World Championships, Day Seven Semifinals: Ruta Meilutyte Chasing Fourth Straight Title in 50 Breaststroke; Lilly King Advances
The semifinals on Night Seven of the World Championships in Singapore were all about speed, with competition slated in the women’s 50-meter freestyle, men’s 50 backstroke and women’s 50 breaststroke. In the women’s 50 freestyle, the door is open for a new champion, as three-time reigning titlist Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden is taking the year off and expecting the birth of her first child.
In the women’s 50 breaststroke, American Lilly King will try to extend her career into the final before retirement calls. King has medaled in the 50 breast at the World Championships on three occasions, capturing gold in 2017 and 2019. As for the men’s 50 backstroke, South African Pieter Coetze is chasing podium appearances in each backstroke event, having already won gold in the 100 backstroke and silver in the 200 backstroke.
Here is what unfolded in the Night Seven semifinals:
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Women’s 50 Breaststroke
Lithuania’s Ruta Meilutyte is one swim away from her fourth consecutive world crown in the 50 breaststroke. The world champ from 2022-2024, Meilutyte was the only athlete to break the 30-second barrier in the semifinals, going 29.54. That effort was a half-second clear of China’s Tang Qianting, who earned the second seed for the final in 30.04.
American Lilly King, who will head into retirement after the World Championships, extended her career by another race, thanks to a performance of 30.22. That effort was good for fourth in the semifinals, just .02 behind the 30.20 from Italian Benedetta Pilato in the first semifinal. King is a two-time world champion in this event and will chase one more trip to the podium in a career that will eventually land her in the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
Women’s 50 Freestyle
An extremely tight field is assembled for the women’s 50 freestyle final, with less than three tenths splitting the eight qualifiers in the semifinal round. Leading the way was Poland’s Kasia Wasick, a 33-year-old Polish swimmer aiming to win her first world title. Wasick is a long-time contender in the 50 free who won World Championships silver in 2022 and bronze last February. Wasick finished a tenth ahead of the Netherlands’ Milou van Wijk, who went 24.29. Van Wijk missed a medal in the 100 free by just two hundredths.
Americans Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske are the only two swimmers to break 24 this year, but both have struggled with stomach illness this week. Both followed up so-so prelims swims with strong performances in the semifinal round. Walsh tied Australia’s Meg Harris for the third seed in 24.31 while Huske went 24.41 for seventh. Chinese teammates Cheng Yujie and Wu Qingfeng tied for fifth in 24.36 while Belgium’s Florine Gaspard was the last woman in at 24.45.
Men’s 50 Backstroke
Russian swimmers competing as neutral athletes have won three medals this week in Singapore, with gold in the mixed 400 medley relay plus two silvers. Two further medals could follow in the 50 back after Kliment Kolesnikov and Pavel Samusenko went 1-2 in the semifinal round. Kolesnikov is the owner of seven of the nine sub-24 performances in history, and he went 24.16 here. Samusenko placed second in 24.31.
Pieter Coetze, already the gold medalist in the 100 back and silver medalist in the 200, placed third here in 24.32. He has now lowered the African record twice in one day. Poland’s Ksawery Masiuk took fourth in 24.41, followed by Greece’s Apostolos Christou and Hungary’s Hubert Kos tying for fifth in 24.50. Kos won gold in the 200 back and silver in the 200 IM earlier in the meet. The last two swimmers to make it were American Quintin McCarty (24.52) and Australia’s Isaac Cooper (24.53). Cooper won gold in the event last February in Doha.
