Verschuren (1:46.25), Japan's Sho Uchida (1:46.30), Russia's Nikita Lobintsev (1:46.32) and Korea's Tae Hwan Park (1:46.53) were among the top eight finishers.

Izatov's time eclipsed his national record of 1:46.17 set in April, while Uchida broke Yoshihiro Okumora's Japanese mark of 1:46.44 from the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Australia's Kenrick Monk (1:46.56), Australia's Patrick Murphy (1:46.61), Cayman's Shaune Fraser (1:46.89), Great Britain's Andrew Hunter (1:46.96), Italy's Emiliano Brembilla (1:46.99), Switzerland's Dominik Meichtry (1:47.10), United States' David Walters (1:47.15) and Great Britain's Ross Davenport (1:47.21) snagged the rest of the semifinal transfer spots.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x