Mireia Belmonte Garcia Sets Up Likely Fourth Gold With Strong Day Three Prelims at Worlds

DOHA – Spain’s Mireia Belmonte Garcia is well on her way to a fourth gold medal with the top seed in the 400 free at the FINA World Short Course Championships.

Women’s 200 medley relay

Denmark Gold Medal 4x100 Medley Women NIELSEN Mie Oe., PEDERSEN Rikke Moeller, OTTESEN Jeanette, BLUME Pernille Swimming 32nd LEN European Championships Berlin, Germany 2014 Aug.13 th - Aug. 24 th Day12 - Aug. 24 Photo Andrea Staccioli/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

Photo Courtesy: Andrea Staccioli Insidefoto

The world record in the women’s 200 medley relay was put on notice this morning with Denmark and USA both putting up 1:46s.

Denmark’s Mie Nielsen (26.60), Rikke Moller Pedersen (30.06), Jeanette Ottesen (25.79) and Pernille Blume (24.31) topped qualifying in 1:46.76, less than a second off Denmark’s record of 1:45.92.

Team USA’s Felicia Lee (26.83), Emma Reaney (30.61), Claire Donahue (25.34) and Amanda Weir (24.04) smashed the American record with a second-seeded time of 1:46.82.

That swim took down the oldest women’s short course record on the American books of Beth Botsford, Amanda Beard, Amy Bouta and Denali Knapp for the Arizona Wildcats at the 2000 NCAA Championships swum in short course meters. That squad put up a 1:49.71 for the record in Indianapolis.

Brazil’s Etiene Meideros (26.80), Ana Carvalho (30.62), Daiene Marcal Dias (25.62) and Alessandra Marchioro (24.16) placed third in 1:47.20.

China (1:47.40), Russia (1:47.40), France (1:47.86), Italy (1:48.02) and Japan (1:48.40) also made the finale. That’s a big eighth-place finish for Japan as the nation has had multiple ninth-place spots in relays throughout this week.

Men’s 50 back

Photo Courtesy: Elisa Haberer/Speedo

Florent Manaudou, already the world leader with the only 22-second time of the year of 22.98 at French Championships, led the way in prelims with a 23.24.

Russia’s Stanislav Donets (23.29) and USA’s Matt Grevers (23.32) weren’t far behind with second and third place finishes in qualifying. Donest moved to sixth in the world, while Grevers just missed his seventh-ranked season best of 23.28.

USA’s Eugene Godsoe (23.37), Great Britain’s Chris Walker-Hebborn (23.44), rance’s Ben Stasiulis (23.48), Norway’s Lavrans Solli (23.50) and Brazil’s Guilherme Guido (23.55) made up the top eight.

Italy’s Niccolo Bonacchi (23.60), Australia’s Mitch Larkin (23.69), Germany’s Christian Diener (23.70), Venezuela’s Albert Subirats (23.71), Japan’s Ryosuke Irie (23.75), China’s Sun Xiaolei (23.77), Israel’s Guy Barnea (23.87) and Brazil’s Henrique Martins (23.90) will also compete in the semifinal rounds.

Women’s 200 back

Photo Courtesy: FINA/Qatar Swimming/Alexandra Panagiotidou

Katinka Hosszu is definitely feeling it in the backstroke this week. A day after setting the world record in the 100 back, Hosszu paced prelims with a 2:02.69.

Hosszu already leads the world this year with a 2:00.85, but will be vying for another world record in finals as she chases Missy Franklin’s global mark of 2:00.03 from 2011.

Ukraine’s Daryna Zevina finished second overall in 2:03.18 this morning, just off her fourth-ranked season best of 2:02.87 from the Moscow stop of the FINA World Cup.

Australia’s Madi Wilson took third in 2:03.39. She’s been much faster with a second-ranked 2:01.75 at the Australian Championships, and could rival Hosszu in the finale.

Japan’s Sayaka Akase (2:03.40), Canada’s Hilary Caldwell (2:03.44), Australia’s Emily Seebohm (2:03.49), USA’s Elizabeth Beisel (2:03.66) and Czech Republic’s Simona Baumrtova (2:03.95) all broke 2:04 to make finals as well.

