Heavyweight Matchups Spotlight of Mare Nostrum Monte Carlo

Photo Courtesy: FINA Doha 2014

The final day of the Mare Nostrum Monte Carlo stop featured some heavyweight matchups set up throughout the schedule.

Katinka Hosszu followed her title trifecta from yesterday with an immediate victory tonight as she clocked a 4:08.47 in the women’s 400-meter free.

Chihiro Igarashi placed second in the event with a time of 4:09.18, while Antonia Massone snared third in 4:15.78.

Daiya Seto, the second-ranked 400 IMer in the world with a 4:10.04 from the Japan Open, popped a meet-record 4:10.58 in the event for the win tonight. That swim smashed his 2013 record of 4:13.09.

The 400 IM proved to be stacked with the top three ranked swimmers in the world competing in the finale. David Verraszto, third in the world with a 4:11.52 from the Canet stop, took second with a 4:11.28 to improve on his season best. Kosuke Hagino, top-ranked with a 4:08.54 from Japanese Nationals, wound up a surprising third in 4:13.05.

South Africa’s Chad le Clos unleashed a meet record in the men’s 100-meter fly to shoot to third in the world. He clocked a 51.66 that tied him with Jayden Hadler, and downed le Clos’ previous best of 51.88 from the Canet stop.

USA’s Ryan Lochte grabbed second overall in the 100 fly with a time of 52.64, while Takuro Fujii picked up third in 52.69. Fujii has been faster this year with a seventh-ranked 51.77 from Japanese Nationals.

Japan’s Natsumi Hoshi crushed the field in the women’s 200-meter fly with a time of 2:08.25. That’s well off her fourth-ranked 2:06.66, but was more than enough to down the rest of the field.

Sakiko Shimizu finished second in 2:11.03, while Great Britain’s Emma Smithurst claimed third in 2:12.95. Hosszu, surprisingly, faded to fourth in 2:15.17.

Ryosuke Irie, the top-ranked swimmer in the world with a 1:54.62 from the BHP Super Series, topped the men’s 200-meter back in 1:55.36. Teammate Masaki Kaneko finished second in 1:58.18 with Germany’s Christian Diener earning third in 1:58.32.

Denmark’s Mie Nielsen cleared 1:00 to win the women’s 100-meter back in 59.51. Her best this year is a third-ranked 59.14 from the Golden Tour. Zimbabwe’s Kirsty Coventry placed second in 1:00.87 with USA’s Kathleen Baker holding her own with a third-place 1:00.92. Hosszu continued to struggle with an eighth-place 1:02.75.

Japan’s Yasuhiro Koseki set the meet record with a 59.93 to win the men’s 100-meter breast. That’s the first sub-1:00 in this meet’s history, breaking the 1:00.24 set by Alexander Dale Oen in 2011. Koseki’s time fell a bit short of his third-ranked season best of 59.73 from Japanese Nationals.

Christian Vom Lehn took second in 1:00.89 with Hendrik Feldwehr claiming third in 1:00.94.

Denmark’s Rikke Moller Pedersen, ranked second in the world in the 200-meter breast with a 2:21.60, won the event tonight in 2:22.53. She downed top-ranked Kanako Watanabe (2:20.90 from Japanese Nationals), who placed second in 2:23.86 in what proved to be a highly anticipated matchup.

Kierra Smith took third overall in 2:25.67.

Paul Biedermann, ranked at the top of the 200 free with a 1:45.60 from German Nationals, won the event in 1:46.72 tonight. Myles Brown placed second in 1:48.45 with Lochte earning third in 1:49.17.

Bahamas’ Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace took home the women’s 100-meter free in 53.97 with Charlotte Bonnet taking second in 54.12. Miki Uchida wound up third in 54.21.

Kanako Watanabe clipped Hosszu in the women’s 200-meter IM, 2:09.95 to 2:09.97. Both swimmers cleared Hosszu’s meet record of 2:10.02 from prelims, and both have been faster this year with Hosszu holding a top-ranked 2:08.66 and Watanabe in third with 2:09.81. Alexandra Wenk snared third in 2:13.39.

Mare Nostrum 50 Knockout Finals:

Women’s 50 fly:
Jeanette Ottesen beats Rikako Ikee, 25.61 to 26.29.

Men’s 50 fly:
Takeshi Kawamoto beats Matt Josa, 23.57 to 23.98.

Women’s 50 back:
Kirsty Coventry beats Kathleen Baker, 28.08 to 28.26.

Men’s 50 back:
Jeremy Stravius beats Carl Louis Schwarz, 24.89 to 24.98.

Women’s 50 breast:
Results not available.

Men’s 50 breast:
Hendrik Feldwehr (27.43) beat both Caba Siladji (27.45) and Yasuhiro Koseki (27.65).

Women’s 50 free:
Pernille Blume beats Dorothea Brandt, 24.86 to 25.02.

Men’s 50 free:
Katsumi Nakamura beats Andrey Grechin, 21.90 to 22.47.

2015 Mare Nostrum Monte Carlo, Day Two – Results

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