The second stop of the 2019 FINA Champions Swim Series continued today in Budapest, Hungary, with Sarah Sjostrom continuing a strong weekend of racing. The Swedish world record holder won 3 more events today to give her 5 overall individual wins in Budapest.
This is the second of three stops in the 2019 series, with the final stop planned for Indianapolis later this month. You can see a full recap of the day’s events below, as well as links to the results:
Men’s 400 Free
Lithuanian Danas Rapsys absolutely smashed his own national record in the men’s 400 free tonight, taking more than three seconds off the previous record when he touched first in 3:43.36. That also moves him all the way up to #2 in the world rankings behind only Sun Yang, who posted a 3:42.75 at the last stop of the Champions Series in Guangzhou.
In second was Mykhailo Romanchuk, who used a blistering last 50 to vault ahead of Aleksandr Krasnykh, 3:47.08 to 3:47.85.
Women’s 200 Fly
The women’s 200 fly featured some of the top times so far this year, with Katinka Hosszu ultimately coming away with an impressive time of 2:06.62. That is the top time in the world this year and makes Hosszu the only women to swim under 2:07 in 2019.
While Hosszu was out fast, it was Great Britain’s Margaret Alys Thomas who was leading through the middle of the race, leading at both the 100 and 150-meter marks. She couldn’t hold on down the stretch however, and ended up fourth in the heat with a 2:08.52. German Franziska Hentke was second (2:07.31), followed by Boglarka Kapas (2:07.67). Hentke and Kapas times are both within the top 10 in the world this year, while Thomas’ swim sits just outside the top 10.
Men’s 100 Fly
Chad le Clos got his first win in Budapest in the men’s 100 fly, fighting off another close field to get his hands on the wall first in 51.25. That moves him up to #2 in the world rankings, behind only Frenchman Mehdy Metella’s 50.85 from French Nationals. Just behind him was Hungarian Kristof Milak, who had posted the #1 time in the world in the 200 fly yesterday, beating le Clos in the process. He was second here in 51.67, a season best that puts him within the top 10 in the world rankings.
Teammate Lazlo Cseh was third here in 52.20, just ahead of Italian Piero Codia (52.22).
Women’s 50 Free
Sarah Sjostrom added a third win to her tally here in Budapest, throwing down a sub-24 second 50 free to take the win and just miss her own top ranked time in the world. Sjostrom was first off the blocks and first to wall in 23.97, exactly 3-tenths off of her own world record and just a few hundreths off her own season best. She remains the only woman to break 24 seconds in the 50 this year, sitting right ahead of Cate Campbell whose season-best is a 24.00 from the Guangzhou Champions Series stop.
In second behind Sjostrom was reigning Olympic Champion Pernille Blume, who also claimed the silver in the 100 free yesterday behind the Swede. Blume was 24.52 here, a touch slower than her season best of 24.28 from Guangzhou.
Men’s 200 Breast
Anton Chupkov continued his strong season with another win the 200 breast, this time over world-record holder Ippei Watanabe and reigning Olympic gold medalist Dmitriy Balandin. Chupkov used his typical back-half strategy to take the race, sitting in last at the 50 mark before out-splitting the rest of the field on the last three 50’s to take the win in 2:08.23. Watanabe was with Chupkov the whole way, touching just behind him in 2:08.61. Both men have been faster already this year and sit first and second in the world rankings, with Chupkov currently leading the world rankings with a 2:07.00 and Watanabe right behind with a 2:07.02.
Balandin ended up back in third after leading the first 50, touching in 2:10.73. American Josh Prenot rounded out the heat with a 2:11.60.
Women’s 100 Back
Katinka Hosszu grabbed her second win of the meet in the 100 back, besting the rest of the field with a 59.58. Hosszu was actually in fourth place at the turn, with all four swimmers bunched up between 29.1 and 29.5. Russian Anastasia Fesikova was also under 1:00 to finish second in 59.73. Australian Emily Seebohm (1:00.44) and Great Britain’s Georgia Davies (1:00.95) rounded out the rest of the heat.
