World University Games, Swimming: Ryosuke Irie Scares World Record in 200 Back, Kevin Swander Smashes American Record in 50 Breast

BELGRADE, Serbia, July 10. THE sixth night of long course swimming at the World University Games featured a world-record scare by Ryosuke Irie in the 200 back, and several national records including an American-record performance by Kevin Swander in the 50 breast.

Women's 1500 free finals
Japan's Yumi Kida claimed the women's distance title in 16:24.26, while Whitney Sprague of the U.S. touched second in 16:29.04. Japan's Natsumi Iwashita rounded out the podium in 16:31.68.

Women's 50 breast semis
Germany's Kerstin Vogel topped qualifying with a time of 31.38, while Poland's Ewa Scieszko took second in 31.61. Scieszcko cleared the Polish record of 31.75 set by Paulina Zachoszcz two days ago in Prague. Sweden's Jennie Johansson placed third in 31.75, while Korea's Dal Eun Kim finished fourth in 31.76.

Men's 100 fly finals
Kenya's Jason Dunford could not replicate his African record time of 50.85 set during semis, but wound up still winning the title in 51.29. Chris Brady of the U.S. placed second in 51.62, while Russia's Maxim Ganikhin claimed third in 52.33.

Women's 200 free finals
Slovenia's Sara Isakovic overtook Kevyn Peterson of Canada, 1:58.59 to 1:58.67, for the win. Isakovic trailed Peterson throughout the entire swim, before rocketing down the final 50 meters with a 30.04. Kristen Heiss of the U.S. took home bronze with a time of 1:58.77, touching out South Africa's Leone Vorster (1:58.78) for the podium spot.

Men's 50 free semis
Russia's Sergey Fesikov clocked a Games record time of 22.02 to pace qualifying. His effort beat the 22.12 set by Brazil's Nicholas Dos Santos set in 2007. Kenya's David Dunford placed second in 22.21. Ireland's Barry Murphy finished third in 22.25, which bested his national record of 22.59 set in June 2008. William Copeland of the U.S. qualified fourth in 22.30.

Women's 50 back finals
Japan's Shiho Sakai captured the sprint back event in 28.17. Meanwhile, China's Xu Tianlongzi finished second in 28.20 with Aleksandra Gerasimenya of Belarus placing third in 28.32.

Men's 200 back finals
Japan's Ryosuke Irie threatened the world record for the first time in an approved swimsuit with a time of 1:54.13. Irie missed Ryan Lochte's global mark of 1:53.94 by just .19 seconds. In an interesting situation, Irie is farther off his national record of 1:52.86 set in an unapproved suit that was ratified by Japan but disallowed by FINA.

Comparative splits:
Irie: 26.74, 55.81 (29.07), 1:25.21 (29.40), 1:54.13 (28.92)
Lochte: 27.24, 55.77 (28.53), 1:25.06 (29.29), 1:53.94 (28.88)

Patrick Schirk placed second in 1:57.05, while Japan's Kazuki Watanabe touched third in 1:58.23.

Women's 200 fly semis
Germany's Annika Mehlhorn earned the top seed heading into finals with a time of 2:09.23. Lyndsay De Paul of the U.S. qualified second in 2:10.05. Switzerland's Martina Van Berkel wound up third in 2:10.47, just missing her national record of 2:10.36 set in March. Japan's Haruka Minamizono claimed fourth overall in 2:11.13.

Men's 50 breast finals
Kevin Swander of the U.S. smashed Mark Gangloff's American record set two nights ago during a special world record attempt time trial held at the USA Swimming National Championships. Swander blazed to a victorious time of 27.14 to crush the 27.34 Gangloff set in Indianapolis.

Swander knocked off world-record holder Felipe Silva of Brazil. Silva, who owns the world mark with a 26.89, finished second in 27.23. Serbia's Caba Siladi checked in with a 27.27 to wipe out his national mark of 27.31 set during semis.

Women's 50 free semis
Germany's Dorothea Brandt and Michelle King of the U.S. earned matching top seeds with a 25.13 tie during the first semifinal. Ukraine's Darya Stepanyuk placed third in 25.18. That performance beat her national record of 25.27 set in March 2009. Aleksandra Gerasimenya touched fourth in 25.19.

Men's 800 free relay finals
Japan's Sho Uchida, Shogo Hihara, Yasunori Mononobe and Shunsuke Kuzuhara won with a Games-record time of 7:11.54. The performance beat the U.S. held mark of 7:13.72 set in 2007. The U.S. quartet of Scot Robison, Bobby Bollier, Matt Patton and Alex Vanderkaay finished second in 7:14.20. Canada's team of Ray Betuzzi, Brian Johns, Keith Beavers and Matthew Swanston wound up third in 7:16.45.

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