World Championships, Day Three Men’s Prelims: USA’s Kieran Smith In Position For Gold In 400 Freestyle

A Special Thanks to Deep Blue Media for providing the images from this meet

World Championships, Day Three Men’s Prelims: Kieran Smith In Position For Gold In 400 Freestyle

The first two days of competition at the World Short Course Championships in Melbourne have featured several world records in relay competition, along with a strong showing by the host nation. Heading into Day Three, Australia has collected a meet-leading five gold medals, to go with two silver medals and a pair of bronze medals.

The United States tops the overall medal count with 11 pieces of hardware, including a title from veteran and six-time Olympic medalist Ryan Murphy in the 100-meter backstroke. Murphy overwhelmed the opposition in the final, registering the second-fastest time in history at 48.50. A Team USA captain, Murphy was back in action during the Day Three preliminaries, racing the 50 backstroke.

In addition to the 50 backstroke, men’s prelims on the third morning included the 200 butterfly, 100 individual medley, 400 freestyle and 200 freestyle relay.

Here is a look at what went down during the Day Three prelims:

Complete Results

50 Backstroke

Poland’s Kacper Stokowski and Australian Isaac Cooper were the only two swimmers to break the 23-second mark in the 50 backstroke, with Stokowski leading the way in a championship record of 22.78. Cooper was just behind in 22.79 while South African Pieter Coetze, the silver medalist in the event at the Commonwealth Games, qualified third in 23.01. Cooper’s time was good for an Australian record, breaking the 22.91 of Mitch Larkin from 2015.

In fourth was Trinidad & Tobago’s Dylan Carter, who swept the World Cup circuit and posted a 23.07 for his prelim swim. Both American men advanced out of the morning heats, as Hunter Armstrong tied with Greece’s Apostolos Christou for eighth in 23.18, while Ryan Murphy was 10th in 23.22. Murphy only did what was necessary to move on, given he was nearly a second faster on the front of the mixed 200 medley relay.

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200 Butterfly

The United States’ Trenton Julian adopted his typical approach for prelims of the 200 butterfly, pressing the pace from the start and holding on down the stretch to earn the top seed in 1:49.93. Down the last length, Japan’s Daiya Seto narrowed his deficit to Julian, touching in 1:49.99 for the third seed. Seto was the short-course world champion in the event in 2018.

Also going under 1:50 and taking Lane Five for the final was South African Chad Le Clos, who won the last heat in 1:49.98. Teppei Morimoto (1:50.26) will be the fourth seed and Canadian teenager Ilya Kharun advanced to the medals race in seventh place.

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100 Individual Medley

Best known for his skill in the sprint-freestyle events, France’s Maxime Grousset put his range on display in the prelims of the 100 individual medley, as his mark of 51.94 led the way and was one of four efforts under the 52-second barrier. Grousset was followed by Canadian Finlay Knox, who was coming off a Canadian record in the 200 medley from the first night of the meet. Knox posted a time of 51.95.

Shaine Casas, one of the pre-meet favorites, eased through his prelims in 51.96 and remains one of the top contenders for the gold medal. He’ll be joined in the semifinals by Japan’s Shuya Matsumoto, who went 51.99 for fourth place. American Michael Andrew, whose meet has gotten off to a bumpy start with early eliminations in the 50 butterfly and 100 breaststroke, moved on in seventh place at 52.21.

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400 Freestyle

American Kieran Smith took top honors in the last heat, thanks to a time of 3:36.91, and will be the top seed for the final. Smith controlled his prelim from the start and was followed in the No. 2 slot in qualifying by Italian Matteo Ciampi (3:37.73). Also going under the 3:38 barrier was Japan’s Katsuhiro Matsumoto, who clocked 3:37.96.

Australian veteran Mack Horton put himself in position to return to an international podium after a performance of 3:38.09, which was just ahead of countryman Thomas Neill (3:38.23). The United States will have a second representative in the final in Jake Magahey, who was eighth in 3:38.74.

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200 Freestyle Relay

The Dutch quartet of Kenzo Simons, Nyls Korstanje, StanPijnenburg and Thom de Boer turned in the fastest time of the morning, a 1:23.70 that was ahead of the 1:24.07 from the United States. The American squad was paced by Shaine Casas’ anchor leg of 20.84. Italy qualified in third in 1:24.13.

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