2015 FINA World Cup Dubai: Day 1 Prelims Live Recap

Photo Courtesy: FINA/G. Scala/Deepbluemedia

Everything you need to follow along with prelims live during the 2015 FINA World Cup Dubai. Hit refresh for the latest coverage.

Men’s 100 free

Jeremy Stravius of France took the top seed in the first event to start off the morning in Dubai. His time of 48.94 was good for the win in prelims, followed by Velimir Stjepanovic (49.29) and Luca Leonardi (49.83). Other swimmers to look out for in tonight’s final are the fourth-place qualifiers Yannick Agnel and Chad Le Clos. Both of these men swam a 49.85 to clinch their spots in tonight’s final.

Caydon Muller, Douglas Erasmus, and Federico Grabich will also be racing tonight in this event.

Women’s 200 free

Italy’s Federica Pellegrini swam a 1:58.62, just about half a second off her finals swim from Doha last week. She is a second faster in prelims than she was in Doha, which may foreshadow a faster swim tonight. Pellegrini will have World Cup veteran Katinka Hosszu (1:58.78) on one side of her and Germany’s Sarah Koehler (2:00.34) on the other. Hosszu swam similar to her previous 200 freestyle prelims, setting herself up nicely for a good chance to win the event at finals. She won dominantly in 1:56.6 in Doha.

Jazmin Carlin, Lauren Boyle, Lisa Zaiser, Diletta Carli and Chiara Masini Luccetti will add some speed and experience to the heat as well.

Men’s 50 breast

The mens’ 50 breast is set up to be a close race in tonight’s final. In Doha, it took a 26.9 to win the event. Adam Peaty was not far off that in Dubai with his time of 27.11 to take the first seed. He will have stiff competition from the rest of the field, including Cameron Van Der Burgh (23.71), Renato David Prono (27.74), Vladislav Mustafin (27.75), Kevin Cordes (27.93) and Giulio Zorzi (27.93).

Michael Andrew (28.02) and Echeverri Crespo (28.06) will also be competing in the final. Any of these men can make the podium tonight, but it will be a challenge for anyone to take this title away from Van Der Burgh.

Women’s 100 breast

Alia Atkinson will look to claim yet another breaststroke title during this final World Cup stretch. Her time of 1:07.35 qualifies her as the first seed, but she is followed closely by Viktoria Zeynep Gunes who swam a 1:07.75. The fourth seed, Molly Hannis, won the event in Doha. Her prelim swim was a 1:08.12, just behind Australia’s Leiston Pickett (1:08.11). Expect any one of these women to take the win, as it has typically taken a 1:06 high or 1:07 low to win this event this year. Any one of these ladies is capable of claiming gold.

Rikke Moeller Pederson (1:08.16), Runa Imai (1:08.47), Rie Kaneto (1:08.69) and Kaylene Corbett (1:09.35) will also be competing in the final.

Women’s 100 fly

USA’s Felicia Lee took the top seed in the 100 fly with a time of 59.49. Szuzsanna Jakabos was close behind in 59.76. These two finished first and second in Doha, and will most likely repeat those places in Dubai. Jemma Lowe is also in the mix this time around, swimming a 59.87 in prelims.

Danielle Carmen Villars (1:00.08), Cassidy Bayer (1:00.31), Alexandra Sasha Touretski (1:00.50), Svenja Stoffel (1:00.54) and Maria Ugolkova (1:01.3) will also be racing, trying to find a place on the podium tonight in this event.

Men’s 100 back

Many of the swimmers who competed in this event in DOha have returned and qualified for the final in this event in Dubai. Australia’s Mitchell James Larkin took the top spot with a 53.74. Not far behind was USA’s David Plummer in 53.81. Both swims were in the range of previous World Cup swims this year for these two.

Masaki Kaneko was a distant third (55.23) followed by Robert Andrei Glinta (55.38). Ashley Delaney (55.57), Michael Andrew (55.77), Michael Reilman (56.13), and Keita Sunama (56.20) will also be fighting for that third spot on the podium. Kaneko’s 54.33 took bronze in Doha.

Women’s 50 back

Australia’s Emily Seebohm will be looking to defend her title from Doha in this event. Her time of 28.10 landed her as the top seed going into tonight’s final. Hosszu swam a 28.91 to get the second spot, and Emi Moronuki was third in 28.96. These women will most likely be faster tonight, but there may not be enough speed in this field to steal the win away from Seebohm.

Daryna Zevina (29.09), Andrea Berrino (29.16), Harriet Cooper (29.16), Pauline Mahieu (29.18) and Felicia Lee (29.28) round out the top 8.

Men’s 200 fly

Three swimmers posted 1:58s in this event in prelims: Nils Liess (1:58.40), Viktor Bromer (1:58.75) and Bence Biczo (1:59.79). Most likely, two of these men will find themselves on the podium after finals. Fourth-seed Chad Le Clos is expected to swim much faster tonight than his 1:59.94 prelim swim. In Doha, he won the event over Bromer with a time of 1:55.80 after going a 1:59.6 in prelims.

