BEIJING, China, February 2. SOME exciting races throughout the top eight spots took place during the fourth day of finals at the Good Luck Beijing China Open held at the National Aquatics Center (Water Cube) in Beijing.<\/p>\n
Swimming World<\/i> will also compare side-to-side how morning finals impact the top eight. The first time listed will always be finals. <\/p>\n
Women's 400 free<\/b>
\nGermany's Annika Lurz emerged victorious over China's You Meihong, 4:10.60 to 4:12.45, in the women's 400 free after You grabbed the women's 800 free yesterday. Poland's Otylia Jedrzejczak wound up with bronze in 4:14.05.<\/p>\n
Lurz led the entire race with intermediate splits of 1:00.85, 2:04.61 and 3:08.28.<\/p>\n
"I'm quite satisfied with the result," Lurz told Xinhua<\/i>. "It's better than I achieved last week in Luxembourg. The 200 meters freestyle is my event, but I also want to be qualified for the 400 meters freestyle at Beijing Olympics."<\/p>\n
Morning Finals Impact<\/i>
\n1.\tAnnika Lurz; 4:10.60; 4:14.58; Faster
\n2.\tYou Meihong; 4:12.45 4:11.22; Slower
\n3.\tOtylia Jedrzejczak; 4:14.05; 4:12.26; Slower
\n4.\tIonela Cozma; 4:16.15; 4:12.67; Slower
\n5.\tLi Mo; 4:16.76; 4:14.52; Slower
\n6.\tYu Rui; 4:18.86; 4:15.89; Slower
\n7.\tZhu Qianwei; 4:19.23; 4:13.46; Slower
\n8.\tZhu Wenrui; 4:21.09; 4:19.17; Slower<\/p>\n
Men's 100 free<\/b>
\nSweden's Stefan Nystrand put together a swift 100 free for the gold in 48.94 – just a second off his personal-best time of 47.91. Not bad for an in-season performance. Brazil's Nicholas Dos Santos joined Nystrand under 50 with a second-place effort of 49.98, while China's Huang Shaohua took third in 50.06.<\/p>\n
Nystrand had to come from behind as he trailed Germany's Steffen Deibler (23.71) and Dos Santos (23.75) at the 50 with a 23.91. Nystrand, however, dropped a 25.03 final 50 to win.<\/p>\n
"I prefer racing in the evening," Nystrand told event organizers. "However, I can do nothing about it since it's already decided."<\/p>\n
Morning Finals Impact<\/i>
\n1.\tStefan Nystrand; 48.94; 49.31, Faster
\n2.\tNicholas Dos Santos; 49.98; 50.38; Faster
\n3.\tHuang Shaohua; 50.06; 50.01; Slower
\n4.\tSteffen Deibler; 50.61; 50.34; Slower
\n5.\tPaul Biedermann; 50.76; 50.85; Faster
\n6.\tRyan Pini; 50.85; 50.69; Slower
\n7.\tChristoffer Vikstrom; 51.29; 50.95; Slower
\n8.\tPetter Symne; DNS; 50.03; N\/A<\/p>\n
Women's 100 breast<\/b>
\nChina's Qi Hui surfaced from one of the closest races of the meet thus far. Qi had to hold off Korea's Seul Ki Jung, 1:09.24 to 1:09.30, for the victory. Jong's performance lowered her own Korean national record of 1:09.48 set during prelims. Meanwhile, China's Sun Ye placed third in 1:09.71.<\/p>\n
Qi led at the halfway mark with a 50-meter 32.43, but had to withstand Jung's 36.24 coming down the final stretch. Qi had enough in the tank to post a 36.81.<\/p>\n
Morning Finals Impact<\/i>
\n1.\tQi Hui; 1:09.24; 1:08.22; Slower
\n2.\tSeul Ki Jung; 1:09.30; 1:09.48; Faster
\n3.\tSun Ye; 1:09.71; 1:09.78; Faster
\n4.\tNanaka Tamura; 1:10.54; 1:10.35; Slower
\n5.\tLiu Xiaoyu; 1:10.60; 1:10.15; Slower
\n6.\tMegumi Taneda; 1:10.93; 1:10.66; Slower
\n7.\tRebecca Ejdervik; 1:11.06; 1:10.69; Slower
\n8.\tSu Yeon Back; 1:12.08; 1:10.89; Slower<\/p>\n
Men\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 200 breast<\/b>
\nJapan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Ryo Tateishi won the men\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 200 breast in 2:13.61 to add to his 100 breast title. Hungary\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Daniel Gyurta placed second in 2:13.98, while Poland\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Slawomir Kuczko touched third in 2:14.23.<\/p>\n
Tateishi never trailed, but had to hold off a frenetic charge from Gyurta. Tateishi owned a big lead halfway through, 1:04.15 to 1:05.77, but Gyurta put together splits of 33.91 and 34.30 on the way in to the pads.<\/p>\n
Morning Finals Impact<\/i>
\n1.\tRyo Tateishi; 2:13.61; 2:13.89; Faster
\n2.\tDaniel Gyurta; 2:13.98; 2:15.20; Faster
\n3.\tSlawomir Kuczko; 2:14.23; 2:16.03; Faster
\n4.\tLaszlo Cseh; 2:15.31; 2:14.16; Slower
\n5.\tYuta Suenaga; 2:15.38; 2:15.47; Faster
\n6.\tXue Ruipeng; 2:16.07; 2:16.34; Faster
\n7.\tSu Jong Sin; 2:17.52; 2:17.04; Slower
\n8.\tCarlos Almeida; 2:19.81; 2:17.58; Slower<\/p>\n
Men\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 1500 free<\/b>
\nChina\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Zhang Lin continued his hometown rock star tour with another victory, this time with a crushing conquest of the metric mile with a time of 15:05.57. Romania\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Dragos Coman grabbed silver with a time of 15:35.39, while Mexico\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Daniel Delgadillo rounded out the podium with a bronze-winning 15:47.00.<\/p>\n
Women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 400 freestyle relay<\/b>
\nGermany\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s foursome of Britta Steffen (54.28), Daniela Goetz (54.79), Daniela Schreiber (56.35) and Annika Lurz (55.65) won the gold in 3:41.07, while the Chinese contingent of Xu Yanwei (56.20), Zhu Wenrui (57.50), Li Ji (57.17) and Zhu Qianwei (57.27) snagged silver in 3:48.14. Korea\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s quartet of Jae Young Lee (57.68), Keo Ra Lee (56.81), Ji Eun Lee (57.64) and Ji Yeon (59.88) completed the podium with a third-place 3:52.01.<\/p>\n