Flash! Ryan Lochte Crushes 1:50 Barrier in 200 IM for World Record

by Archive Team

14 December 2012, 12:10pm

ISTANBUL, Turkey, December 14. OLYMPIC star Ryan Lochte supplied the first world record of the 2012 FINA World Short Course Swimming Championships this year by pushing through the 1:50 barrier in the men's 200 IM.

FINALS
Women's 100 free
Germany's Britta Steffen confirmed her superiority in the event this year with a victory in the event. Not only did she dominate the sprint freestyle events on the FINA World Cup circuit, she followed that up with a world title in 52.31 to better her top time this year of 52.38 from the Singapore stop of the World Cup. She also closed the distance on her German record of 51.76 from the techsuit era that puts her sixth overall.

It's been a long time coming for Steffen as well, as it has been 12 years since she won a short course world medal, having been part of Germany's silver-winning 400 free relay as a 16-year-old in 2000.

USA's Megan Romano led at the 50 with a 25.28 split, then held on as Steffen blasted by her on the backhalf but still managed to earn silver in 52.48 to vault to 21st in the all time rankings. China's Tang Yi rounded out the podium with a third-place 52.73 as it took a sub-53 to make the podium.

“Not bad at all,” Tang said. “After the Olympics I've been training a lot for this meet. I'm very satisfied with my swim. I didn't pay attention if it was perfect or not.”

Germany's Daniela Schreiber (53.05), Australia's Angie Bainbridge (53.09), Sweden's Michele Coleman (53.45), USA's Jessica Hardy (53.52) and Sweden's Louise Hansson (53.65) also vied for the world title. Steffen stopped the U.S., Sweden and Australia from becoming the first nation to win the race three times.

Women's 200 back
She was unable to match her scorching world-leading time of 2:01.97 from the European Short Course Championships, but still managed to dominate the finale en route to a world title as Ukraine's Daryna Zevina dropped a 2:02.24 on the field for the win.

“I'm very happy, because in Ukraine my parents are watching on TV. They saw I am a champion, so I'm proud,” Zevina said. “This is my first (world) championships medal. It's always possible (I would lose). Maybe another girl will swim faster than me in the second part of the race. I could see the others trying to close the gap, so I just tried to swim faster.”

Zevina is just the second woman from Ukraine to win a gold medal at this meet ever, joining Yana Klochkova's six golds.

USA's Bonnie Brandon earned silver with a time of 2:03.19 to be the second-fastest swimmer this year, and moved into the top 20 all time. Spain's Duane Da Rocha completed the medalwinners with a time of 2:04.15. Brandon's silver extended USA's medal streak in this event to seven meets. The last time the U.S. missed the podium in the women's 200 back was in 1999.

“I swam very poorly. My strategy was not there,” Brandon said. “Winning is everything, so it is a disappointment that it was such a bad swim. I screwed up at the start and stayed angry about that for the whole race. I am happy I won the silver medal with such a bad race.”

Japan's Marie Kamimura (2:04.22), Great Britain's Elizabeth Simmonds (2:04.55), New Zealand's Melissa Ingram (2:05.45), Czech's Simona Baumrtova (2:05.49) and Slovenia's Anja Carman (2:05.62) placed fourth through eighth off the podium.

Men's 200 breast
No one could stop Hungary's Daniel Gyurta as he upgraded his silver in the event from the 2010 events to gold with a scintillating meet-record of 2:01.35. That performance erased the 2:03.12 set by Naoya Tomita in 2010, but is still short of Gyurta's world record of 2:00.67 from the techsuit era.

“Based on the heats I decided to push from the beginning,” Gyurta said. “I did not want the race to be decided on the finish like during the (2012) Olympics. I wanted the race to be decided after the first 150m and I managed to do that, because the others could not take the pace. I love the city of Istanbul. I won the European title here (at the 2009 European Short Course Championships) so I was really happy to come back and win the last gold missing in my collection.”

Great Britain's Michael Jamieson (2:03.00) and Russia's Viatcheslav Sinkevich (2:03.08) made up the rest of the podium, while long course world-record holder Akihiro Yamaguchi of Japan just missed with a 2:03.23. Jamieson jumped to eight all time, breaking his national record of 2:03.77 from the European Short Course Championships. Sinkevich bettered his previous top time of 2:03.34 from the 2011 Salnikov Cup.

The top two finish of Gyurta and Jamieson replicated the men's 200 breast from the 2012 London Olympics with Gyurta winning with a bigger gap this time around.

Great Britain's Andrew Willis (2:03.29), USA's Clark Burckle (2:03.58), Germany's Marco Koch (2:03.68) and Japan's Yukihiro Takahashi (2:04.92) also competed in the finale.

