FINA World Championships editorial coverage is proudly sponsored by SpeedoUSA. For all the latest coverage, check out our event coverage page.<\/p>\n
By guest writer Julia Wilkinson-Minks (2008 & 2012 Canadian Olympian)<\/p>\n
Half a second is huge in a race that lasts less than 30 seconds, and that is the advantage that Fu Yuanhui has over the next fastest swimmer in the race, other than her countrywoman Zhao Jing of course. Yuanhui leads the 50 backstroke field with a stunning 27.55 after preliminaries, the world record holder followed suit with the only other sub 28-second swim in 27.81. <\/p>\n
This time by Yuanhui would have won the final in Shanghai by more than two tenths of a second, and the fact that the only swimmer even close to this young backstroker is fellow a Chinese swimmer is going to be a huge advantage for her. Last summer, Yuanhui snuck into the final of the 100 backstroke with 8th position in the semi-finals, but added seven tenths to her final swim, finishing in 1:00.50. Last night, Yuanhui used her spectacular front-half speed in the 100 backstroke to be second at the turn behind Missy Franklin, but faded into 5th place by the end of the race.<\/p>\n
At three years younger than Jing and an incredible 12 years younger than third place Aya Terakawa, this Chinese youngster is showing that she is gradually settling into her comfort zone as one of the fastest backstrokers in the world. In an event where there is very little room for error, she has given herself more than enough wiggle room to be comfortable ahead of the competition. Even though Jing is the world record holder, Yuanhui will have the confidence of swimming against and beating her before. After failing to reach the podium in her last two major 100 backstroke races, a gold medal is looking good for Yuanhui. <\/p>\n
Of course, I hate to ever say that anyone is swimming through the semi-final and final with an invisible gold medal around his or her neck. No one is ever a guarantee, especially in an event where you know swimmers are pushing the limits of their underwater kick-outs. That being said, I think Yuanhui made a pretty solid statement this morning with her swim, to her competition, but more importantly, to herself. <\/p>\n
Julia Wilkinson-Minks is a two-time Olympian for Canada and was a finalist in the 200-meter IM at the 2008 Beijing Games. In 2010, she became Texas A&M’s first ever NCAA champion in swimming when she won the 100-yard freestyle. She graduated from Texas A&M with a degree in Speech Communication. Julia retired from competitive swimming following the London Olympic Games and now lives in Texas with her husband Shane. <\/p>\n
Follow her on twitter @juliah2o<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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