BEIJING, China, October 12. THE first day of short course meter preliminary action is complete at the World Cup stop in Beijing.<\/p>\n
Women's 800 free slower heats<\/b>
\nZhao Yuting put up the fastest time of the slower heats with an 8:55.81, while Wang Jingyu provided the only other sub 9:00 from the morning with an 8:56.91. Wang Zixiao (9:01.76) and Zhang Xiaoxuan (9:07.28) completed the top four times from the slower heats.<\/p>\n
Men's 100 free<\/b>
\nLi Zhiwu topped prelims with a time of 48.70, while South Africa's Lyndon Ferns qualified second in 48.71. Russia's Sergey Fesikov (48.95) and South Africa's Darian Townsend (48.99) placed third and fourth. Sweden's Lars Frolander (49.01), Chen Zuo (49.19), Germany's Steffen Deibler (49.45) and Zhang Enjian (49.47) made up the rest of the championship heat.<\/p>\n
Women's 200 free<\/b>
\nLiu Jing paced qualifying with a time of 1:57.83 to move to 14th in the early world rankings. Zhu Qianwei finished second in 1:58.28 for 17th in the rankings, while Zheng Rongrong (1:59.10), Kong Xiangtong (1:59.24) and Wang Xinyu (1:59.26) also cleared 2:00. Han Tingru (2:00.10), Yang Jieqiao (2:00.61) and Liu Xinyi (2:01.62) picked up sixth through eighth in prelims.<\/p>\n
Men's 50 breast<\/b>
\nSouth Africa's Roland Schoeman raced to the top seed in the sprint breast with a 27.07 to tie Cameron van der Burgh for eighth in the early world rankings. Brazil's Henrique Barbosa touched second in 27.84, while Xie Zhi placed third in 27.88. Van der Burgh (28.06), Chen Cheng (28.29), Japan's Naoya Tomita (28.40), Xue Jialia (28.55) and Huang Yunkun (28.56) also earned spots in the finale.<\/p>\n
Men's 400 IM slower heat<\/b>
\nThe distance medley only had one heat of three swimmers in the morning: Ni Zhanpeng (4:22.43), Jiang Tiansheng (4:27.59) and Wang Junfeng (4:38.98).<\/p>\n
Women's 100 fly<\/b>
\nShort course stalwart Therese Alshammar of Sweden grabbed the top seed with a time of 58.48. She's been much faster already this year with a second-ranked 57.04 from the Rio stop of the World Cup. USA's Elaine Breeden took second in 58.70 to move to sixth in the early world rankings, while Ling Shuyuan posted a third-seeded 58.90 to grab eighth in the rankings. Deng Biying clocked the only other sub 1:00 time with a fourth-place 59.92. Gong Jie (1:00.51). Liu Jan (1:00.90), Zou Xinyi (1:01.93) and Zhu Xixi (1:02.26) also made finals.<\/p>\n
Men's 100 back<\/b>
\nZhang Yu led the way with a time of 53.20 for 22nd in the early world rankings. USA's Peter Marshall took second in 53.28, while Brazil's Guilherme Guido qualified third in 53.41. Guido is the favorite heading into finals with a top-ranked season best of 50.46 to his credit from the Jose Finkel Trophy Meet last month. South Africa's George du Rand (53.73), Russia's Arkady Vyatchanin (53.84), Japan's Kazuki Watanabe (54.48), Duan Qiong (55.73) and Lin Taigi (55.96) comprised the rest of the international championship field.<\/p>\n
Women's 50 back<\/b>
\nGao Chang clocked the strongest morning time by far in the sprint back with a 27.14 to move to fifth in the early world rankings. The Netherlands' Hinkelien Schreuder finished second in 27.73, while Japan's Wakana Hirai placed third in 28.57. Rao Shengxue (28.74), Bai Anqi (28.86), Germany's Jenny Mensing (29.02), Cheng Haihua (29.08) and Singapore's Lynette Ng (29.15) pocketed the rest of the championship spots.<\/p>\n
