As the host nation teased this morning with a 3:29.36 during preliminary qualifying, the Chinese ran roughshod all over the World Junior Record in the mixed 400 free relay. \u00a0The foursome of Li Guangyuan, Qiu Yuhan, Yu Hexin and Shen Duo scorched the finale field with a 3:27.02. \u00a0That swim lowered the previous mark of 3:28.74 set by the Australians at the World Junior Championships.<\/p>\n
The Aussie team of Luke Percy (49.57), Regan Leong (49.59), Shayna Jack (54.37) and Georgia Miller (55.21) front loaded its swim, while China staggered its men. \u00a0Yu Hexin definitely keyed the record with his smoking 48.61 split.<\/p>\n
\nChina’s Splits:<\/h2>\n
CHN\u00a0\u00ad\u00a0People’s\u00a0Republic\u00a0of\u00a0China 3:27.02
\nLI\u00a0Guangyuan\u00a0(M) 0.72 24.84 50.94 (7)\u00a050.94
\nQIU\u00a0Yuhan\u00a0(W) 0.47 25.96 54.04 (4)\u00a01:44.98
\nYU\u00a0Hexin\u00a0(M) 0.22 22.92 48.61 (1)\u00a02:33.59
\nSHEN\u00a0Duo\u00a0(W) 0.30 25.89 53.43 (1)\u00a03:27.02<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Brazil’s Luiz Altamir Lops Melo (50.90), Natalia de Luccas (57.07), Matheus de Santana (47.73) and Giovanna Tomanik Diamante (55.85) took second in 3:31.55 with Australia’s Kyle Chalmers (50.35), Ami Matsuo (54.35), Brianna Throssell (55.60) and Nicholas Brown (51.46) finishing third in 3:31.76.<\/p>\n
Russia (3:32.15), The Netherlands (3:33.19), Great Britain (3:33.28), Germany (3:36.51) and Spain (3:38.10) rounded out the finale.<\/p>\n
SEMIFINALS<\/h1>\nWomen’s 50 breast<\/h1>\n
Lithuania’s Ruta Meilutyte obviously is just doing enough to get through the early qualifying as she posted an easy-speed 31.67 to lead the semifinal heats tonight. The world-record holder, who already went 29.90 at the Sette Colli Trophy meet in Rome to lead the world this year, had little trouble dominating the semifinal heats.<\/p>\n
Germany’s Julia Willers raced her way to second in 31.94, while Hungary’s Anna Sztankovics picked up third in 32.01.<\/p>\n
Sweden’s Sophie Hansson (32.02), Ukraine’s Anstasiya Malyavina (32.03) and Korea’s Yang Jiwon (32.33) finished fourth through sixth, as the top six all came from the second semifinal as they all were chasing Meilutyte. Hungary’s Dalma Sebestyen and Great Britain’s Georgina Evans tied to win the first semifinal with 32.27s, which was enough to secure the final two transfer spots into the championship finale.<\/p>\n
Men’s 100 back<\/h1>\n
Italy’s Simone Sabbioni had just enough to hold off China’s Li Guangyuan in the second semifinal, 54.48 to 54.52, as those two swimmers will be the top two seeds heading into the finale.<\/p>\n
\nSabbioni’s Splits:<\/h2>\n
50m
\n26.48 (1)
\n26.48
\n100m
\n54.48 (1)
\n28.00<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Russia’s Evgeny Rylov, meanwhile, took third in 54.86 as he won the first semifinal. \u00a0World Junior Record holder Apostolos Christou of Greece qualified fourth in 55.09, while Romania’s Robert Glinta took fifth in 55.10.<\/p>\n
Germany’s Marek Ulrich (55.55) and Great Britain’s Luke Greenbank (55.70) also earned their way to the championship finale, while USA’s Patrick Mulcare snatched the final spot in the finale with an eighth-place 55.86.<\/p>\n
Notably, American Patrick Conaton finished 14th overall in 56.95.<\/p>\n
Women’s 100 back<\/h1>\n
After having the Commonwealth Games to get herself prepared for top-flight international competition, Great Britain’s Jessica Fullalove had just enough to hold off USA’s Clara Smiddy for the top seed, 1:01.35 to 1:01.38. \u00a0Smiddy came barreling home down the stretch with a 31.36, but was unable to catch Fullalove, who went out in 29.66.<\/p>\n
\nFullalova’s Splits:<\/h2>\n
50m
\n29.66 (1)
\n29.66
\n100m
\n1:01.35 (1)
\n31.69<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
New Zealand’s Bobbi Gichard took third in the second semifinal as well with a 1:01.70, while Brazil’s Natalia de Lucca, the first semifinal winner with a 1:02.06, qualified fourth into the finale.<\/p>\n
Canada’s Danielle Hanus (1:02.12), Italy’s Ambra Esposito (1:02.22) and Russia’s Irina Prikhodko (1:02.24) secured spots into the finale with fifth through seventh-place finishes.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, The Netherlands’ Maaike de Waard and Czech’s Tereza Grusova set up a swimoff for eighth-place honors with 1:02.34s.<\/p>\n
Men’s 100 breast<\/h1>\n
Russia’s Anton Chupkov will be the favorite heading into the finale after clocking a 1:00.84 for the top seed. He had the fastest closing split of the semifinalists and should be able to duplicate that type of backend speed in the finale. His time is a World Junior Record as well, beating the 1:00.88 set by Ilya Khomenko, also of Russia, at the World Junior Championships last summer.<\/p>\n
\nChupkov’s Splits:<\/h2>\n
50m
\n28.69 (1)
\n28.69
\n100m
\n1:00.84 (1)
\n32.15<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Carlos Claverie, a future Louisville Cardinal, finished second in 1:01.71, just off his Venezuelan record of 1:01.62 set in prelims. \u00a0Japan’s Ippei Watanabe took third in 1:02.00.<\/p>\n
South Africa’s Chad Crous (1:02.30), Germany’s Maximilian Pilger (1:02.58), Hungary’s David Horvath (1:02.63), Croatia’s Nikola Obrovac (1:02.79) and Brazil’s Andreas de Queiroz Mickosz (1:02.89) also earned spots into the championship heat.<\/p>\n
Twitter Coverage<\/h1>\n
For up to the minute coverage, follow us on Twitter @SwimmingWorld:<\/p>\n
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