World University Games: Qin Haiyang Wraps Up Breaststroke Sweep; Cal Recruit Keaton Jones is Golden in 200 Back

Haiyang Qin of China celebrates after competing in the 200m Breaststroke Men Final during the 20th World Aquatics Championships at the Marine Messe Hall A in Fukuoka (Japan), July 28th, 2023. Haiyang Qin placed first winning the gold medal.

Qin Haiyang --

World University Games: Qin Haiyang Wraps Up Breaststroke Sweep; Cal Recruit Keaton Jones is Golden in 200 Back

The sixth of seven days of swimming competition at the World University Games in Chengdu, China had attention focused on Qin Haiyang and what he would do in the 50-meter breaststroke. Qin recently swept the breaststroke events at the World Championships and became the No. 2 performer in history in the one-lap event.

Here is a look at the Day Six action:

Meet Results

Women’s 800 Freestyle (Final)

Coming off a silver medal in the event at the World Champs, China’s Li Bingjie cruised to the gold medal. Li was 17 seconds off her Asian record from Fukuoka, but her 8:30.74 was enough for the title. Li was followed for the silver medal by South Africa’s Dune Coetzee, who touched in 8:32.88. The podium was completed by Italy’s Noemi Cesarano, who posted a time of 8:33.12.

WUG(W800FreeF)

Women’s 50 Breaststroke (Semifinals)

Lithuania’s Kotryna Teterevkova has some work ahead if she wants to complete the breaststroke triple in Chengdu. Already the winner of the 100 breast and 200 breast, Teterevkova moved into the final of the 50 breaststroke as the No. 3 seed, behind a time of 31.13. That mark trailed the 30.68 of Poland’s Dominika Sztandera and Brazil’s Jhennifer Alves da Conceicao, who went 31.11.

WUGS(W50BreastSF)

Men’s 100 Butterfly (Final)

Poland’s duo of Jakub Majerski and Adrian Jaskiewicz secured the top spots on the podium, with Majerski leading the way for gold in 51.41. Majerski led from start to finish while countryman Jaskiewicz used a late charge to move from fifth at the turn to the silver medal in 51.93. The bronze was claimed by Kazakhstan’s Adilbek Mussin in 52.03.

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Women’s 200 Freestyle (Final)

China’s Liu Yaxin gave her country its second freestyle gold of the session when she romped to a win in 1:56.84. That performance was more than a second ahead of the 1:58.69 turned in by Italy’s Giulia D’Innocenzo. Also reaching the podium was France’s Oceane Carnez, who went 1:59.73.

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Women’s 50 Backstroke (Final)

Poland delivered its second gold-silver sweep of the day when Adela Piskorska set a Games record over one lap of backstroke and was followed to the wall by Paulina Peda. Piskorska established a Games record of 27.84 and was the only athlete under the 28-second barrier. Peda checked in at 28.48, which earned her a silver-medal tie with American Anya Mostek.

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Men’s 50 Freestyle (Semifinals)

Italian Giovanni Izzo will head into the final of the dash as the top seed, following his semifinal mark of 22.34. That time gave Izzo a slight edge over Brazil’s Lucas Martins Costa Peixoto, who touched the wall in 22.38. Third-quickest into the final was Brazil’s Pedro Silva Spajari in 22.48.

WUG(M50FreeSF)

Men’s 200 Backstroke (Final)

The United States’ Keaton Jones, a Cal recruit, broke through for Team USA by prevailing in 1:57.66, which was .42 ahead of the 1:58.08 of Japan’s Kodai Nishiono. Jones was fourth after the opening 50 meters, but moved into the lead by the midway point and never relinquished that advantage. The bronze medal was picked up by Korea’s Kim Seongju in 1:59.99.

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Women’s 200 Butterfly (Semifinals)

Hungarian Dora Hathazi was quickest into the final, thanks to a swim of 2:09.73. That was the lone sub-2:10 effort from the semifinals, although Antonella Crispino of Italy was timed in 2:10.44. Japan’s Chiho Mizuguchi was next, clocking a mark of 2:10.77.

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Men’s 50 Breaststroke (Final)

Make it another breaststroke sweep for China’s Qin Haiyang, who blasted the field in the 50 breaststroke for his third solo title of the week. Qin recently swept the breaststroke events at the World Champs, so there was little question he would repeat the feat on home soil in Chengdu. Qin wrapped up his sweep with a time of 26.53, which was well ahead of the 27.32 by Italy’s Ludovico Viberti. Italy also placed Alessandro Pinzuti on the podium, off a 27.53 outing.

WUG(M50BreastF)

Women’s 50 Freestyle (Semifinal)

China’s Zhang Yufei and South Africa’s Erin Gallagher were the sole swimmers to break the 25-second barrier, with Zhang leading the way in 24.57. Gallagher was next in 24.89 while Poland’s Kornelia Fiedkiewicz rounded out the top three into the final with a time of 25.11.

WUG(W50FreeSF)

Men’s 800 Freestyle Relay (Final)

Japan came out on top of a three-team showdown in the 800 free relay. The Japanese team led early after a swift 1:47.98 leadoff leg from Konosuke Yanagimoto, but with one leg remaining, Brazil had a four-tenth lead with Japan and Italy in close pursuit. However, Shui Kurokawa’s 1:48.52 anchor split pulled his team back into the lead, and Japan finished in 7:14.86. Ikki Imoto and Genki Terakado handled the middle legs.

Italy’s Alessio Proietti Colonna, Giovanni Caserta, Matteo Lamberti and Davide Marchello claimed silver (7:15.34), five hundredths ahead of Brazil’s Breno Martins Correia, Vinicius Tavares Assuncao, Eduardo Oliveira de Moraes and Kaique de Morais Alves (7;15.39). China finished well to take fourth with Chen Juner coming home in 1:46.51.

WUG(M800FreeRelay)

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