Men’s 200 Back
Russian Evgeny Rylov scored another event win for Russia in the men’s 200 back, grabbing gold with a 1:55.92. That is about 2 seconds off his season best of 1:54.00 from Russian Nationals that currently leads the world.
Just behind in second place was American Jacob Pebley in 1:56.67. Pebley had an amazing final 50 (29.36) that helped separate him from the rest of the field. Third was Xu Jiayu, who was well off his season-best here and not showing the form that he had on the opening stop of the Champions Series.
Women’s 50 Fly
Sarah Sjostrom grabbed her second win of the evening in the women’s 50 fly, touching first by more than half a second with a 25.32. That is the fastest time in the world. Second was Egypt’s Farida Osman, who was just a touch off her own season-best with a 25.90. Canadian Penny Oleksiak was third in 26.04 also just off her season best, while Pernille Blume was back in the water shortly after the 50 free to finish fourth in 26.91.
Men’s 100 Free
Belgian Pieter Timmers won the 100 free in 48.32, a season-best for the reigning Olympic silver medalist. He finished about three-tenths ahead of Mehdy Metella, who finished with the silver in 48.62. Metella’s season best stands at a 48.27 from French Nationals. First at the 50 but third at the finish was Vlad Morozov (49.03), who finished just ahead of teammate Kliment Kolesnikov (49.07).
Women’s 200 IM
Hosszu won her third event of the evening, posting another very strong swim with a 2:08.81 in the 200 IM. That is just a few tenths off her world-leading time, quite a feat for her third event in under an hour.
In second was South Korean Seoyeong Kim with a very strong 2:09.97. That drops a few tenths off her season best from Guangzhou, and should be a good sign for her heading into World Championships on her home soil this summer.
Men’s 50 Breast
Brazil’s Joao Gomes was just off his world-leading season best to win the 50 breast, touching first in 26.64. He was just ahead of teammate Felipe Lima, who was second here in 26.86. Gomes and Lima sit #1 and #2 in the world, respectively, with their 26.4’s from the Brazil Trophy. American Michael Andrew was third in 27.10, just .03 off his time from Guangzhou.
Women’s 100 Breast
Yulia Efimova completed her sweep of the breaststroke events in the 100, touching first in the top time in the world (1:05.99). Right behind her were the two Americans in the race, Katie Meili (1:07.28) and Molly Hannis (1:07.66). Great Britain’s Siobhan O’Connor was back in the pool right after her 200 IM and finished fourth in 1:12.84.
Men’s 50 Back
American Justin Ress improved on his season-best to win the 50 back over teammate and yesterday’s 100 back champion Matt Grevers, 24.68 to 24.88. Ress is now the second fastest American this year, sitting just .02 behind Michael Andrew. Also under 25 seconds was Romainia’s Robert Glinta, who was third in 24.95. Kliment Kolesnikov was back in the water shortly after the 100 free to finish fourth here in 25.06.
Women’s 200 Free
One of the most anticipated match-ups had to wait for the final individual event of the second series stop, with Federica Pellegrini going head to head with Sarah Sjostrom in the women’s 200 free. Sjostrom made it 3-for-3 on the day, winning her fifth overall event in Budapest with a come from behind 1:56.58 over Pellegrini.
Pellegrini and Sjostrom were neck and neck throughout the race, with Pellegrini holding a slight lead going into the final 50. Sjostrom fought back with a monster 28.62 closing split, securing her the win. Pellegrini was second in 1:57.09.
Mixed 400 Medley Relay
Team 3 of Fesikova (59.69), Meili (1:07.22), Andrew (51.88), and Morozov (48.61) put together the top time in the mixed 400 medley relay.
All team members had the fastest splits of the field for their respective strokes minus Andrew, who was out-split on the fly leg by German Phillip Heintz from second-place Team 4, who was 51.35 on the third leg.
Notably, Sjostrom was 53.35 on the anchor leg in her fourth swim of the day immediately following the finals of the 200 free. Jacob pebley also posted a season best with his 53.96 100 back lead-off.
