2015 FINA World Championships, Swimming: Day 3 Finals Live Recap

Photo Courtesy: R-Sport / MIA Rossiya Segodnya

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Everything you need to follow along with finals live during the 2015 FINA World Championships. Hit refresh for the latest coverage.

Men’s 200 free finals

Great Britain’s James Guy slayed a bunch of dragons in the stacked men’s 200-meter free at the 2015 FINA World Championships.

Guy had enough in the tank to overtake Sun Yang for gold with a time of 1:45.14. That swim is a British record, breaking his own mark of 1:45.43.

That’s the fastest time in the world this year, clearing the 1:45.36 set by Ryan Lochte yesterday. Guy now has a gold and a silver this week, having earned silver in the 400 free earlier this week.

Sun lost out on a chance for a historic 200-400-800-1500 free sweep as he took silver in 1:45.20. That’s not a Chinese record for Sun, but it is his 11th career world championship medal with six gold, two silvers and three bronzes.

Germany’s Paul Biedermann unleashed a final split of 26.67 to get himself on the podium with a third-place 1:45.38. That performance delivered him a seventh career worlds medal. He now owns two golds, a silver and four bronzes.

USA’s Ryan Lochte remained snakebit in the men’s 200-meter free at the international level since winning the world title in 2011. He was fourth in the 200 free at the 2012 Olympics and 2013 World Championships, and fifth in the race at the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships.

Comparative Splits:

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The Netherlands’ Sebastiaan Verschuren (1:45.91), South Africa’s Chad le Clos (1:46.53), Russia’s Aleksandr Krasnykh (1:46.88) and Australia’s Cameron McEvoy (1:47.26) rounded out the championship heat.

Women’s 100 back finals

Emily Seebohm led an Australian 1-2 in the women’s 100-meter backstroke finals at the 2015 FINA World Championships.

Seebohm claimed her second gold of the meet with a sizzling 58.26 in the finale for her first individual world title in long course competition. She now owns six career world medals with two golds, three silvers and a bronze.

That’s the fourth-fastest 100 back of all time.

All Time 100 Back

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Madison Wilson checked in with a silver-winning time of 58.75, while Denmark’s Mie Nielsen managed to claim bronze in 58.86.

China’s Fu Yuanhui wound up fourth in 59.02, while Olympic champion Missy Franklin settled for fifth in 59.40 after a bad start that led to her turning last with a 29.20 initial split.

Russia’s Anastasia Fesikova (59.66), Great Britain’s Lauren Quigley (59.78) and USA’s Kathleen Baker (59.99) closed out the all sub-1:00 finale.

Men’s 50 breast semis

Adam Peaty of Great Britain made his unratified world record a moot point by blasting a new one during semis of the men’s 50-meter breast at the 2015 FINA World Championships.

Peaty, who set an unratified world record with a 26.62 at the European Championships last summer, churned up a scintillating time of 26.42 for the top seed heading into finals.

Peaty’s record never was ratified since someone forgot to test his doping sample for EPO as required for a world record. It was an administrative error as those in charge of ordering the tests did not check all the boxes required.

This morning, Cameron van der Burgh tied Peaty’s world record with a 26.62 of his own, but Peaty certainly wiped out all the controversy so everyone can focus on the world title tomorrow.

Van der Burgh cruised into the second seed tonight in 26.74, while USA’s Kevin Cordes broke the American record with a time of 26.76.

Cordes’ effort lowered the 26.86 set by Mark Gangloff at the 2009 World Championships.

Brazil’s Felipe Silva finished fourth in 26.87 with Slovenia’s Damir Dugonjic also clocking a sub-27 with a fifth-seeded 26.92.

New Zealand’s Glenn Snyders (27.17), Serbia’s Caba Siladi (27.19) and Lithuania’s Giedrius Titenis (27.20) also made the championship heat.

Women’s 1500 free finals

Katie Ledecky continued her march towards immortality as the best distance freestyle swimmer of all time with another world-record smashing in the women’s 1500-meter free at the 2015 FINA World Championships.

Ledecky won the finale in 15:25.48 to earn her sixth career world title and break her preliminary world record of 15:27.71. Most noticeable, Ledecky held off on going to her legs until the very end of the race as she kept her tank full for the women’s 200-meter free semis later in the evening.