Men's 200 fly<\/b>
\nBrazil's Thiago Pereira cruised through prelims with a 2:00.86, while Fu Yanqing (2:01.32), Wei Yuming (2:02.42) and Brazil's Frederico Castro (2:02.43) placed second through fourth. Chen Yanlong (2:03.11), Feng Ze (2:03.91), Li Kaiyu (2:04.19) and Wei Haobo (2:06.15) qualified fifth through eighth.<\/p>\n
Women's 200 IM<\/b>
\nYe Shiwen earned the top seed with a 2:10.36, well off her third-ranked season best of 2:08.70 from June. USA's Julia Smit finished second in 2:11.13, while Zhang Jiaqi (2:14.05) and USA's Elaine Breeden (2:14.18) qualified third and fourth. Xue Jiao (2:14.32), Zhu Wenrui (2:17.16), Japan's Ayano Koguchi (2:19.70) and Chen Xiaojun (2:19.89) took home the other transfer spots into the finale.<\/p>\n
Men's 400 free<\/b>
\nRussia's Mikhail Polishchuk grabbed the top time in qualifying with a 3:52.51, while Zhang Zhongchao placed second in 3:53.28. Zhang Zibin (3:54.62) and Li Xiang (3:54.71) touched third and fourth. Zhang Jiachen (3:55.68), Liu Zhaochen (3:56.40) and Zhang Yunxiang (3:56.40) qualified fifth through seventh. Lang Yuanpeng and Wei Kun tied for eighth with matching 4:00.56s. <\/p>\n
Women's 50 free<\/b>
\nThe Netherlands' Hinkelien Schreuder improved to third in the early world ranking with a top-seeded 24.42. Sweden's Therese Alshammar, who already is fourth in the rankings with a 24.46 from Rio, qualified second in 24.92. Germany's Dorothea Brandt touched third in 25.16, while Ling Shuyuan placed fourth in 25.64. Liu Xinyi (25.69), Zheng Yifei (26.04), Zou Xinyi (26.18) and Zhu Wenrui (26.23) completed the championship field. <\/p>\n
Men's 200 breast<\/b>
\nJapan's Kazuki Otsuka, who owns the top-ranked time in the early world rankings with a 2:05.60 from Rio, qualified first in 2:09.74. Brazil's Henrique Barbosa touched second in 2:10.43, while Xie Zhi finished third in 2:10.46. Japan's Naoya Tomita (2:12.53), Ma Xiang (2:12.62), Sun Han (2:12.69), Russia's Grigory Falko (2:13.23) and Huang Yunkun (2:13.63) qualified fourth through eighth.<\/p>\n
Men's 100 IM<\/b>
\nSouth Africa's Darian Townsend (54.44) and Russia's Sergey Fesikov (54.78) cleared 55 seconds for the top two spots in finals, while Zhang Zishan (55.90) and Brazil's Thiago Pereira (56.37) finished third and fourth. Mao Feilian (56.89), Xie Zhi (57.17), Li Xiang (57.60) and Huang Zhenghan (57.82) also garnered lanes in the finale.<\/p>\n
Women's 200 back<\/b>
\nUSA's Julia Smit cruised to the top seed in 2:10.31, while Germany's Jenny Mensing placed second in 2:11.51. Bai Anqi (2:11.52), Yang Jieqiao (2:13.72) and Zhang Siqi (2:14.79) qualified third through fifth. Zhao Aolun (2:17.82), Qiao Hong (2:17.99) and Han Wei (2:20.11) rounded out the top eight.<\/p>\n
Men's 50 fly<\/b>
\nJapan's Kohei Kawamoto snatched the top time in the sprint fly with a 23.17 to push to seventh in the early world rankings. South Africa's Roland Schoeman placed second in 23.33, while Sweden's Lars Frolander (23.39) and Germany's Steffen Deibler (23.79) touched third and fourth. Shi Tengfei (23.90), South Africa's Lyndon Ferns (24.01), Hu Chao (24.13) and Brazil's Frederico Castro (24.20) wound up taking the final four spots as well.<\/p>\n