{"id":264986,"date":"2017-07-09T12:00:01","date_gmt":"2017-07-09T19:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=264986"},"modified":"2017-07-10T16:12:01","modified_gmt":"2017-07-10T23:12:01","slug":"fina-world-championships-predictions-womens-200-im","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/fina-world-championships-predictions-womens-200-im\/","title":{"rendered":"FINA World Championships Predictions: Women’s 200 IM"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the 2015 FINA World Championships,\u00a0Katinka Hosszu\u00a0<\/strong>won gold in the women’s 200 IM by more than two seconds. At the 2016 Olympics in Rio, the margin was just three tenths of a second.<\/p>\n

Hosszu did go a touch slower in Rio, but only four tenths of a second. The big difference:\u00a0Siobhan-Marie O’Connor\u00a0<\/strong>dropping almost two seconds in the span of a year, becoming just the third woman ever to crack the 2:07-barrier.<\/p>\n

O’Connor, at 21 years old, is more than six years younger than Hosszu, but she will have to deal with the partisan Hungarian crowd when the two face off again in Budapest.<\/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

Women’s 200 IM<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Current Records:<\/h3>\n

World Record:<\/strong>\u00a0Katinka Hosszu, HUN (2015) — 2:06.12
\nChampionship Record:<\/strong> Katinka Hosszu, HUN (2015) — 2:06.12
\nAmerican Record:<\/strong>\u00a0Ariana Kukors (2009) — 2:06.15<\/p>\n

2015 World Champion:<\/strong>\u00a0Katinka Hosszu, HUN — 2:06.15
\n2016 Olympic Gold Medalist:<\/strong>\u00a0Katinka Hosszu, HUN — 2:06.58
\n2017 World No. 1:<\/strong>\u00a0Katinka Hosszu, HUN — 2:08.49<\/p>\n

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

David Rieder’s Picks:<\/h3>\n

Gold:<\/strong> Katinka Hosszu, HUN
\nSilver<\/strong>:<\/strong> Siobhan-Marie O’Connor, GBR
\nBronze:<\/strong>\u00a0Melanie Margalis, USA<\/p>\n

John Lohn’s Picks:<\/h3>\n

Gold:<\/strong> Katinka Hosszu, HUN
\nSilver<\/strong>:<\/strong> Siobhan-Marie O’Connor, GBR
\nBronze:<\/strong>\u00a0Melanie Margalis,\u00a0USA<\/p>\n

Andy Ross’ Picks:<\/h3>\n

Gold:<\/strong>\u00a0Katinka Hosszu, HUN
\nSilver<\/strong>:<\/strong>\u00a0Siobhan-Marie O’Connor, GBR
\nBronze:<\/strong> Sydney Pickrem, CAN<\/p>\n

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

Day One:<\/h3>\n