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During the sixth morning of preliminary action at the 2017 FINA World Championships in Budapest, American Caeleb Dressel backed up his gold medal in the men’s 100 free with a strong double in the qualifying session.
He qualified second for the semi-finals of the 50 free and then crushed his 100 fly, becoming the third-fastest performer all-time in the event with the fastest time ever in a textile suit.
Read below for event-by-event full coverage of the sesion.
Men’s 50 Free
Brazil’s Bruno Fratus, who anchored his team to a silver medal in the men’s 400 free relay back on night one, topped the field in prelims of the men’s splash-and-dash, touching in 21.51. That put him a tenth ahead of American Caeleb Dressel, who qualified second in 21.61.
Dressel returned to the pool after winning gold in the men’s 100 free Thursday night, and he will also swim the men’s 100 fly later in the session.
Greece’s Kristian Gkolomeev qualified third in 21.69, just ahead of Russia’s Vladimir Morozov (21.72). Poland’s Pawe Juraszek was the surprising fifth seed as he touched in 21.74.
Great Britain’s Ben Proud, the top-ranked swimmer in the world at 21.32, qualified sixth in 21.93. Proud has already won gold in the 50 fly this week. Proud was followed by Australia’s Cameron McEvoy (21.95) and Italy’s Luca Dotto (21.98), while the USA’s Nathan Adrian and Brazil’s Cesar Cielo tied for ninth in 21.99.
Adrian won the silver medal behind Dressel in the 100 free at this meet in addition to a relay gold, while Cielo was also a part of Brazil’s silver medal-winning 400 free relay. Cielo won Olympic gold in the 50 free back in 2008 and has won World titles in the event in 2009, 2011 and 2013.
Germany’s Damian Wierling (22.00), Ukraine’s Andrii Govorov (22.05), Finland’s Ari-Pekka Liukkonen (22.12), Ukraine’s Sergii Shevtsov (22.13), Japan’s Shinri Shioura and Hungary’s Kristian Takacs (22.18) also made the semis.
Women’s 50 Fly
Sarah Sjostrom topped the prelim heats of yet another event in which she is favored to win a World title. She finished first in the 50 fly prelims in 25.25, a half-second off her world-leading time of 24.76 but still four tenths ahead of the second qualifier, American Kelsi Worrell.
Worrell took second in 25.65, and Japan’s Rikako Ikee was the third qualifier in 25.72. Just behind in fourth was Germany’s Aliena Schmidtke (25.73), while the Netherlands’ Ranomi Kromowidjojo tied for fifth with Egypt’s Farida Osman in 25.74.
French swimmers Beryl Gastadello (25.79) and Melanie Henique (25.81) finished seventh and eighth, respectively, while Belgium’s Kimberly Buys (25.82), Canada’s Penny Oleksiak (25.87), Denmark’s Emilie Beckmann (25.88) and Australia’s Holly Barratt (25.91) also broke 26.
Claiming the last four spots in the semi-finals were Poland’s Aleksandra Urbanczyk (26.00), the Netherlands’ Maaike De Waard (26.03), Italy’s Silvia Di Pietro (26.24) and China’s Lu Ying (26.34).
Sarah Gibson, the other American in the field, finished in a three-way tie for 22nd at 26.65.
Men’s 100 Fly
Less than an hour after qualifying second in the men’s 50 free prelims, Caeleb Dressel put up a monster performance in the men’s 100 fly. He blasted a 50.08 to lead all qualifiers by more than a second, and the time was the fastest ever in a textile suit.
Only Michael Phelps (49.82) and Milorad Cavic (49.95) have ever been quicker than Dressel’s morning effort, with both times coming at the 2009 World Championships in Rome. Dressel beat the textile best time of 50.39 set by Joseph Schooling on his way to Olympic gold last summer.
Italy’s Piero Codia swam a time of 51.09, well behind Dressel but good enough for the No. 2 seed, while Great Britain’s James Guy qualified third in 51.16, and Schooling was fourth in 51.21.
Hungary’s Kristof Milak posted an impressive World Junior Record in the men’s 100 fly, touching in 51.23 to top the 51.26 set by Li Zhuhao last year. South Africa’s Chad Le Clos, the World Champion in the 200 fly, took sixth in 51.28, and France’s Mehdy Metella, who won bronze behind Dressel in the 100 free, was seventh in 51.46.
Brazil’s Henrique Martins (51.48) and Poland’s Konrad Czerniak (51.50) qualified eighth and ninth, respectively, while Hungary’s Laszlo Cseh, who won silver in the 200 fly, took 10th in 51.55. The next man in was Li in 51.62.
