Emma McKeon, Sprinters Lead Aussies to Big Day One at BHP Aquatic Super Series

PERTH – Emma McKeon led a strong Aussie attack with a double on day one of the BHP Aquatic Super Series as the hosts put on a show against Team USA, Japan and China. Aussie sprinters also dominated with Cate Campbell and James Magnussen powering their way to wins.

Medal Table
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Australia has a big lead in the point tally as well heading into day two with 318 points. Team USA holds second with 284 points, while China (270) and Japan (268) are third and fourth.

McKeon kicked off the night with a 1:56.32 to win the women’s 200-meter freestyle event. That swim pushed her to second in the early world rankings behind only Katie Ledecky’s 1:56.16 from the Austin stop of the Arena Pro Swim Series.

China’s Shen Duo hit the wall second in 1:57.52 with Australia’s Bronte Barratt placing third in 1:57.97. Melanie Margalis, a late add to the squad after Allison Schmitt dropped out, took fourth in 1:58.07.

Australia followed with a big 1-2 finish in the men’s 100-meter freestyle finale. James Magnussen took the top time in the world rankings so far with a 48.43, besting his 48.82 from the Victoria State Titles in Melbourne.

Teammate Cameron McEvoy clinched second in 48.76 as the Aussies are the only country to boast a 48-point swimmer so far this year.

Jimmy Feigen of the US took third in 49.17 with China’s Yu Hexin finishing fourth in 49.46.

In an incredibly entertaining women’s 100-meter breaststroke finale, Japan’s Kanako Watanabe clipped USA’s Micah Lawrence, 1:07.46 to 1:07.48.

Three other swimmers finished in the 1:07s with USA’s Katie Meili (1:07.54), Australia’s Taylor McKeown (1:07.80) and Australia’s Lorna Tonks (1:07.91) all taking part in the close finish.

USA’s Breeja Larson remained the top swimmer in the world so far this year with her 1:07.33 from the Austin stop of the Arena Pro Swim Series.

Japan’s Ryosuke Irie jumped to the top of the world rankings in the men’s 100-meter back with a sizzling 53.15. That cleared Matt Grevers’ 53.27 from the Austin stop of the Arena Pro Swim Series., and came close to Australia’s All-Comers record of 52.98 held by Aaron Peirsol since 2007.

China’s Xu Jiayu snared second tonight in 53.96, while Australia’s Mitch Larkin picked up third in 54.21. USA’s Ryan Lochte missed the podium with a fourth-place time of 54.88.

McKeon picked up the double as she led Australia to a 1-2 finish in the women’s 100-meter fly. She clocked a 58.24 to move to the top of the world ahead of Madeline Groves’ 58.47 from the Victoria State Titles.

Brittany Elmslie hit the wall second in 58.49 for third in the rankings, while China’s Lu Ying wound up third. Felicia Lee provided USA’s top finish with a fifth-place 59.40.

Japan’s Daiya Seto then dominated the men’s 200-meter fly by more than a second with a world-leading 1:55.61. He’s the second swimmer in the 1:55 range this year with Andrew Seliskar posting a 1:55.92 at the Austin stop of the Arena Pro Swim Series.

Australia’s Grant Irvine placed second in 1:56.84 with Japan’s Yuya Yajima earning third in 1:57.38. USA’s Tyler Clary wound up fourth in 1:58.77.

Team USA finally put a checkmark in the win column in the women’s 200-meter IM as Maya DiRado edged China’s Ye Shiwen, 2:11.48 to 2:11.50.

That moved the two swimmers to third and fourth in the world this year behind Katinka Hosszu (2:10.36) and Siobhan-Marie O’Connor (2:10.84) from the Flanders Speedo Cup.

Australia’s Emily Seebohm rounded out the top three tonight in the event with a 2:12.06.

The hosts continued to roll with another 1-2 as Mack Horton cleared teammate David McKeon, 3:46.48 to 3:46.74, for the men’s 400-meter free crown.

Those are second and third in the world now behind James Guy’s 3:45.77 at the Flanders Speedo Cup.

Michael McBroom claimed third overall for Team USA with a 3:51.09.

