World Championships, Day 4 Prelims: Daiya Seto, So Ogata Strong to Start 200 IM

Daiya Seto of Japan competes in rde Men's Medley 400m Heats during rde 20rd World Aquatics Championships at rde Marine Messe Hall A in Fukuoka (Japan), July 23rd, 2023.

Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

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World Championships, Day 4 Prelims: Daiya Seto, So Ogata Strong to Start 200 IM

The first three days at the World Aquatics Championships haven’t been the best for the host Japanese in the pool. But the male 200 IMers are out to change that.

Daiya Seto and So Ogata won heats in the prelims of the 200 individual medley at Marine Messe Hall Wednesday morning to take the second and third seed, respectively, into the finals. Seto went 1:57.80, Ogata 1:57.88. They trail only the pace set by Duncan Scott of Great Britain in 1:57.76.

A pair of the busiest swimmers on the day coasted into the semis. Carson Foster was seventh in 1:58.24, with Leon Marchand ninth in 1:58.38 as they plot a repeat of their finish in the 400 IM.

This may be Marchand’s busiest day of his busy program, though Foster is in the same boat. Both will swim the final of the men’s 200 butterfly at 8:53 p.m. local time, then 36 minutes later contest the IM semifinals. They’ll be in adjacent lanes again tonight.

Foster, the runner-up to Marchand in the 400 IM, is the top seed in the 200 fly final after going 1:53.85 in semifinals. Marchand is second in 1:54.21. (Marchand would also be the logical choice for breaststroke in the French mixed medley relay, which caps the night session, though a triple might be a tad too much for anyone.)

Foster and Marchand got to match up Wednesday morning to start it off, wearing matching white caps in middle lanes in the final heat of six. But they played second fiddle to Ogata, who won the head. He held off a last-50 rally by Jeremy Desplanches, the Swiss swimmer fourth in 1:58.00.

Seto, who won bronze in this event at the 2022 World Championships and in the 400 IM earlier this week, put a charge into the home fans by going 1:57.80 to win the first of three circle-seeded heats. He held off a late charge by Thomas Neill, who was second in 1:58.30. Hugo Gonzalez was third in 1:58.47.

Scott won the next-to-least heat in 1:57.76, holding off Lewis Clareburt. The Kiwi is the fifth overall seed in 1:58.24.

The semifinals offer a panoply of nations represented. Gabriel Lopes of Portugal is in there in 14th place at 1:58.77. Finlay Knox is there, as well, in 12th, while Hugo Gonzalez of Spain is 10th. Both Americans are through, Shaine Casas 11th in 1:58.56.

Tokyo Olympic 200 IM champ Wang Shun of China snuck in in 16th, .10 over Ron Polonsky.

A couple of scratches thinned the field. Hungary’s Hubert Kos, in Lane 3 of the penultimate heat, was a DNS, as was Algeria’s Jaouad Syoud in the first circle-seeded heat.

m200im-prelims

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