Also making the semi-final were Australia’s Grant Irvine (51.67), Poland’s Jan Switkowski (51.82), Russia’s Aleksandr Popkov (51.84), Australia’s David Morgan (51.90) and the USA’s Tim Phillips (51.96).
Women’s 200 Back
After winning silver in the women’s 100 back Tuesday night, the United States’ Kathleen Baker could be looking to do one better in the 200-meter distance. She was the only woman to crack 2:07 in prelims, finishing in 2:06.82, not far off her world No. 1-ranked time of 2:06.38.
But if Baker hopes to win gold, she will have to deal with a Hungarian crowd-backed Katinka Hosszu, who qualified second in prelims in 2:07.30. Qualifying third out of prelims was Australia’s Emily Seebohm, the reigning World Champion, who touched in 2:07.94.
Qualifying fourth was 15-year-old American Regan Smith, who lowered her lifetime best for the third consecutive race after twice doing so at U.S. Nationals. She dropped down to a 2:08.13 in prelims, quicker than the 2:08.55 she swam to finish second behind Baker at Nationals last month.
Two Canadians occupied the next two qualifying spots: 100 back World Champion and world record-holder Kylie Masse (2:08.30) and 200 back Olympic bronze medalist Hilary Caldwell (2:08.32).
Ukraine’s Daryna Zevina qualified seventh in 2:09.16, and then a second Australian, Kaylie McKeown, qualified eighth in 2:09.42.
Also reaching the semi-finals were Italy’s Margherita Panziera (2:09.43), Spain’s Africa Zamorano (2:09.70), Hungary’s Katalin Burian (2:09.86), Russia’s Daria Ustinova (2:09.99), Germany’s Lisa Graf (2:10.10), China’s Liu Yaxin (2:10.59), Moldova’s Tatiana Salcutan (2:11.17) and Hong Kong’s Yin Yan Lau (2:11.67).
Men’s 800 Free Relay
Heat one of the men’s 800 free relay featured a tight race between Australia and Great Britain’s men’s 800 free relay teams. The two continued to push each other forward throughout the entire race, rightfully earning themselves the top two seeds going into finals.
A strong anchor leg from Jack Cartwright was just what Australia needed to edge past Great Britain and claim the top seed. Teammates Clyde Lewis (1:46.79), David McKeon (1:46.72), Alexander Graham (1:46.52), and Cartwright (1:45.65) turned in a combined time of 7:05.68 to solidify their top seed.
Great Britain’s team of Stephen Milne (1:46.78), Nicholas Grainger (1:46.19), Calum Jarvis (1:46.32), and Duncan Scott (1:46.50) put up a valiant fight in the lane next to Australia, finishing second overall in prelims with a 7:05.79.
Russia’s relay team of Mikhail Vekovishchev (1:46.78), Danila Izotov (1:45.91), Nikita Lobintsev (1:48.51), and Mikhail Dovgalyuk (1:46.01) led throughout the entire second heat, qualifying third overall with a 7:07.21.
The Netherlands’ Kyle Stolk (1:47.45), Ferry Weertman (1:47.42), Stan Pijnenburg (1:47.56), and Maarten Brzoskowski (1:46.79) grabbed the fourth place seed with a time of 7:09.22.
Italy turned in a 7:09.53 for the fifth place seed, followed closely by Japan and their qualifying time of 7:09.66.
The USA fought their way through heat two, picking up the seventh place seed with a combined time of 7:09.78, while Poland rounded out the top eight qualifiers with a 7:10.53.
Women’s 800 Free
The United States finished 1-2 in prelims of the 800 free as Katie Ledecky posted the top time of 8:20.24, and Leah Smith came in second at 8:21.19. The duo topped the podium in that order in the 400 free on the first day and could do so again in the 800.
China’s Li Bingjie, who anchored her countrywomen to silver in the 800 free relay the night before, actually stayed close to Ledecky in their heat for much of the race before fading back towards the end. Li ended up qualifying third in 8:22.92.
Spain’s Mireia Belmonte, already the gold medalist in Budapest in the 200 fly and silver medalist in the 1500 free, qualified fourth in 8:24.98. Italy’s Simona Quadarella took fifth in 8:27.70, and Hungary’s Boglarka Kapas was sixth in 8:28.93.
China’s Zhang Yuhan (8:29.52) and Great Britain’s Holly Hibbott (8:30.66) picked up the last two qualifying spots for finals.
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