Comparative Splits

Katie Ledecky, 15:28.36, 2014:

28.56, 59.34 (30.78), 1:30.41 (31.07), 2:01.85 (31.44), 2:32.89 (31.04), 3:04.03 (31.14), 3:35.23 (31.20), 4:06.57 (31.34), 4:37.74 (31.17), 5:09.13 (31.39), 5:40.41 (31.28), 6:11.76 (31.35), 6:42.96 (31.20), 7:14.25 (31.29), 7:45.55 (31.30), 8:16.90 (31.35), 8:47.98 (31.08), 9:19.11 (31.13), 9:50.07 (30.96), 10:20.96 (30.89), 10:52.08 (31.12), 11:23.08 (31.00), 11:53.81 (30.73), 12:24.95 (31.14), 12:55.66 (30.71), 13:26.65 (30.99), 13:57.56 (30.91), 14:28.52 (30.96), 14:59.37 (30.85), 15:28.36 (28.99)

Katie Ledecky, 15:27.71, 2015:

28.56, 59.09 (30.53), 1:30.41 (31.32), 2:01.83 (31.42), 2:33.05 (31.22), 3:04.01 (30.96), 3:35.14 (31.13), 4:06.41 (31.27), 4:37.76 (31.35), 5:08.95 (31.19), 5:40.01 (31.06), 6:11.18 (31.17), 6:42.37 (31.19), 7:13.42 (31.05), 7:44.35 (30.93), 8:15.29 (30.94), 8:46.44 (31.15), 9:17.76 (31.32), 9:48.63 (30.87), 10:19.55 (30.92), 10:50.59 (31.04), 11:21.84 (31.25), 11:52.66 (30.82), 12:23.58 (30.92), 12:54.50 (30.92), 13:25.50 (31.00), 13:56.39 (30.89), 14:27.51 (31.12), 14:58.25 (30.73), 15:27.71 (29.47)

Katie Ledecky, 15:25.48, 2015:

28.37, 59.04 (30.67), 1:29.68 (30.64), 2:00.52 (30.84), 2:31.43 (30.91), 3:02.46 (31.03), 3:33.64 (31.18), 4:04.69 (31.05), 4:35.93 (31.24), 5:06.89 (30.96), 5:38.09 (31.20), 6:09.19 (31.10), 6:40.29 (31.10), 7:11.38 (31.09), 7:42.37 (30.99), 8:13.25 (30.88), 8:44.15 (30.90), 9:15.26 (31.11), 9:46.27 (31.01), 10:17.23 (30.96), 10:48.11 (30.88), 11:19.24 (31.13), 11:50.24 (31.00), 12:21.24 (31.00), 12:52.38 (31.14), 13:23.42 (31.05), 13:54.52 (31.09), 14:25.62 (31.10), 14:56.46 (30.84), 15:25.48 (29.02)

On top of cutting two seconds off her previous record and moving 13 seconds ahead of the second-fastest swimmer all time (Lotte Friis, 15:38.88), Ledecky’s splits are truly remarkable.

Ledecky clocked an 8:13.25 at the 800-meter mark, which is the fifth fastest time ever in the event. Additionally, Ledecky has now become so dominant in distance freestyle that no one has ever been faster than her 800 split, much less her 800-meter free individual world record of 8:11.00.

Rebecca Adlington topped the 2008 Beijing Olympics with a then-amazing time of 8:14.10 to rank second all time in the world. Now, Ledecky has beat that time with a split.

New Zealand’s Lauren Boyle took silver in 15:40.14 to break the Oceanic record as well as cut four seconds from her personal best of 15:44.71.

Hungary’s Boglarka Kapas snared bronze in 15:47.09 to break 16:00 for the first time as she destroyed her Hungarian record of 16:02.58. That’s about the only Hungarian record outside of Katinka Hosszu’s reach.

Denmark’s Lotte Friis (15:49.00), Australia’s Jessica Ashwood (15:52.17), The Netherlands’ Sharon van Rouwendaal (16:03.74), Chile’s Kristel Kobrich (16:06.55) and Italy’s Aurora Ponsele (16:09.57) also swam in the historic finale.

Men’s 100 back finals

Mitchell Larkin of Australia overhauled the men’s 100-meter back field for the world title at the 2015 FINA World Championships.

Larkin, who posted a world best with an Oceanic record of 52.38 yesterday, won his first world title with a 52.40 this evening. That swim is just outside the top 10 swims all time in the event’s history.

France’s Camille Lacourt charged his way into silver with a second-place time of 52.48. That’s off his French record of 52.11, but good enough to claim a fifth career world title. He now owns three golds and two silvers.

USA’s Matt Grevers, first at the 50 with a 25.40, couldn’t keep up the pace as he faded to third with a 52.66. That swim gave him his first bronze at a world championship event as his career tally now rises to five with three golds, a silver and a bronze.

