World Championships: Apostolos Christou Leads Tight Field Into Final of 100 Backstroke; Americans Lurking

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World Championships: Apostolos Christou Leads Tight Field Into Final of 100 Backstroke; Americans Lurking

A look at the track record of Apostolos Christou reveals an athlete who has been a premier continental performer for Greece. With three bronze medals from the European Championships in the 100-meter backstroke, Christou is an obvious talent. Now, the 25-year-old is in search of a breakthrough on the global scene.

Racing in the second semifinal at the World Championships in Budapest, Christou easily grabbed the top seed for the final of the 100 backstroke, as he clocked a personal-best time of 52.09. Christou led his semifinal wire-to-wire, going out in 25.26 and coming home in 26.83 to edge Italian Thomas Ceccon, who touched the wall in 52.12.

Christou and Ceccon will be the favorites for gold on Monday night. While the Greek standout is flourishing in his prime event, Ceccon has looked sharp in several swims through the early stages of the World Champs. Ceccon is in the final of the 50 butterfly and contributed to the Italian 400 freestyle relay, which earned the bronze medal.

The second semifinal also featured the No. 3 seed for the final, as Hunter Armstrong recorded a time of 52.37. Armstrong has been on a roll since April, when he set a world record in the 50 backstroke and won the 100 backstroke over compatriot Ryan Murphy at the United States International Team Trials. As for Murphy, he looked relaxed en route to the sixth spot for the final, going 52.80. That time was just behind France’s Yohann Ndoye-Brouard (52.72).

Two-time defending world champion Xu Jiayu of China failed to advance out of the semifinals, finishing 10th, while Russian Evgeny Rylov, the reigning Olympic champion, is not in Budapest while serving a FINA suspension for publicly supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin and his invasion of the Ukraine.

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