The fifth through eighth place finishers in prelims were Christopher Wright (2:00.05), Isaac Foote (2:00.68), Zheng Wen Quah (2:00.71) and Michael Meyer (2:01.30).

Women’s 200 IM

Katinka Hosszu finaled in her third event of the day by winning the 200 IM prelims in 2:12.82. Her breaststroke split is what set her apart from the rest of the field in prelims. She has set herself up well for yet another gold, but it will not come easy. Many swimmers came in close behind Hosszu.

Ranokhaon Amanova (2:13.44), Lisa Zaiser (2:14.05), Sakiko Shimizu (2:14.11), Caitlin Leverenz (2:14.33), Meghan Small (2:15.06), Virginia Bardach (2:15.53) and Aimee Willmott (2:15.85) will all be fighting for their place on the podium. In Doha, it took a 2:12.50 to place in the top 3. Leverenz was second last week in 2:11.08. Her breaststroke split will surge her ahead as well.

Men’s 400 free

Hungary’s Gergo Kis took the top spot in the men’s 400 free in 3:49.43. Mykhalio Romanchuk was right on his time rom Doha to get the second seed (3:50.95), and he was followed closely by Jan Micka in 3:51.00.

The swimmer to keep an eye on tonight is the fourth-seed, James Guy of Great Britain. Guy repeated almost the same exact time in the 400 free prelims that he achieved in Doha this time around. His time of 4:46.76 gave him the win by two seconds last week. Based off previous World Cup meets, Vellimir Stjepanovic, the fifth seed, may be his biggest competition. He swam his prelim swim in 3:51.83.

Stephen Milne (52.29), Sergii Frolov (3:52.67), and David Brandl (3:52.82) will also be competitive in tonight’s final.

Women’s 50 free

Fresh off a silver medal in this event in Doha, Melanie Wright took the top seed in the women’s 50 free with a time of 25.29. Zsuzsanna Jakabos was second in 25.48, and Julie Marie Louise Meynen was third in 25.63.

The rest of the top 8 also swam below 26 seconds: Elizaveta Bazarova (25.70), Harriet Cooper (25.78), Marta Cielsa (25.87), Alexandra Sasha Touretski (25.92) and Anna Kolarova (25.93).

It took a 25.4 to make the podium in Doha, where France’s Anna Santamans was the only swimmer to go under 25 seconds. The absence of her 24.9 may open the door for this to be anyone’s race tonight.

Men’s 200 breast

USA’s Kevin Cordes claimed the top seed in the 200 breast. His time of 2:12:97 is similar to what he swam in prelims in Doha, where he was also seeded first after prelims. He then fell to fifth in the final swimming a 2:12.57. Craig Benson (2:14.40), Laurent Carnol (2:14.73), and Daniel Gyurta (2:15.25) will all be tough competitors for Cordes. Gyurta got the win in Doha with a time of 2:10.33.

Great Britain’s Ross Murdoch and Adam Peaty will also be in the mix coming in at 2:15.50 and 2:15.68, respectively. Ayrton Sweeney (2:15.82) and Tomas Klobucnk (2:15.98) will round out the final.

Women’s 200 back

Katinka Hosszu claimed another top seed in the 200 back with her time of 2:10.86. She was followed by Daryna Zevina (2:12.19), Emily Seebohm (2:12.78) and Jenny Mensing (2:12.90). Doha’s race came down to a battle between Hosszu and Seebohm with Seebohm getting the edge winning in 2:07.19.

The battle for bronze continues with Rosie Rudin (2:13.48), Erin Earley (2:13.48), Mackenzie Glover (2:13.71) and Jordis Steinegger (2:14.25). 2:11.05 made the podiumin Doha, so any of these women have a chance of cracking the top three.

Men’s 50 fly

The men’s 50 fly prelims were tight amongst the top four competitors. Ivan Lendjer lead the way in 23.92 followed by Giles Smith in 23.95. Michael Andrew was not far behind in 23.97, and Chad Le Clos was directly behind Andrew in 23.98. This is same group of men who claimed the top four spots in Doha, so it will be interesting to see who gets their hands on the wall first tonight. Le CLos got the in last time followed by Smith. All four were under 24.00 seconds in Doha as well.

Rounding out the top eight in this event are Santiago Grassi (24.17), Nikolay Skvortsov (24.19), Johannes Du Rand (24.39), and Takuro Fujii (24.42). A good swim from one of these men could bump someone out of the fabulous foursome dominating the men’s 50 fly right now.

Scheduled Events

Men’s 100 free
Women’s 200 free
Men’s 50 breast
Women’s 100 breast
Women’s 100 fly
Men’s 100 back
Women’s 50 back
Men’s 200 fly
Women’s 200 IM
Men’s 400 free
Women’s 50 free
Men’s 200 breast
Women’s 200 back
Men’s 50 fly
Women’s 800 free
Men’s 400 IM

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