China’s Xu Jiayu (52.89), Great Britain’s Chris Walker-Hebborn (53.02), Japan’s Ryosuke Irie (53.10), Russia’s Evgeny Rylov (53.23) and Great Britain’s Liam Tancock (53.37) closed out the championship field.

Women’s 200 free semis

Italy’s Federica Pellegrini might have put up the top time in the women’s 200-meter free, but Katie Ledecky’s massive 1700 free double was the story of the semis at the 2015 FINA World Championships.

Pellegrini led the way into finals with a 1:56.23. That’s a fairly pedestrian time as she’s already been a 1:55.00 to rank third in the world this year.

USA’s Missy Franklin, on the tail end of a 100 back/200 free double herself, raced her way to the second seed in 1:56.37.

China’s Shen Duo took the third seed in 1:56.44, while Iron Lady Katinka Hosszu set herself up for another medal with a fourth-seeded 1:56.51 a day after taking down an incredible world record in the women’s 200-meter IM.

Russia’s Veronika Popova claimed the fifth seed in 1:56.56.

Ledecky, however, was the top storyline of the semifinal heats. Turning well back in the pack with a 1:27.43 at the 150-meter mark, she put the last bit of energy into her legs with a 29.33 down the stretch to take third in the second semifinal with a sixth-seeded 1:56.76.

This effort came after chopping two seconds from her world record in the 1500-meter free. Ledecky definitely looked spent in the pool after the swim, as she was in visible distress following the swim. A look the world rarely gets to see.

Franklin, shaking off some disappointment from a tough 100 back earlier in the night to show some team leadership, swam right up to Ledecky with her radiant smile becoming infectious as Ledecky was able overcome the pain.

The finish for Ledecky kept her historic hopes alive of a 200-400-800-1500 free sweep for the first time ever.

The Netherlands’ Femke Heemskerk (1:56.91) and Australia’s Emma McKeon (1:56.95) also made their way into the 200 free finale.

Men’s 200 fly semis

Hungary’s Laszlo Cseh unleashed another world best during the men’s 200-meter fly semis at the 2015 FINA World Championships.

Cseh clocked a top time of 1:53.53 out of semis, bettering his world best of 1:53.71 from this morning.

Cseh is looking for his second world title ever. He won the 400-meter IM way back in 2005 and hasn’t been able to break through the Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte roadblock. Since 2005, he’s managed to tally 10 career world medals with a gold, four silvers and five bronzes.

South Africa’s Chad le Clos claimed the second seed in 1:54.50 as he had to win semifinal 1 from an outside lane after going easy during prelims. Le Clos is looking for his third world title overall.

Japan’s Masato Sakai (1:54.75), Denmark’s Viktor Bromer (1:54.82), Japan’s Daiya Seto (1:54.95), Poland’s Jan Switkowski (1:55.42), Belgium’s Louis Croenen (1:55.49) and USA’s Tom Shields (1:55.75) also made their way into the championship heat.

Women’s 100 breast finals

After her doping suspension concluded earlier this year, Russia’s Yuliya Efimova has been on fire. She kept up with that momentum with a world title in the women’s 100-meter breaststroke at the 2015 FINA World Championships.

Efimova, who concluded her doping suspension with a sizzler at the Mission Viejo Invitational in March, showed up at the starting blocks to a hero’s ovation in Kazan. She then backed up that support with a world-title winning time of 1:05.66.

That’s just off her semifinal swim of 1:05.60, but was good enough to give her a fourth world title and a ninth career world medal.

Lithuania’s Ruta Meilutyte, the world-record holder with a 1:04.35 to her credit from 2013, wound up with a silver in 1:06.36. That’s her third world medal with a gold and two silvers to her credit now.

Jamaica’s Alia Atkinson won her first world medal ever with a bronze-winning 1:06.42 to round out the podium.

Japan’s Kanako Watanabe (1:06.43), China’s Shi Jinglin (1:06.55), Iceland’s Hilda Luthersdottir (1:07.10), Sweden’s Jennie Johansson (1:07.17) and Italy’s Arianna Castiglioni (1:07.60) finished the finale in fourth through eighth.

2015 FINA World Championships, Swimming: Day 3 Finals – Results

SCHEDULED EVENTS

Men’s 200 free finals
Women’s 100 back finals
Men’s 50 breast semis
Women’s 1500 free finals
Men’s 100 back finals
Women’s 200 free semis
Men’s 200 fly semis
Women’s 100 breast finals

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Ollan P

8 years ago

Tolakan yang sempurna

Martina

8 years ago

We would have liked to see this on one of our TV channels??????