2015 World University Games: Day 5 Finals Live Recap

Backstroke Start World University Games 2015

Photo Courtesy: Gwangju Summer Universiade Organizing Committee

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Women’s 200 breast finals

Japan went 1-2 in the women’s 200-meter breaststroke finale with Keiko Fukudome unleashing a ridiculous back half compared to her teammate Reona Aoki.

Aoki had been well out front at the 100 with a 1:09.18, a second-and-a-half up on Fukudome. Fukudome, however, had way too much of a back half with a 1:14.2 to beat Aoki by more than a second, 2:24.92 to 2:26.17.

Fukudome’s swim pushed her to 16th in the world rankings.

Czech’s Martina Moravcikova raced her way to bronze with a 2:27.35, while USA’s Andrea Cottrell just missed out on a medal with a fourth-place 2:28.08.

Italy’s Francesca Fangio (2:28.18), USA’s Molly Hannis (2:28.67), South Korea’s Suyeon Back (2:28.89) and Great Britain’s Olivia White (2:29.95) rounded out the championship heat.

Men’s 200 back semis

Team USA’s Jacob Pebley uncorked a sizzling time to lead the way through semis in the men’s 200-meter back.

Pebley popped a top time of 1:57.01 to move to 11th in the world rankings. That is the third-fastest time Pebley has ever swam, behind a pair of 1:56 efforts including a 1:56.68 lifetime best from last summer’s nationals.

Italy’s Christopher Ciccarese raced his way to the second seed in a time of 1:57.79 to move to 17th in the world rankings, just ahead of Ryan Lochte’s 1:57.96 from the Canet stop of the Mare Nostrum tour.

Japan’s Keita Sunama (1:59.14), and Russia’s Andrei Shabasov (1:59.63) qualified third and fourth.

Great Britain’s Joe Patching (1:59.67), USA’s Connor Green (1:59.97), Italy’s Giorgio Gaetani (2:00.09) and Poland’s Krzysztof Morawski (2:00.28) also will compete in the championship finale.

Women’s 200 free semis

Team USA went 1-2 in the women’s 200-meter free semis with Leah Smith and Shannon Vreeland both winning their respective semifinal heats.

Smith raced her way to a 1:58.79 for the top seed overall. That’s among her top 10 times all time with a lifetime best of 1:57.57 from last summer’s nationals.

Vreeland, an Olympic gold medalist with a lifetime best of 1:56.76 from last summer’s World Championships, cruised to the second seed in 1:59.15.

Italy’s Martina De Memme qualified third in 2:00.11 with China’s Wang Shijia earning the fourth seed with a time of 2:00.31.

Japan’s Yasuko Miyamoto and Aya Takano shared the fifth seed with matching times of 2:00.79.

Australia’s Ellen Fullerton (2:00.93) and Germany’s Alina Weber (2:00.99) all cleared 2:01 to make the finals.

Men’s 100 free finals

Brazil’s Henrique Martins went from fifth to first with a blazing back half in the men’s 100-meter free for his second gold of the meet.

Martins, the 50 fly victor from earlier in the meet, surged home in 25.23 to deliver a 48.98 for the gold tonight.

USA’s Jack Conger, who went out in 23.22, looked stunned after finishing with a silver-winning time of 49.02 even though that’s a lifetime best for the Longhorn. Conger’s previous best was a 49.28 from last summer’s nationals.

Italy’s Marco Belotti clipped USA’s Seth Stubblefield, 49.43 to 49.47, for the final podium spot.

Turkey’s Kemal Gurdal (49.86), Japan’s Toru Maruyama (50.00), New Zealand’s Daniel Hunter (50.05) and Russia’s Oleg Tikhobaev (50.17) also vied for the World U’s title.

Women’s 50 back semis

Rachel Bootsma, the former American record holder before Natalie Coughlin took the mark away last month in Santa Clara with a 27.51, showed some aggression to crush the field with a 28.13.

Bootsma’s effort is just off her season best of 28.05 from Santa Clara, and put her in position to take a run at Coughlin’s mark in finals.

Canada’s Kylie Masse, having a career meet, qualified second in 28.46.

Italy’s Arianna Barbieri picked up the third seed in 28.55 with Australia’s Holly Barratt tying France’s Camille Gheorghiu for fourth with 28.61s.

Hong Kong’s Stephanie Au (28.66) and Kazakhstan’s Yekaterina Rudenko (28.67) earned sixth and seventh.

South Korea’s Hyounji Yu and USA’s Elizabeth Pelton set up a swimoff for the eighth-seed with matching 28.76s.

Yu smashed Pelton in the swimoff, 28.26 to 28.57. Yu’s 28.76 set a South Korea record, downing the 28.80 on record, while her 28.26 completely demolished that mark.

Men’s 100 fly semis

Italy’s Piero Codia and Russia’s Evgeny Koptelov blasted off in semis with a pair of sub-52s for the top two spots in finals.

Codia cleared 52 for the first time in his career with a 51.75 to move to seventh in the world rankings. Koptelov cranked out a second-seeded 51.85 to move to 10th in the world.

During finals, the duo will have a shot at Konrad Czerniak’s world best of 51.37 from Spanish Nationals.

Belarus’ Yauhen Tsurkin (52.20) and USA’s Matt Josa (52.23) qualified third and fourth into finals.

Russia’s Aleksandr Sadovnikov (52.29), Japan’s Masayuki Umemoto (52.71), Poland’s Michal Poprawa (52.85) and USA’s Matt Ellis (52.95) also made finals.

Brazil’s Henrique Martins, fresh off a stunning win in the 100 free, had a tough time making finals as he settled for 10th with a 53.33.

Women’s 100 fly finals

China’s Lu Ying claimed her second butterfly gold medal of the meet as she added the 100 fly crown to her 50 fly Universiade record.

Lu powered her way to a 57.83 for the title. That swim pushed her to 10th in the world rankings, leapfrogging Katie McLaughlin (57.87) into the top 10.

Lu just missed Katerine Savard’s meet record of 57.63 from 2013.

Italy’s Elena Di Liddo earned silver with a time of 58.29, while Slovakia’s Katarina Listopadova rounded out the podium with a bronze-winning time of 58.37.

China’s Zhou Yilin (58.45), Russia’s Svetlana Chimrova (58.88), USA’s Felicia Lee (58.91), Japan’s Rino Hosoda (59.14) and Canada’s Samantha Corea (59.83) finished fourth through eighth in finals.

Men’s 50 breast semis

After setting an Italian and Universiade record in prelims, Italy’s Andrea Toniato cruised to the top seed in 27.35.

Serbia’s Caba Siladji raced his way to the second seed in 27.41, off his fifth-ranked season best of 27.17.

Russia’s Kirill Prigoda claimed the third seed in 27.45 to tie Peter Stevens for 12th in the world.

Kazakhstan’s Dmitriy Balandin (27.62), USA’s DJ MacDonald (27.75), Switzerland’s Martin Schweizer (27.77), Brazil’s Raphael Rodrigues (27.87) and USA’s Carsten Vissering (27.93) will also compete for the title in finals.

2015 World University Games, Day 5 Finals – Results

SCHEDULED EVENTS

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

HEAT SHEETS

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