Daniel Orzechowski Leads 50 Back Qualifying

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BARCELONA, Spain, August 3. IF he can make this morning’s seeding hold up, Daniel Orzechowski could become the first Brazilian to win the men’s 50-meter backstroke world title at the FINA World Championships.

This morning, Orzechowski lead all swimmers with a 24.67 in the sprint backstroke event, and should he even win a medal that would be history for the Brazilians. His time this morning is the 11th fastest ever in the event, and is just off his Brazilian record of 24.44 from the 2012 Maria Lenk Trophy meet in Rio de Janeiro.

Spain’s Aschwin Wildeboer Faber is the big favorite for the local fans as he clocked a second-seeded time of 24.72. His best effort is a Spanish record 24.48 from the 2009 FINA World Championships. Meanwhile, French relay hero Jeremy Stravius blazed his way to a 24.79 for third.

South Africa’s Gerhard Zandberg (24.85), USA’s David Plummer (24.91), The Netherlands’ Bastiaan Lijesen (24.94) and France’s Camille Lacourt (24.97) comprised the rest of the sub-25 second performers this morning in what should be a swift semifinal round.

Israel’s Guy Barnea and China’s Sun Xiaolei tied for eighth overall with matching 25.01s, while USA’s Matt Grevers qualified 10th in 25.08. Grevers has some work to do if he wants to become the first man ever to win both the 50 and 100-meter backstrokes in a single FINA World Championship meet.

Norway’s Lavrans Solli (25.15), Israel’s Jonatan Josef Kopelev (25.17), Australia’s Ashley Delaney (25.36), Belarus’ Pavel Sankovich (25.40), Argentina’s Federico Grabrich (25.44) and Spain’s Juan Miguel Rando Galvez (25.52) snared the other transfer spots into the semifinal rounds.

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