World Cup, Berlin: Day One Prelims

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BERLIN, Germany, October 29. THE first day of short course meter prelims action is complete at the World Cup stop in Berlin. Germany's Britta Steffen and Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry returned to competition after both took breaks from the sport.

Men's 100 free
The finale should feature some swift swimming if the morning is a good indicator. Germany's Markus Deibler led the way with a 47.29 to move to sixth in the world rankings. Russia's Sergey Fesikov (47.34), France's Fabien Gilot (47.40) and Germany's Steffen Deibler (47.46) qualified second through fourth. Fesikov moved to seventh, while Gilot grabbed ninth in the rankings.

South Africa's Lyndon Ferns (47.69), Australia's Matthew Abood (47.87), Sweden's Stefan Nystrand (47.97) and USA's William Copeland (48.33) will also swim in the championship field.

Women's 200 free
The Netherlands' Femke Heemskerk crushed prelims with a sterling time of 1:54.13. That swim jumped her ahead of Zhu Qianwei (1:54.32) for the top-ranked effort in the world. Only three other swimmers have cleared 1:55 this year: Haruka Ueda (1:54.43), Liu Jing (1:54.79) and Bronte Barratt (1:54.83).

USA's Dana Vollmer snatched second in 1:55.44 to move to eighth in the rankings, while Australia's Angie Bainbridge qualified third in 1:55.88 to push to the top 15.

Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom (1:56.44), Australia's Merindah Dingjan (1:56.51), Germany's Silke Lippok (1:56.53), Hungary's Agnes Mutina (1:56.61) and Germany's Lisa Vitting (1:57.16) also made the finale.

Men's 50 breast
South Africa's Roland Schoeman raced to the top seed with a time of 26.96, while Brazil's Felipe Lima touched second in 27.12. Russia's Aleksandr Triznov (27.21) and Stanislav Lakhtyukhov (27.27) finished third and fourth.

Norway's Alexander Dale Oen (27.74), China's Xue Jialia (27.80), Germany's Johannes Neumann (27.85) and Germany's Erik Steinhagen (27.90) picked up the rest of the transfer spots.

Women's 100 breast
Australia's Sally Foster (1:06.54) and Russia's Yuliya Efimova (1:06.86) clocked the two sub-1:07s of prelims, while Sweden's Joline Hostman (1:07.14) and Jennie Johansson (1:07.28) claimed third and fourth.

Japan's Mio Motegi (1:07.58), Germany's Caroline Ruhnau (1:07.81), Switzerland's Stephanie Spahn (1:08.45) and Japan's Keiko Fukudome (1:08.99) earned the rest of the top eight spots.

Women's 100 fly
USA's Dana Vollmer (57.30) and Sweden's Therese Alshammar (57.66) cruised to the top two seeds in prelims. USA's Jasmine Tosky (59.01), South Africa's Mandy Loots (59.12) and USA's Elaine Breeden (59.14) snared third through fifth.

Sweden's Martina Granstrom (59.16), Germany's Daniela Schreiber (59.57) and Germany's Iris Rosenberger (59.69) also made the championship heat.

Men's 100 back
Russia's Arkady Vyatchanin paced prelims with a time of 52.43, while USA's David Russell took second in 52.53. Russia's Artem Dubovskoy (52.63) and Germany's Stefan Herbst (52.69) finished third and fourth.

South Africa's George Du Rand (53.16), France's Camille Lacourt (53.37), USA's Peter Marshall (53.46) and USA's Randall Bal (53.52) picked up the rest of the lanes in the finale.

Women's 50 back
Australia's Belinda Hocking topped the sprint back prelims with a 27.37, while Ukraine's Daryna Zevina placed second in 27.39. The Netherlands' Hinkelien Schreuder (27.49) and Norway's Ingvild Snildal (27.70) rounded out the top four.

Germany's Deborah Gonschorek (27.82), Japan's Marie Kamimura (28.07), Brazil's Fabiola Molina (28.14) and Russia's Anastasia Zueva (28.17) touched fifth through eighth.