The Campbell Sisters jumped into the fray in the women’s 50-meter free with Cate turning in a near-Australian record time of 24.03 for the victory. That’s just off her 23.96 from last August, and is the 12th fastest time all time.

Bronte took second overall in 24.24, still a remarkably fast time in her own right, while USA’s Madison Kennedy touched out teammate Margo Geer, 25.03 to 25.09, for third.

Japan’s Yasuhiro Koseki became the first 2:10 swimmer in the men’s 200-meter breaststroke this year with a 2:10.45. He cleared Daniel Gyurta’s 2:11.62 from the Flanders Speedo Cup in the process.

USA’s Cody Miller also bypassed Gyurta to move to second in the world with a 2:11.35, while Japan’s Ippei Watanabe took third overall in 2:11.86.

China’s Fu Yuanhui took over the top of the world rankings with a 2:08.84 to win the women’s 200-meter back. That’s well ahead of Dominique Bouchard’s 2:10.02 from the Austin stop of the Arena Pro Swim Series.

Australia’s Seebohm finished second in 2:09.97 after a third-place effort in the 200 IM. USA’s DiRado wound up third tonight in 2:10.40 after winning the 200 IM.

In yet another close finish, Australia’s Jessica Ashwood powered by USA’s Becca Mann down the stretch to win the women’s 800-meter free, 8:24.04 to 8:24.13.

  1 ASHWOOD, JESSIC  21 AUSTRALIA         8:19.76    8:24.04   940  
    r:+0.73  28.85      1:00.30 (31.45)
        1:32.31 (32.01)     2:04.32 (32.01)
        2:36.21 (31.89)     3:08.23 (32.02)
        3:40.37 (32.14)     4:12.37 (32.00)
        4:43.96 (31.59)     5:15.72 (31.76)
        5:47.73 (32.01)     6:19.73 (32.00)
        6:51.72 (31.99)     7:23.36 (31.64)
        7:54.88 (31.52)     8:24.04 (29.16)
  2 MANN, BECCA      17 UNITED STATES     8:22.45    8:24.13   940  
    r:+0.78  29.47      1:00.89 (31.42)
        1:32.96 (32.07)     2:05.02 (32.06)
        2:36.93 (31.91)     3:08.88 (31.95)
        3:40.91 (32.03)     4:12.86 (31.95)
        4:44.60 (31.74)     5:16.20 (31.60)
        5:48.02 (31.82)     6:19.74 (31.72)
        6:51.45 (31.71)     7:23.09 (31.64)
        7:54.39 (31.30)     8:24.13 (29.74)

If not for the existence of Katie Ledecky, those would be the top two times in the world. But, Ledecky nearly cracked her world record earlier this month with an astonishing 8:11.21 at the Austin stop of the Arena Pro Swim Series.

China’s Zhang Yuhan closed out the top three in the finale with an 8:31.10.

Seto jumped to the top of the world in the men’s 400-meter IM as he clocked a 4:13.36 for his second win of the night. That’s well ahead of Josh Prenot’s previously world-leading 4:16.08 from Austin.

Seto’s teammate Takehiro Fujimori took second in 4:16.05, while China’s Wang Shun wound up third in 4:16.07.

Australia’s foursome of Brittany Elmslie, Emma McKeon, Cate Campbell and Bronte Campbell ran roughshod over the rest of the heat in the women’s 200-meter free relay with a 1:37.68.

Team USA’s Madison Kennedy, Margo Geer, Felicia Lee and Katie Meili took second in 1:40.02.

