{"id":483913,"date":"2021-07-29T20:08:59","date_gmt":"2021-07-30T03:08:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=483913"},"modified":"2021-07-29T23:24:52","modified_gmt":"2021-07-30T06:24:52","slug":"olympic-semifinals-emily-seebohm-takes-top-seed-into-loaded-200-backstroke-final-ahead-of-bacon-white-masse-mckeown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/olympic-semifinals-emily-seebohm-takes-top-seed-into-loaded-200-backstroke-final-ahead-of-bacon-white-masse-mckeown\/","title":{"rendered":"Olympic Semifinals: Emily Seebohm Takes Top Seed into Loaded 200 Backstroke Final Ahead of Bacon, White, Masse, McKeown"},"content":{"rendered":"

Olympic Semifinals: Emily Seebohm Takes Top Seed into Loaded 200 Backstroke Final Ahead of Bacon, White, Masse, McKeown<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s Kaylee McKeown<\/strong> made a big decision early in Tokyo. She decided to withdraw from the 200 IM and focus on the backstroke events.<\/p>\n

So far, no one had been able to stop her \u2014 until the semifinals.<\/p>\n

In fact it was a trio of swimmers in the first semifinal that took the top spots Australian teammate and veteran Emily<\/strong> Seebohm<\/strong> took the top seed in 2:07.09, just one hundredth ahead of USA\u2019s Phoebe Bacon<\/strong> (2:07.10). USA\u2019s Rhyan White<\/strong> was right there at 2:07.28 to take the third spot.<\/p>\n

Then in the second semifinal, it was Canada\u2019s Kylie Masse<\/strong> to took the tops in the heat and fourth overall at 2:07.82.<\/p>\n

“It was good,” Masse said. “I\u2019m happy with that race, progressing from yesterday and moving in the right direction, so that\u2019s always good. Not necessarily important to win; that\u2019s not what I\u2019m thinking about. Obviously the finals is what matters and I\u2019m trying to make it there, so I\u2019m just focusing on my own race strategy and technical things I can work on to execute my race.”<\/p>\n

Then it was McKeown in 2:07.93, followed by China\u2019s Liu Yaxin<\/strong> (2:08.65), Canada\u2019s Taylor Ruck<\/strong> (2:08.73) and China\u2019s Peng Xuwei<\/strong> (2:08.76) to round out the top eight.<\/p>\n

Without world record holder Regan Smith<\/strong> in the event, it seems like it could be McKeown\u2019s for the taking \u2014 but women\u2019s backstroke events are always loaded. This race just got a whole lot more interesting with nearly the entire final in striking distance.<\/p>\n

The reason Smith didn\u2019t qualify in this race is because of the emergence of Rhyan White and Phoebe Bacon into the U.S. and world\u2019s elite.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile Canadians Kylie Masse and Taylor Ruck have made plenty of marks on international swimming over the years, while Chinese swimmer Liu Yaxin and Peng Xuwei had solid prelims.<\/p>\n

One of the interesting points of this Olympic race is that 12 countries were represented in the 16 semifinalists, including swimmers from Moldova, Israel, Spain, Poland and Austria.<\/p>\n