{"id":270295,"date":"2017-08-01T11:00:17","date_gmt":"2017-08-01T18:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=270295"},"modified":"2017-07-31T15:08:17","modified_gmt":"2017-07-31T22:08:17","slug":"lumalanes-performance-of-the-week-lilly-kings-world-record-showdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/lumalanes-performance-of-the-week-lilly-kings-world-record-showdown\/","title":{"rendered":"LumaLanes Performance of the Week: Lilly King Embraces A Showdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week\u2019s Performance Of The Week, <\/span>sponsored by LumaLanes<\/span><\/a>, goes to American <\/span>Lilly King<\/b>, <\/span>who fulfilled all the hype surrounding her rematch<\/span><\/a> with Russian rival <\/span>Yulia Efimova <\/b>in the 100 breaststroke at this week’s\u00a02017 FINA World Championships.<\/span><\/p>\n

King had the <\/span>memorable finger wag<\/span><\/a> at the Olympic Games last summer after Efimova\u2019s semi-final swim, and the moment that was caught on tape quickly became a lightning rod for media attention that hyped up their showdown in finals. <\/span><\/p>\n

The American backed up her talk about Efimova by winning gold the next day in the final, but after a year <\/span>dealing with new expectations and a post-Olympics slump<\/span><\/a> the world was waiting to see if King could hold off Efimova again this summer. <\/span><\/p>\n

Efimova was on a tear through the beginning of 2017 and looked strong through semi-finals, where she was just .01 off of <\/span>Ruta Meilutyte\u2019s <\/b>world record.<\/span> But the Indiana University swimmer <\/span>proved to be up to the challenge<\/span><\/a>, taking her race out characteristically fast and holding on <\/span>to smash the world record with an astounding 1:04.13<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Out in 29.80, King led the entire race and didn\u2019t look back, turning five tenths ahead of Efimova and coming home four tenths faster to beat the Russian by nearly a second. King\u2019s time was about eight tenths of a second faster than what won her Olympic gold last summer, and she was joined on the podium by teammate <\/span>Katie Meili<\/b>, who swam a personal best time that landed her in second. Efimova finished back in third in 1:05.05, more than half a second slower than she had been in her semi-final swim.<\/span><\/p>\n

King would go on to set another world record later in the week, <\/span>this time in the 50 breaststroke<\/span><\/a> (29.40) on the final day of the meet. Efimova, for her part, <\/span>took gold in the 200 breaststroke later in the meet<\/span><\/a>, just off the existing world record in the event. <\/span><\/p>\n

Congratulations Lilly King on earning Swimming World\u2019s Performance of the Week!<\/span><\/p>\n

Special Thanks to LumaLanes <\/a>for sponsoring Swimming World’s Performance of the Week.<\/p>\n

Learn More About LumaLanes<\/p>\n