Women's 50 fly
China went 1-2 in the sprint fly with Lu Ying (25.14) and Jiao Liuyang (25.23) each surging past Denmark's Jeanette Ottesen Gray (25.55) for the top two times in the finale. Lu pushed to eighth all time, clearing her Chinese record of 25.34 from the 2010 edition of short course worlds.

“I'm so happy. The level of us three medallists is similar,” Lu said. “I'm not better than the others, perhaps I was able to pay attention to some little details a bit more than them.”

Jiao, meanwhile, now holds 11th all time in the event and earned her second silver medal of this meet. Ottesen Gray already had a 25.21 to her credit from the European Short Course Championships earlier this year, and could not replicate that swim.

“I'm very satisfied with silver. I didn't think I could grab it. This is not my event,” Jiao said.

This is the first time that a single nation has swept gold and silver in the women's 50 fly at this meet.

Canada's Noemie Thomas (25.60), USA's Christine Magnuson (25.70), USA's Claire Donahue (25.88), Poland's Anna Dowgiert (25.90) and Estonia's Triin Aljand (26.01) comprised the rest of the championship field.

Men's 400 free
Germany's Paul Biedermann defended his title in the middle-distance event, and utilized a scorching final split of 25.19 to do it. China's Hao Yun had lead throughout the race, but split a 27.00 down the stretch to fall in a touchout to Biedermann, 3:39.15 to 3:39.48. Denmark's Mads Glaesner clinched bronze in 3:40.09.

Biedermann is the fourth man to win this race twice as Australia's Daniel Kowalski and Grant Hackett as well as Russia's Yuri Prilukov have also won more than one world title in the event. Biedermann is also the oldest to win the event at 26, older than Chad Carvin (25) was when he won in 2000.

“I'm disappointed,” Hao said. “I kept the lead during the whole race, then the last turn didn't go too well. I was keeping an eye on the others, but when I touched the wall I thought I was first. I didn't see [Biedermann] coming.”

New Zealand's Matt Stanley (3:41.01), USA's Michael Klueh (3:41.29), Faroe Islands' Pal Joensen (3:42.23), Tunisia's Ahmed Mathlouthi (3:42.48) and Denmark's Anders Nielsen (3:42.80) also swam in the finale.

Women's 400 free
Spain's Melanie Costa Schmid touched out USA's Chloe Sutton for gold, 4:01.18 to 4:01.20, as the two overhauled the leaders Lauren Boyle and Elena Sokolova down the stretch. Costa Schmid ripped through a 29.11 final split, while Sutton threw down a scorching 29.09 but waited just a bit too long to turn on the heat.

“I just closed my eyes and went for it. I can't believe I won,” Costa Schmid said. “I didn't think I would be this fast. I am a bit sick. I didn't think I could do better than in the 800m race (she was ninth in the 800m freestyle final on Thursday), so I just can't imagine I actually won.”

The win is Costa Schmid's first this meet (and first by a Spanish woman in this event ever), while Sutton collected just her second medal at a worlds event held in a pool. The former open water star now has a bronze and silver to her credit this week.

“I've come to a realization: I'm never satisfied with my swim,” Sutton said. “I always want to be faster. Yesterday I got a bronze, today a silver. It's an improvement. And I had fun.”

Boyle, New Zealand's 800 freestyle champion, claimed bronze with a 4:01.24 after leading throughout the rest of the race. Her 30.29 final split was not enough to hold onto the lead. Russia's Sokolova, who paced Boyle throughout, dropped to fourth with a 4:01.49 in an incredibly close finish.

With top-seed Katinka Hosszu scratching to focus on the 100 IM, and world-record holder Camille Muffat staying home as the French nearly no-showed the meet, the finale was a bit watered down this evening. However, the history books rarely remember the specifics and swimmers look to win based on whatever circumstances are presented at the time.

Great Britain's Jazmin Carlin (4:02.45), Australia's Angie Bainbridge (4:04.07), China's Zhou Lili (4:04.87) and Spain's Erika Villaecija Garcia (4:05.78) also competed in the fun-filled championship heat.

Men's 50 free
The top two swimmers from the European Short Course Championships put on a show this evening with the final result being flipped. Russia's Vlad Morozov crushed the field with a 20.55, just missing the meet record of 20.51 set by Cesar Cielo in 2010, but was enough to shoot him to fifth all time in the event. The swim broke his own Russian record of 20.79 from the European Short Course Champs.

