World Championships, Day One Semifinals: Alex Walsh Qualifies First in 200 IM; McKeown, Shanahan, Franceschi DQed

Alex Walsh of United States of America competes in the 200m Individual Medley Women Heats during the 20th World Aquatics Championships at the Marine Messe Hall A in Fukuoka (Japan), July 23rd, 2023. Kaylee Mckeown placed 2nd. Alex Walsh placed 4th.

Alex Walsh -- Photo Courtesy: Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

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World Championships, Day One Semifinals: Alex Walsh Qualifies First in 200 IM; McKeown, Shanahan, Franceschi DQed

The defending world champion in the women’s 200 IM let off the gas down the stretch of her semifinal swim and cruised to the finish, but that was only the beginning of the story of the first semifinal heat of the 200 IM. Alex Walsh finished in a time of 2:08.27, not far off her season-best time of 2:07.89 from last month’s U.S. Nationals. Kaylee McKeown, the Australian who earned silver at last year’s Worlds, touched second in 2:09.30, but the hammer dropped moments later.

When the official results were posted, three swimmers were disqualified: McKeown, Great Britain’s Katie Shanahan and Italy’s Sara Franceshi. All had appeared to post quick enough times to qualify for the final before video review ruled all three out of the final. In McKeown’s case, it was an illegal backstroke-to-breaststroke turn that made the difference. McKeown turned past vertical before touching the wall, illegal in a medley race, and because of that turn, a key contender is out of the final.

In the second semifinal, China’s Yu Yiting put together a dominant performance on the way to a time of 2:09.04, seven tenths off her best time of 2:08.34 that ranks fifth in the world. Yu finished just ahead of fast-finishing Dutch swimmer Marrit Steenbergen, who claimed the third seed overall in 2:09.30 while Jenna Forrester, one of the few survivors of the disqualification string in the first heat, was fourth in 2:10.03.

Japan’s Yui Ohashi, the Olympic champion in 2021, returned to the final after missing out last year. Ohashi qualified fifth in 2:10.32. Meanwhile, Kate Douglass of the United States had been the top seed after prelims, but she cruised in her semifinal race and allowed Yu to pull away. The decision to cruise worked out as Douglass got into the final with a sixth-place time of 2:10.38 and saved enough energy to return to anchor the American women’s 400 free relay to silver shortly thereafter.

China’s Ye Shiwen, the 2011 world champion and 2012 Olympic gold medalist, qualified seventh in 2:10.57, with Israel’s Anastasia Gorbenko claiming eighth in 2:10.62. Ireland’s Ellen Walshe was the only swimmer to break 2:11 and not get into the final, as she swam a time of 2:10.92. Meanwhile, Canada’s Mary-Sophie Harvey struggled to an 11th-place time of 2:11.47 after clocking 2:09.65 for third in prelims.

McKeown had been one of the big favorites in the 200 IM along with the two Americans, but she faced a difficult decision in the final with the 200 IM final occurring just after the semifinals of the 100 backstroke, in which McKeown holds the world record. At last year’s Worlds, she actually scratched the 100 back to concentrate on the IM.

The ruling in Sunday’s semi eliminates any decision for McKeown, and it also provides an opportunity for University of Virginia teammates Walsh and Douglass, the only two swimmers remaining in the field who have ever cracked 2:10, to finish 1-2. Summer McIntosh owns the top time in the world this year at 2:06.89, but she dropped the 200 IM from her program in Fukuoka to focus on other events.

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