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Men’s 50 fly

Photo Courtesy: Maria Dobysheva

South Africa’s Chad le Clos dropped a 22.47 in the sprint fly in prelims to lead all qualifiers. He definitely has more in the tank with a 21.98 world-leading effort at the Singapore stop of the FINA World Cup in his back pocket this year.

Venezuela’s Albert Subirats claimed second in 22.60 to move to eighth in the world, while Brazil’s Nicholas Santos touched third in 22.78.

USA’s Tom Shields and Russia’s Aleksandr Popkov tied for fourth with matching 22.80s, while Ukraine’s Andrii Govorov took sixth in 22.81.

Belarus’ Yauhen Tsurkin and France’s Mehdy Metella tied for seventh with 22.85s.

Great Britain’s Adam Barrett (22.87), USA’s Matt Grevers (22.94), Cayman Islands’ Brett Fraser (22.95), Japan’s Shinri Shioura (22.97), Australia’s David Morgan (23.03), Brazil’s Henrique Martins (23.07), Belgium’s Francois Heersbrandt (23.17) and Russia’s Nikita Konovalov (23.17) grabbed the rest of the semifinal spots.

Women’s 100 breast

The Netherlands’ Moniek Nijhuis posted a season-best time of 1:04.32 to lead qualifying this morning. That swim bettered her 1:04.66 from the Dutch Championships, but still left her third in the world behind Alia Atkinson (1:02.54) and Ruta Meilutyte (1:03.05).

Meilutyte, meanwhile, took second in 1:04.47, while China’s Shi Jinglin challenged the Chinese record with a third-place 1:04.88.

Denmark’s Rikke Moller Pedersen finished fourth in 1:04.91 with Atkinson keeping her powder dry with a 1:04.98 for fifth.

Japan’s Kanako Watanabe (1:05.04), USA’s Emma Reaney (1:05.17) and Belgium’s Fanny Lecluyse (1:05.21) comprised the rest of the top eight.

Australia’s Sally Hunter (1:05.24), Turkey’s Viktoria Gunes (1:05.31), Sweden’s Jennie Johansson (1:05.39), Russia’s Maria Astashkina (1:05.53), Australia’s Leiston Pickett (1:05.62), Finland’s Jenna Laukkanen (1:05.64) and Japan’s Satomi Suzuki (1:05.92) also secured spots in semis.

The first swimoff of the meet was setup as a trio of swimmers posted 1:06.13s this morning. Canada’s Kierra Smith, Slovenia’s Tjasa Vozel and USA’s Melanie Margalis set up a three-way duel for the final spot.

Margalis scratched the swimoff, leaving Smith to down Vozel, 1:05.65 to 1:06.35 in the swimoff.

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Men’s 400 free

Photo Courtesy: Joao Marc Bosch

Hungary’s Peter Bernek nearly turned in a world leader in the men’s 400 free as he smoked prelims with a 3:37.34. That’s just behind Sun Yang’s 3:37.10 from the Beijing stop of the FINA World Cup.

The big question for tonight is whether Bernek has enough in the tank to drop into meet-record territory. Grant Hackett still owns that mark with a 3:35.01 from back in 1999 in Hong Kong.

Canada’s Ryan Cochrane raced his way to second in 3:39.55 with Great Britain’s James Guy (3:39.58) and Australia’s Jordan Harrison (3:39.67) also clearing 3:40s to make finals.

Australia’s Daniel Smith (3:40.12), Denmark’s Mads Glaesner (3:40.28), Serbia’s Velimir Stjepanovic (3:40.30) and Tunisia’s Ous Mellouli (3:40.51) closed out the rest of the championship field.

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Men’s 200 IM

Photo Courtesy: Azaria Basile

World record holder Ryan Lochte chased down the top seed in the 200 IM finale with a 1:52.92 this morning.

That swim put Lochte into fifth in the world this year as Lochte looks to win a 22nd gold medal at the World Short Course Championships.

Lochte not only entered the meet as the most heralded short course swimmer ever, he became the first person to win gold in six straight meets with a win in the 800 free relay last night.