The Euro winner, Florent Manaudou of France, tracked down silver with a 20.88 — off his previously world-leading time of 20.70 from Euros. The runner-up finish stopped him from a triple crown of victories at the Olympics, Euros and Worlds in a single year.

“I am a bit disappointed with the turn,” Manaudou said. “After the turn I saw Vladimir was in front of me and I thought the race was over. In the final meters, I didn't try as hard as I could have and I let him win by quite a margin.”

USA's Anthony Ervin, who has been a globetrotter this year by competing on all the FINA World Cup stops, grabbed bronze in 20.99 — not far off his American record of 20.85. Although, as explained ad nauseum during short course meter events, that's not the fastest legal time by an American as Nathan Adrian has been 20.71 in a techsuit.

USA Swimming decided that American records set in techsuits after Oct. 1, 2009 — when USA Swimming implemented the techsuit ban domestically – would not be ratified. This is the case even for times swum legally in international events where ban was not in effect yet.

“I had a bit of a rough week,” Ervin said. “My body was not feeling 100 percent OK. I felt much better when I was swimming the World Cups. This week's training was not going very well. But my mental spirit was OK, so winning this bronze was a win over my body.”

Trinidad and Tobago's George Bovell (21.03), Italy's Marco Orsi (21.23), USA's Josh Schneider (21.38), Ukraine's Andrii Govorov (2.44) and Italy's Federico Bocchia (21.58) rounded out the championship heat.

Women's 100 IM
FINA World Cup Queen Katinka Hosszu can now call herself a double world titlist, having won a pair of golds this week already. She charted a meet-record time of 58.49 in the sprint medley after scratching the 400 free earlier in the evening. That swim eclipsed the 58.65 set by Ariana Kukors in 2010, and cut half-a-second from Hosszu's personal best of 58.83 from the European Short Course Championships. She now stands fifth all time in the event, and is the first person to break five figures in race winnings this week with $12,000 thus far. That's pocket change compared to the more than $150,000 she won on the World Cup circuit.

Hosszu became the first Hungarian of either gender to win three medals as a short course world championship meet, although Laszlo Cseh would shortly join her in the 200 IM.

Lithuania's Rute Meilutyte showed she's more than just a breaststroker, picking up silver in 58.79 to move to 10th all time in the event's history. China's Zhao Jing completed the podium with a bronze-winning 58.80. That's China's first medal in the 100 IM ever.

Jamaica's Alia Atkinson (58.85), Belarus' Aliaksandra Herasimenia (58.94), Great Britain's Sophie Allen (59.03), Hungary's Zsuzsanna Jakabos (59.41) and Germany's Theresa Michalak (59.68) finished fourth through eighth.

Men's 200 IM
Olympic superstar Ryan Lochte scorched the finale with the first world record of the meet with a blistering time of 1:49.63 in the 200 IM. That performance downed his previous record of 1:50.08 set in Dubai in 2010. That victory gave Lochte his 10th short course world title in his career, and confirmed his spot as one of the best short course swimmers of all time.

Splits:
Lochte 2010:
24.07, 51.42 (27.35), 1:23.49 (32.07), 1:50.08 (26.59)

Lochte 2012:
23.71, 50.74 (27.03), 1:22.48 (31.74), 1:49.63 (27.15)

Taking a look at the splits, Lochte was faster on every stroke other than the freestyle, and was a full second under his world record pace heading into the freestyle leg.

“Any time you break the world record it's amazing,” Lochte said. “I swam my best time of course, I wanted to do something that no one else did here. I didn't know I was going that fast anyway.”

After his awards ceremony, Lochte gave his medal away as has become customary.

“One of the main reasons for racing is because of my fans, so I always want to give something back,” Lochte said. “If I took the medal it would end up in a sock drawer, if I give it to a fan they're going to treasure it. It will make their day or even their life. To see that smile on that little face means everything to me. I give them all away.”

Along with a pair of relay golds and a triumph in the 200 free, Lochte now has four golds this week. He also cashed a $15,000 check with that world record, and pushed his winnings to $29,500 for the week. Notably, he's the first man to win this event four times, beating the three victories by Australia's Matt Dunn. Lochte is also just the second man in short course worlds history to win one discipline in four straight meets. Great Britain's James Hickman captured the 200 fly five straight times from 1997 to 2004.

Japan's Daiya Seto finished more than three seconds back with a 1:52.80 that just missed his Japanese record of 1:52.48 from the Tokyo stop of the World Cup, while Hungary's Laszlo Cseh claimed bronze in 1:52.89. Seto, as 18 years and 240 days, is the youngest medalist ever in the 200 IM at this meet.

