2017 World Championships – Caeleb Dressel’s Massive 100 Free Highlights Fifth Night

by Andy Ross

27 July 2017, 12:20pm

The fifth night of action from the pool at the 2017 FINA World Championships in Budapest featured five exciting finals. No world records went down but there was plenty of fast swimming. Chase Kalisz and Caeleb Dressel had huge swims in the pool as they won titles in the 200 IM and 100 free respectively.

Etiene Medeiros and Mireia Belmonte won their titles in the 50 back and 200 fly as they won their first gold medals at the World Championships. The United States closed out the night with a win in the women’s 4×200 free relay for their fourth straight World title in the event beating China.

Heat Sheets

Results

Tonight’s events:

• Men’s 200 IM
• Women’s 100 Free (SF)
• Men’s 100 Free
• Women’s 50 Back
• Men’s 200 Breast (SF)
• Women’s 200 Fly
• Women’s 200 Breast (SF)
• Men’s 200 Back (SF)
• Women’s 4×200 Free Relay

Men’s 200 IM

It was the first time since 2001 that someone not named Michael Phelps or Ryan Lochte would stand on top of the podium in the 200 IM at the FINA World Championships. It wasn’t Phelps or Lochte but it was an American in Chase Kalisz winning the 200 IM final on Thursday night in Budapest with a 1:55.56 for the eighth straight gold medal for the United States in the 200 IM at Worlds. Kalisz held off Kosuke Hagino of Japan for the gold medal as Hagino finished with a 1:56.01.

The bronze went to China’s Wang Shun as he was the only swimmer to break 28 on the last 50. Wang swam a 1:56.28. Great Britain’s Max Litchfield (1:56.86), Japan’s Daiya Seto (1:56.97), China’s Qin Haiyang (1:57.06), Germany’s Philip Heintz (1:57.43) and Switzerland’s Jeremy Desplanches (1:57.50) also competed in the final.

The time for Qin is a new World Junior Record as he broke his record from semi-finals that was a 1:57.81. This is also the third time Qin has broken the WJR at these World Championships as he broke it in the heats as well.

The United States now has eight total gold medals in the men’s 200 IM at the World Championships.

Women’s 100 Free (SF)

Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom leads a very tight and talented 100 free field into Friday’s final as she swam a 52.44 on Thursday night in Budapest at the FINA World Championships. Sjostrom leads a pair of Americans in Simone Manuel (52.69) and Mallory Comerford (52.85). Manuel’s time was just off of Comerford’s 52.59 American Record from Sunday.

Denmark’s Pernille Blume (52.99), Australia’s Bronte Campbell (53.04), Canada’s Penny Oleksiak (53.05), Netherlands’ Ranomi Kromowidjojo (53.09) and Australia’s Emma McKeon (53.20) will also join the top three in the final tomorrow.

Seven of the eight girls in Friday’s final have medaled individually in either the Olympics or World Championships as Comerford is the only one that has not. It will be a very exciting final and it could take a World Record or a sub-52 to win.

Men’s 100 Free

Caeleb Dressel continued to flex his sprint prowess in finals of the men’s 100 free, holding on to his mark as the top seed with a first place finish of 47.17.

His time eclipses the record he set on the first day of competition with a 47.26 lead for the men’s 400 free relay. Previously the record had been a 47.33 set by David Walters in 2009.

Comparative splits:

• Dressel (2017): 22.31, 24.86 = 47.17
• Dressel (2017): 22.29, 24.97 = 47.26
• Walters (2009): 22.78, 24.55 = 47.33

Fellow American Nathan Adrian thundered to second, holding off a fast-charging Mehdy Metella of France. The two delivered similar times of 47.87 and 47.89 to round out the podium.

Australia’s Cameron McEvoy picked up fourth overall with a 47.92, followed by a tie between Great Britain’s Duncan Scott and Brazil’s Marcelo Chierighini. The two stopped the clock at matching times of 48.11.

Jack Cartwright of Australia turned in a 48.24 for seventh, while Ukraine’s Sergii Shevtsov concluded the top eight with a 48.26.

This is the United States’ first World title in the 100 free since Anthony Ervin won in 2001.

Women’s 50 Back

It didn’t take a world record to win the women’s 50 back final as Brazil’s Etiene Medeiros won the final with a 27.14 just ahead of China’s Fu Yuanhui (27.15). Medeiros’ time broke her South American Record from last night that was a 27.18. Medeiros and Fu missed Zhao Jing’s world record of 27.06 from 2009. It looked like Fu had the race in her hands but she may have taken an extra stroke at the wall that cost her the gold medal.

Belarus’ Aliaksandra Herasimenia finished in third up in lane 1 with a 27.23 to tie the European Record from Daniela Samulski of Germany from 2009. Australia’s Emily Seebohm (27.37), USA’s Kathleen Baker (27.50), China’s Wang Xueer (27.55), Australia’s Holly Barratt (27.60) and Great Britain’s Georgia Davies (27.61) also competed in the final.

Baker missed her American Record that she set last night at 27.48.

This is Brazil’s first gold medal in the women’s 50 backstroke at the FINA World Championships.

Men’s 200 Breast (SF)

Russia’s Anton Chupkov broke the Championship and European Records in the semi-finals of the men’s 200 breaststroke with a 2:07.14 to move ahead of Hungarian Daniel Gyurta’s record of 2:07.23 from the 2013 Worlds. Chupkov used the only sub 32 second 50 on the last 50 to take the top seed. Chupkov will get pressure from world record holder Ippei Watanabe of Japan who is the second seed at 2:07.44.