 Event 14  Women 4x50 LC Metre Freestyle Relay
====================================================================
    Team                             Seed     Finals  FINA       
====================================================================
  1 AUSTRALIA  'A'                     NT    1:37.68   972  
     1) ELMSLIE, BRITTANY 20          2) r:0.47 MCKEON, EMMA 20       
     3) r:0.26 CAMPBELL, CATE 22      4) r:0.40 CAMPBELL, BRONTE 20   
    r:+0.65  24.80        49.58 (24.78)
        1:13.34 (23.76)     1:37.68 (24.34)
  2 UNITED STATES  'A'            1:40.87    1:40.02   905  
     1) KENNEDY, MADISON 27           2) r:0.30 GEER, MARGO 22        
     3) r:0.37 LEE, FELICIA 22        4) r:0.20 MEILI, KATIE 23       
    r:+0.66  25.38        50.21 (24.83)
        1:15.09 (24.88)     1:40.02 (24.93)
  3 CHINA  'A'                         NT    1:42.33   845  
     1) QIU, YUHAN 16                 2) r:0.10 YE, SHIWEN 18         
     3) r:0.25 SUN, MEICHEN 16        4) r:0.28 SHEN, DUO 17          
    r:+0.62  25.66        51.21 (25.55)
        1:16.50 (25.29)     1:42.33 (25.83)
  4 JAPAN  'A'                    1:41.61    1:43.00   829  
     1) WATANABE, KANAKO 18           2) r:0.02 YAMAGUCHI, MISAKI 25  
     3) r:0.07 AOKI, TOMOMI 20        4) r:0.35 AKASE, SAYAKA 20      
    r:+0.70  26.08        51.10 (25.02)
        1:16.62 (25.52)     1:43.00 (26.38)
 -- AUSTRALIA  'B'                     NT   X1:41.68        
     1) SEEBOHM, EMILY 22             2) r:0.49 WILSON, MADI 20       
     3) r:0.40 GROVES, MADELINE 19    4) r:0.23 BARRATT, BRONTE 25    
    r:+0.63  25.05        50.46 (25.41)
        1:16.18 (25.72)     1:41.68 (25.50)

In a close finish to end night one, USA’s Ryan Lochte, Cody Miller, Tim Phillips and Josh Schneider collected the men’s 200-meter medley relay crown in 1:38.69.

Australia’s Mitch Larkin, Jake Packard, Tommaso D’Orsogna and Cameron McEvoy finished second in 1:38.84.

 Event 15  Men 4x50 LC Metre Medley Relay
====================================================================
    Team                             Seed     Finals  FINA       
====================================================================
  1 UNITED STATES  'A'            1:39.87    1:38.69   848  
     1) LOCHTE, RYAN 30               2) r:0.29 MILLER, CODY 22       
     3) r:0.36 PHILLIPS, TIM 24       4) r:0.25 SCHNEIDER, JOSH 26    
    r:+0.63  25.90        53.01 (27.11)
        1:17.00 (23.99)     1:38.69 (21.69)
  2 AUSTRALIA  'A'                     NT    1:38.84   844  
     1) LARKIN, MITCH 21              2) r:0.24 PACKARD, JAKE 20      
     3) r:0.31 D'ORSOGNA, TOMMASO 24  4) r:0.05 MCEVOY, CAMERON 20    
    r:+0.59  25.64        53.18 (27.54)
        1:17.09 (23.91)     1:38.84 (21.75)
  3 JAPAN  'A'                    1:39.52    1:39.23   834  
     1) IRIE, RYOSUKE 25              2) r:0.18 KOSEKI, YASUHIRO 22   
     3) r:0.13 IKEBATA, HIROFUMI 22   4) r:0.11 KAWACHI, YUKI 28      
    r:+0.56  25.21        53.00 (27.79)
        1:17.09 (24.09)     1:39.23 (22.14)
  4 CHINA  'A'                         NT    1:40.29   808  
     1) XU, JIAYU 19                  2) MAO, FEILIAN 21              
     3) r:0.21 SHI, YANG 19           4) r:0.09 YU, HEXIN 19          
    r:+0.58  25.44        54.29 (28.85)
        1:18.20 (23.91)     1:40.29 (22.09)
 -- AUSTRALIA  'B'                     NT   X1:39.55        
     1) MAHONEY, TRAVIS 24            2) r:0.40 SYKES, BUSTER 21      
     3) r:0.23 HADLER, JAYDEN 21      4) r:0.12 MAGNUSSEN, JAMES 23   
    r:+0.71  26.25        54.61 (28.36)
        1:18.13 (23.52)     1:39.55 (21.42)

2015 BHP Aquatic Super Series, Day One – Results

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