{"id":147762,"date":"2015-08-03T08:17:41","date_gmt":"2015-08-03T15:17:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=147762"},"modified":"2015-08-03T08:17:41","modified_gmt":"2015-08-03T15:17:41","slug":"yuliya-efimova-ruta-meilutyte-set-up-epic-battle-in-100-breast-semis-at-2015-fina-world-championships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/yuliya-efimova-ruta-meilutyte-set-up-epic-battle-in-100-breast-semis-at-2015-fina-world-championships\/","title":{"rendered":"Yuliya Efimova, Ruta Meilutyte Set Up Epic Battle in 100 Breast Semis at 2015 FINA World Championships"},"content":{"rendered":"

Russia’s Yuliya Efimova<\/strong> and Lithuania’s Ruta Meilutyte<\/strong> set up a potentially epic battle in finals during the women’s 100-meter breast semis at the 2015 FINA World Championships.<\/p>\n

Efimova topped the second semifinal in 1:05.60 to move to second in the world rankings behind Meilutyte’s world-best 1:05.46 from the Canet stop of the Mare Nostrum.<\/p>\n

Meilutyte earned the second seed heading into finals with a time of 1:05.64.<\/p>\n

The two took gold and silver in the 2013 edition of this meet with Meilutyte defeating Efimova, 1:04.42 to 1:05.02.<\/p>\n

The bronze medalist in 2013, Jessica Hardy<\/strong>, looked to be a lock for the finals after a 31.19 front half, but she faltered down the stretch with a 36.03 as she faded to 10th overall in 1:07.22 to miss finals.<\/p>\n

Jamaica’s Alia Atkinson<\/strong> qualified third in 1:06.21 to down her Jamaican record of 1:06.59 and move to fourth in the world rankings.<\/p>\n

China’s Shi Jinglin<\/strong> (1:06.28), Japan’s Kanako Watanabe<\/strong> (1:06.64), Sweden’s Jennie Johansson<\/strong> (1:06.76), Italy’s Arianna Castiglioni<\/strong> (1:06.95) and Iceland’s Hilda Luthersdottir<\/strong> (1:07.11) also moved on to the finale.<\/p>\n

SCHEDULED EVENTS<\/strong><\/p>\n