Great Britain’s Ross Murdoch (2:07.72), Japan’s Yasuhiro Koseki (2:07.80), USA’s Kevin Cordes (2:08.40), Russia’s Ilya Khomenko (2:08.58), Australia’s Matthew Wilson (2:08.64) and USA’s Nic Fink (2:08.80) will also swim in Friday’s final.

Both the reigning Olympic champion (Dmitriy Balandin) and the defending World champion (Marco Koch) failed to advance past the semi-finals. Koch (2:09.61, 11th) and Balandin (2:09.69, 13th) were well off their 2:07’s from their respective gold medal swims in the past.

The world record of 2:06.67 by Watanabe could go down in Friday’s championship final.

Women’s 200 Fly

Just a year removed from her first Olympic gold medal, Mireia Belmonte of Spain won her first individual World Championship title as she swam a 2:05.26 to hold off Germany’s Franziska Hentke for gold as Hentke got the silver at 2:05.39. Hentke won her first individual medal at the World Championships with her silver medal.

Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu picked up her second medal of the championships as she picked up bronze here with a 2:06.02. This is Hosszu’s first medal internationally in this event since picking up bronze in 2013.

South Korea’s An Sehyeon (2:06.67), China’s Zhang Yufei (2:07.06), Japan’s Suzuka Hasegawa (2:07.43), Hungary’s Liliana Szilagyi (2:07.58) and China’s Zhou Yilin (2:07.67) also competed in the championship final.

Belmonte picks up Spain’s second gold medal at the World Championship on the women’s side as Belmonte joins Nina Zhivanevskaya as Spanish winners at the Worlds as the latter won the gold in the 50 back in 2003.

Hentke also picks up Germany’s first medal in this event at Worlds since Annika Mehlhorn won silver in 2001.

Women’s 200 Breast (SF)

Yulia Efimova was long and controlled in her semi-final heat of the women’s 200 breast as she will enter Friday’s final as the top seed in the event with a 2:21.49 to lead American Bethany Galat (2:21.86). Efimova was out in 1:10.55 and back in 1:10.94 as she leads Galat and Australia’s Taylor McKeown (2:22.10) into the final.

China’s Shi Jinglin (2:23.17), Canada’s Kierra Smith (2:23.18), Spain’s Jessica Vall (2:23.49), Great Britain’s Molly Renshaw (2:23.51) and USA’s Lilly King (2:23.81) will also swim in the final.

Efimova will be looking to recapture her world title from 2013 as she is the only swimmer in the final who has broken 2:21 as she has been 2:19 in the past.

Men’s 200 Back (SF)

100 back champion Xu Jiayu leads the 200 back semis at the FINA World Championships in Budapest ahead of American Ryan Murphy and Russian Evgeny Rylov into Friday night’s final. Xu went out fast under world record pace but came back to the field on the second half. Xu leads the semi-finals with a 1:54.79 ahead of Murphy (1:54.93) and Rylov (1:54.96).

Russia’s Kliment Kolesnikov (1:55.15) broke the world junior record in the semi-finals as he broke his own record from the Russian Nationals earlier in the year when he went 1:55.49. USA’s Jacob Pebley (1:55.20), Japan’s Ryosuke Irie (1:55.79), Hungary’s Peter Bernek (1:55.79) and Lithuania’s Danas Rapsys (1:56.11) will also swim in the A-final.

The United States has won eight of the last nine world titles in the men’s 200 back as Murphy could add on to the tally much like Chase Kalisz winning the 200 IM earlier tonight, adding onto the American history in that event.

Women’s 4×200 Free Relay

The United States was in a tussle with China in the final of the women’s 800 free relay, but Katie Ledecky anchored with a 1:54.02 to win the fourth straight world title for the US in the relay at the World Championships. Leah Smith (1:55.97), Mallory Comerford (1:56.92), Melanie Margalis (1:56.48) and Ledecky swam a 7:43.39 to win the gold medal.

The Americans had some pressure from China as they finished with the silver medal at 7:44.96. Ai Yanhan (1:56.62), Liu Zixuan (1:56.34), Zhang Yuhan (1:56.54) and Li Bingjie (1:55.46) swam for the Chinese and upgrade their bronze from the 2015 Worlds with a silver here in Budapest.

Australia held off Russia for bronze as Madison Wilson (1:57.33), Emma McKeon (1:56.26), Kotuku Ngawati (1:58.31) and Ariarne Titmus (1:56.61) swam for the Aussies as they held off Russia with a 7:48.51. Russia was fourth with 7:48.59.

Japan (7:50.43), Hungary (7:51.33), Netherlands (7:54.29) and Canada (7:55.57) also competed in the championship final.

Other big splits in the field were from Netherlands’ Femke Heemskerk (1:55.46), Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu (1:56.28) and Russia’s lead-off Veronika Popova (1:55.95).

The United States has now won seven of the last eight world titles in the relay.

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Shaheen Alghofari

6 years ago

Another correct prediction Joe Stott Betsy Perry

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Michael Maloney

6 years ago

dressel wins his 1st ind race and hes on the lane lines like hes Phelps….win a few more before becoming a meglomaniac…

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Lane Four

6 years ago

Reply to  Michael Maloney

Really uncalled for Michael Baloney. Nasty is more like it.

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CC

6 years ago

Dressel will take down Schooling easily…..

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