Australia's Kenneth To (1:53.42), USA's Conor Dwyer (1:53.99), Japan's Kosuke Hagino (1:54.08), Portugal's Diogo Carvalho (1:55.63) and Sweden's Simon Sjodin (1:56.31) placed fourth through eighth.

Women's 400 medley relay
Denmark jumped out to an early lead and never looked back as Mie Nielsen (56.73), Rikke Moeller Pedersen (1:03.48), Jeanette Ottesen Gray (56.49) and Pernille Blume (53.17) proved to be the class of the field with a 3:49.87 for the win, which is the fifth best time ever. That is the first world title for Denmark in relay competition for either gender.

Australia's Rachel Goh (58.16), Sarah Katsoulis (1:03.89), Marieke Guehrer (56.36) and Angie Bainbridge (52.47) surged past Team USA for silver with a time of 3:50.88, while Olivia Smoliga (57.25), Jessica Hardy (1:04.61), Claire Donahue (57.67) and Megan Romano (51.90) held on to the final podium spot with a scorching anchor leg from Romano.

Australia has now finished in the top four of all 11 iterations of this race, while USA won its record 10th medal in 11 meets, with Australia now having nine in this event.

Great Britain (3:51.85), China (3:52.53), Japan (3:54.73), Italy (3:56.12) and Germany (3:56.85) completed the championship field.

PRIZE MONEY BREAKDOWN
Ryan Lochte continues to pile up cash, and with his $15,000 bonus check for his world record along with four gold medals, he's now up to $29,500 in winnings. Meanwhile, FINA World Cup Queen Katinka Hosszu, who captured more than $150,000 in winnings on the circuit, leads the women with $12,000 in earnings.

First place wins $5,000, while second place earns $3,000 and third place gets $2,000 for $10,000 per finale. In three days, $245,000 has been awarded.

Each national federation decides the relay split, but for simplicity sake Swimming World is listing the money earned as those in finals. Meanwhile, $15,000 is awarded to world-record breakers. Due to NCAA eligibility issues, we are only reporting what has been earned, and not what has been accepted.

SEMIFINALS
Men's 50 back
Defending champion Stanislav Donets and Australia's Robert Hurley deadheated at the top of the second semifinal to lead the way into the finale with matching 23.14s. Both times are just off Donets' best time this year of 23.12 from the Tokyo stop of the World Cup. Brazil's Guilherme Guido qualified third in 23.27.

China's Sun Xiaolei (23.36) and Brazil's Daniel Orzechoswki (23.37) earned fourth and fifth, while USA's Matt Grevers made up for a slip on the start to still make the finale with a sixth-ranked 23.43. Hometown favorite Iskender Baslakov of Turkey earned seventh in 23.50, while Australia's Ashley Delaney snared the final transfer spot with a 23.60.

Men's 50 fly
Brazil's Nicholas Santos rocked his preliminary meet record of 22.40 with a sterling time of 22.23 in the semis. That moved him much closer to his fourth-ranked lifetime best of 22.16 from the Singapore stop of the 2009 World Cup during the techsuit era.

USA's Tom Shields cracked Ian Crocker's American record in the sprint fly with a strong 22.58. That time pushed him to 17th all time, and beat Crocker's 22.71 set in Indianapolis in 2004. It is also Shields' first career American record. France's Fred Bousquet picked up the third-seed into the finale with a 22.61.

South Africa's Chad Le Clos (22.70), Slovenia's Peter Mankoc (22.82), Ukraine's Andrii Govorov (22.93), The Netherlands' Joeri Verlinden (22.98) and China's Wu Peng (23.05) also rounded up lanes in the finale. Govorov is looking to keep his nation's podium streak alive at four meets in a row, as Ukraine has won silver in the past three meets in this event.

Women's 100 breast
Denmark's Rikke Moeller Pedersen put her foot down in the first semifinal with a sterling time of 1:04.11, just off the meet record of 1:03.98 set by Rebecca Soni back in 2010, as Pedersen clipped her lifetime best of 1:04.12. She is now tied with Satomi Suzuki for fifth all time in the event, and is gunning for a sub 1:04 in the finale.

Olympic gold medalist Ruta Meilutyte, who has dominated nearly every event she's entered this week, qualified second in 1:04.81, off her preliminary pace of 1:04.69, while Jamaica's Alia Atkinson touched third in 1:04.99 as it took a sub 1:05 to make the top three.

Australia's Sarah Katsoulis (1:05.12), USA's Jessica Hardy (1:05.42), Sweden's Jennie Johansson (1:05.62), Czech's Petra Chocova (1:05.68) and Sweden's Rebecca Ejdervik (1:06.18) also made their way into the finale.

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