{"id":506752,"date":"2022-06-18T10:35:12","date_gmt":"2022-06-18T17:35:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=506752"},"modified":"2022-06-18T13:02:51","modified_gmt":"2022-06-18T20:02:51","slug":"world-championships-alex-walsh-lead-200-im-semifinals-by-more-than-one-second-yui-ohashi-locked-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/world-championships-alex-walsh-lead-200-im-semifinals-by-more-than-one-second-yui-ohashi-locked-out\/","title":{"rendered":"World Championships: Alex Walsh Lead 200 IM Semifinals By More Than One Second; Yui Ohashi Eliminated"},"content":{"rendered":"

World Championships: Alex Walsh Lead 200 IM Semifinals By More Than One Second; Yui Ohashi Locked Out<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alex Walsh<\/strong> will swim in her first World Championship final as the favorite for gold in the women’s 200 individual medley. After capturing silver in the event at the Tokyo Olympics last year, Walsh swam a mark of 2:07.84 at the U.S. International Team Trials in April to become the sixth-fastest performer in history. Now, she is the top qualifier for the Worlds final by more than a second.<\/p>\n

Walsh posted a mark of 2:08.74 in the semifinal round, good enough to claim lane four for the final by more than a second. While she was well off her top time this year, Walsh swam faster than any other swimmer so far in 2022. She had the fastest butterfly split in the field before swimming the second-best mark in backstroke (behind 100 back world-record holder Kaylee McKeown<\/strong>), in breaststroke (behind\u00a0Anastasia Gorbenko<\/strong>) and in freestyle (behind fellow American\u00a0Leah Hayes<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

While Walsh returns from the Olympic final, the swimmer who edged her out for gold will not be racing Sunday evening. Japan’s\u00a0Yui Ohashi<\/strong>, the gold medalist in the 400 IM as well as the 200 IM in Tokyo, finished a in 13th place in 2:12.05, 3.5 seconds behind her winning mark from the Olympics. Ohashi had not shown any exceptional form in 2022, but she was still expected to contend for medals, so her absence will open the door for others.<\/p>\n

The second-quickest qualifier for the final was\u00a0Hayes, who swam a time of 2:09.82, one hundredth short of her lifetime best of 2:09.81 set in prelims. Hayes was well behind her semifinal heat after butterfly before pulling ahead on backstroke and then pulling away from the heat with a 30.94 closing split. Hayes, a surprise qualifier for the World Championships team, will have a very real chance to earn a medal in the final.<\/p>\n

McKeown, the only other swimmer to break 2:10 so far this year, placed third in 2:10.17. McKeown is the ninth-fastest performer in history in this event (2:08.19), and she finished 2021 as the fastest swimmer in the world despite not swimming the medley race at the Olympics. Canada’s\u00a0Mary-Sophie Harvey<\/strong> was fourth in 2:10.22, followed by South Korea’s\u00a0Kim Seoyeong<\/strong> (2:10.47), Gorbenko (2:10.54) and Japan’s\u00a0Rika Omoto<\/strong> (2:10.65).<\/p>\n

Finishing eighth in 2:10.72 was Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu<\/strong>, the four-time defending world champion in this event. In the final, Hosszu will attempt to capture a record fifth consecutive world title, which no female or male swimmer has ever accomplished. However, Hosszu will face long odds to return to the medal podium here.<\/p>\n

\"w200im-sf-worlds\"<\/p>\n