{"id":264985,"date":"2017-07-09T05:00:54","date_gmt":"2017-07-09T12:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=264985"},"modified":"2017-07-10T16:12:13","modified_gmt":"2017-07-10T23:12:13","slug":"fina-world-championships-predictions-mens-50-fly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/fina-world-championships-predictions-mens-50-fly\/","title":{"rendered":"FINA World Championships Predictions: Men’s 50 Fly"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first of the stroke 50 finals of the World Championships will be missing a key name in defending World Champion\u00a0Florent Manaudou<\/strong>. Manaudou is\u00a0better known for his freestyle, but his powerful butterfly got him the win at the 2015 FINA World Championships in Kazan.<\/p>\n

In his absence, it’s wide open as far as finding a favorite for gold. So far this year, three swimmers have broken 23 seconds: 36-year-old Brazilian\u00a0Nicolas Santos<\/strong>, 22-year-old Brit\u00a0Ben Proud<\/strong> and another Brazilian,\u00a0Henrique Martins<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Read below to see what\u00a0Swimming World’s\u00a0<\/em>trio of experts think will happen in\u00a0Budapest.\u00a0David Rieder<\/strong>,\u00a0John Lohn<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Andy Ross<\/strong>\u00a0will each offer their predictions for\u00a0who will finish on the podium.<\/p>\n

Men’s 50 Fly<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Current Records:<\/strong><\/h3>\n

World Record:<\/strong>\u00a0Rafael Munoz, ESP (2009) — 22.43
\nChampionship Record:<\/strong>\u00a0Milorad Cavic, SRB (2009) — 22.67
\nAmerican Record:<\/strong>\u00a0Bryan Lundquist (2009) — 22.91<\/p>\n

2015 World Champion:<\/strong>\u00a0Florent Manaudou, FRA — 22.97
\n2017 World No. 1:<\/strong>\u00a0Nicholas Santos, BRA — 22.61<\/p>\n

Swimming World Predictions<\/strong><\/h2>\n

David Rieder’s Picks:<\/h3>\n

Gold:<\/strong>\u00a0Nicholas Santos, BRA
\nSilver<\/strong>:<\/strong>\u00a0Ben Proud, GBR
\nBronze:<\/strong> Caeleb Dressel, USA<\/p>\n

John Lohn’s Picks:<\/h3>\n

Gold:<\/strong>\u00a0Andrey Govorov, UKR
\nSilver<\/strong>:<\/strong> Nicholas Santos, BRA
\nBronze:<\/strong> Ben Proud, GBR<\/p>\n

Andy Ross’ Picks:<\/h3>\n

Gold:<\/strong> Ben Proud, GBR
\nSilver<\/strong>:<\/strong> Caeleb Dressel, USA
\nBronze:<\/strong> Nicholas Santos, BRA<\/p>\n

Previous Events<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Day One:<\/h3>\n