Men's 200 fly
Three swimmers cleared 1:57 to top qualifying: Poland's Pawel Korzeniowski (1:56.70), Russia's Nikolay Skvortsov (1:56.81) and Sweden's Simon Sjodin (1:56.93).

Russia's Maksim Ganikhin (1:57.04), Brazil's Frederico Castro (1:57.05), Hungary's David Verraszto (1:57.06), Colombia's Omar Pinzon (1:57.49) and Germany's Yannick Lebherz (1:57.80) took fourth through eighth.

Women's 200 IM
A star-studded finale is ahead with some big names coming out of prelims. USA's Julia Smit clocked the strongest time with a 2:09.18, while teammate Jasmine Tosky took second in 2:11.45. Hungary's Evelyn Verraszto claimed third in 2:11.72, while Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry made her return to competitive swimming with a fourth-place 2:11.91.

The Netherlands' Lieke Veronden (2:13.09), Germany's Theresa Michalak (2:14.19), South Africa's Mandy Loots (2:14.44) and Germany's Katharina Schiller (2:14.89) all broke 2:15 to make the championship field.

Men's 400 free
The Netherlands' Job Kienhuis led the way with a 3:46.73 as four swimmers all posted 3:46s. Faroes' Pal Joensen took second in qualifying in 3:46.76, while Russia's Alexander Shimin (3:46.79) and Germany's Paul Biedermann (3:46.85) made up the rest of the top four.

Germany's Ben Starke (3:47.38), Germany's Joel Ax (3:49.35), Germany's Jan Wolfgarten (3:49.46) and Japan's Junpei Higashi (3:50.02) also made the finale.

Women's 50 free
Germany's Dorothea Brandt took the top spot with a 24.27, while Britta Steffen made her return after a brief break from the sport with a 24.30 in front of a partisan crowd. The Netherland's Hinkelien Schreuder took third in 24.42, while Sweden's Therese Alshammar placed fourth in 24.46.

Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom (24.79), Germany's Daniela Schreiber (24.88), Australia's Angie Bainbridge (25.07) and Germany's Lisa Vitting (25.09) comprised the rest of the championship field.

Men's 200 breast
Russia's Grigory Falko nabbed the top seed with a 2:08.49, while Australia's Craig Calder also cleared 2:09 with a second-seeded 2:08.96. Germany's Marco Koch (2:09.54) and Luxembourg's Laurent Carnol (2:09.98) will bracket the top two in the finale.

Lithuania's Igor Kozlovskij (2:13.03) and Giedrius Titenis (2:13.43) finished fifth and sixth, while Canada's Andrew Poznikoff (2:13.45) and Barbados' Bradley Ally (2:13.51) also made the championship heat.

Men's 100 IM
Germany's Markus Deibler jumped to third in the world in the sprint medley with a 52.85. Only Thiago Pereira (52.35) and Kenneth To (52.39) have been faster this year. South Africa's Darian Townsend qualified second in 53.52, while World Cup points leader Pereira tied with Russia's Vladislav Seryy for third with matching 54.21s.

Japan's Kosuke Hagino (54.90), Lithuania's Vytautas Janusaitis (55.05), Colombia's Omar Pinzon (55.07) and Germany's Philip Heintz (55.43) also moved into the finale.

Women's 200 back
Australia's Belinda Hocking raced to lane four with a 2:04.81, while Ukraine's Daryna Zevina placed second in 2:05.90. Japan's Marie Kamimura (2:07.00), Germany's Jenny Mensing (2:07.22) and Russia's Mariya Gromova (2:07.44) touched third through fifth, while Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry continued on the comeback trail with a sixth-seeded 2:08.07.

USA's Julia Smit (2:08.13) and Hungary's Evelyn Verraszto (2:08.65) earned the final two transfer spots into finals.

Men's 50 fly
South Africa's Roland Schoeman led the way in the sprint fly with a 23.20. Germany's Steffen Deibler (23.38) and Johannes Dietrich (23.55) finished second and third.

Russia's Evgeny Korotyshkin (23.64), Ukraine's Andrii Govorov (23.68), Poland's Konrad Czerniak (23.85), Russia's Vladislav Seryy (24.07) and USA's William Copeland (24.10) will also vie for the event title.

Day One Prelims Results

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