Japan’s Kosuke Hagino, Swimming World’s World Swimmer of the Year, captured second with a 1:53.11 this morning. Hagino leads the world with a 1:51.27 from the Tokyo stop of the FINA World Cup, and should drop the hammer tonight.

Japan’s Daiya Seto, already the 400 IM victor, took third in 1:53.15.

Brazil’s Henrique Rodrigues (1:53.49), Portugal’s Diogo Carvalho (1:53.70), Poland’s Marcin Cieslak (1:54.15), Germany’s Philip Heintz (1:54.31) and Israel’s Yakov Yan Toumarkin (1:54.99) will also vie for the world title in finals.

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Women’s 400 free

Photo Courtesy: Joao Marc Bosch

With Katinka Hosszu scratching the 400 free, this year’s Golden Girl Mireia Belmonte Garcia has a clear path to her fourth gold medal of the meet after clocking a 4:00.29 for the top seed.

Belmonte Garcia has been a bit faster this year with a world-leading 3:59.88 at the Singapore stop of the FINA World Cup, but she could have a third world record in store this week if she can challenge her 3:54.52 from Berlin last year.

The Netherlands’ Sharon van Rouwendaal, Swimming World’s Open Water Swimmer of the Year, turned in a second-place time of 4:00.60 to move to fifth in the world rankings.

Meanwhile, China’s Zhang Yufei grabbed third in 4:00.86 for sixth overall. USA’s Elizabeth Beisel qualified fourth overall in 4:01.33.

Great Britain’s Jaz Carlin (4:01.37), Japan’s Chihiro Igarashi (4:01.72), Australia’s Leah Neale (4:02.03) and Hungary’s Boglarka Kapas (4:02.30) claimed the rest of the lanes in the finale.

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Men’s 200 breast

Photo Courtesy: Qatar Swimming

World record holder Daniel Gyurta powered his way to the top seed in 2:03.64 in the 200 breast.

Gyurta has a lot more in the tank, considering he set the world record with a 2:00.48 in Dubai on the FINA World Cup just a few months ago. He could be looking at a barrier-breaking swim during finals tonight.

Japan’s Yasuhiro Koseki charged his way to second this morning with a 2:04.04, while Russia’s Kirill Prigoda placed third in 2:04.18.

Germany’s Marco Koch (2:04.20), Russia’s Oleg Kostin (2:04.46), Brazil’s Felipe Silva (2:04.63), Japan’s Yuta Oshikiri (2:04.90) and Slovakia’s Tomas Klobucnik (2:05.01) comprised the rest of the finale.

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Women’s 400 free relay

Photo Courtesy: Azaria Basile

A few years ago, Dara Torres was still throwing down American records like a 23.82 50 free in 2007 to prove that age is just a number.

This time around, Natalie Coughlin is doing the same thing with a near American record in prelims of the women’s 400 free relay.

Coughlin leadoff Team USA with a sizzling 51.93 to move to fifth in the world rankings. That’s just off her 2010 American mark of 51.88 as a leadoff at the World Championships in Dubai.

Overall, the foursome of Coughlin (51.93), Amy Bilquist (53.05), Madison Kennedy (52.52) and Amanda Weir (53.52) put the U.S. on top of prelims with a 3:31.02.

Denmark’s Mie Nielsen (53.13), Julie Levisen (53.79), Pernille Blume (53.29) and Jeanette Ottesen (52.74) finished second in 3:32.95.

Italy’s Silvia Di Pietro (53.39), Erika Ferraioli (53.15), Alice Mizzau (54.29) and Federica Pellegrini (52.82) touched third in 3:33.65.

China (3:34.12), Brazil (3:34.51), Japan (3:34.63), The Netherlands (3:34.88) and Germany (3:35.35) also made the finals.

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Scheduled Events

Women’s 200 medley relay
Men’s 50 back
Women’s 200 back
Men’s 50 fly
Women’s 100 breast
Men’s 400 free
Men’s 200 IM
Women’s 400 free
Men’s 200 breast
Women’s 400 free relay

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