By John Lohn<\/p>\n
MONTREAL, Canada, July 28. THE fifth morning of swimming at the World Championships was busy, as four individual races and a relay were contested. Preliminaries were held in the women\u2019s 100 freestyle, men\u2019s 200 backstroke, women\u2019s 200 breaststroke and the men\u2019s 200 breaststroke. Qualifying heats were also held in the women\u2019s 800 freestyle relay. Here\u2019s what the morning looked like.<\/p>\n
Women\u2019s 100 Freestyle<\/b><\/p>\n
Currently in a transitional phase in her life, Amanda Weir hardly appears bothered. After turning in a strong split during the United States\u2019 bronze-medal showing in the 400 freestyle relay earlier in the week, Weir produced the fastest qualifying time Thursday morning in the 100 free, as she was clocked in 54.49. A member of Georgia\u2019s NCAA championship squad during the spring, Weir recently decided to transfer to another school.<\/p>\n
The only swimmer to break 54.50 during the morning session, Weir was followed in qualifying by the Netherlands\u2019 Marleen Veldhuis. Upholding the sprint tradition of her country, Veldhuis turned in a mark of 54.82. The third and fourth-swiftest times from the prelims were notched by Australia\u2019s Jodie Henry (55.04), the world-record holder, and France\u2019s Malia Metella (55.11).<\/p>\n
Sitting in fifth was Finland\u2019s Hanna-Maria Seppala (55.25) and sixth was taken by Greece\u2019s Nery-Mantey Niangkouara (55.36). Rounding out the top eight heading into evening semifinals were Italy\u2019s Federica Pellegrini (55.40) and the United States\u2019 Natalie Coughlin (55.45). Australia\u2019s Alice Mills was ninth in 55.55.<\/p>\n
Men\u2019s 200 Backstroke<\/b><\/p>\n
He might be able to win this event in his sleep. The two-time defending world champion and reigning Olympic titlist, Aaron Peirsol easily posted the fastest preliminary swim in the 200 backstroke, covering the distance in 1:58.04. Peirsol owns the world record at 1:54.74 and won the 100 back earlier in the meet by nearly half a second.<\/p>\n
Swimming in the same heat as Peirsol, Croatia\u2019s Gordan Kozulj advanced to the semifinals as the second seed, thanks to a time of 1:59.03. The third-quickest performance came from Markus Rogan, the Olympic silver medalist. A Stanford University product, Rogan emerged victorious in his heat with an effort of 1:59.33. He was followed in fourth by Japan\u2019s Tomomi Morita (1:59.78).<\/p>\n
Securing the fifth and sixth places for the nigh session were Romania\u2019s Razvan Florea (1:59.88), the Olympic bronze medalist, and Japan\u2019s Takashi Nakano (1:59.97). Slovenia\u2019s Blaz Medvesek (2:00.11) and the United States\u2019 Ryan Lochte (2:00.27) completed the top eight. Lochte cruised in his heat, saving energy for tonight\u2019s semifinals of the distance dorsal and the final of the 200 individual medley.<\/p>\n
Women\u2019s 200 Breaststroke<\/b><\/p>\n
After capturing gold in the 100 breast earlier this week, Australia\u2019s Leisel Jones should be swimming in a relaxed manner. Now that she has her first major international title to her name, Jones qualified second for the semifinals of the 200 breast on Thursday morning. Jones, a former world-record holder in the event, comfortably moved through the water in 2:27.63. <\/p>\n
Leading the way after the preliminary session was Germany\u2019s Anne Poleska, who won her heat in 2:27.31. Following Jones in third place was Japan\u2019s Megumi Taneda, who posted a time of 2:28.06. The fourth and fifth fastest times were collected by Poland\u2019s Katarzyna Dulian (2:28.45) and Austria\u2019s Mirna Jukic (2:28.47).<\/p>\n
Advancing to the semifinals in the sixth through eighth positions were Italy\u2019s Chiara Boggiatto (2:28.75), South Africa\u2019s Suzaan Van Biljon (2:29.02) and Russia\u2019s Ekaterina Kormatcheva (2:29.07). The United States\u2019 Kristen Caverly and Tara Kirk also made the semifinals. Caverly was 10th in 2:30.03 while Kirk grabbed the last spot in 2:31.48.<\/p>\n
Men\u2019s 200 Breaststroke<\/b><\/p>\n
By the time the championship final is held on Friday night, the 200 breaststroke figures to be a one-man show, dominated by American Brendan Hansen. The world-record holder at 2:09.04 for the 200 distance, Hansen is coming off a gold-medal showing in the 100 breast. In his prelim of the four-lap event, Hansen eased to a time of 2:12.74.<\/p>\n
Kazakhstan\u2019s Vladislav Polyakov, out of the University of Alabama, narrowly edged Hansen in the final heat, as Polyakov turned in a time of 2:12.73. That race also featured the third-fastest qualifying time, a 2:12.76 from Poland\u2019s Slawomir Kuczko. Hansen, who won bronze in the 200 breast in Athens, is the only medal winner from the Olympics competing. Japan\u2019s Kosuke Kitajima failed to qualify for the event and Hungary\u2019s Dani Gyurta is bypassing the meet.<\/p>\n
Canada\u2019s Mike Brown thrilled the fans of his home nation by qualifying fourth for the semifinals in 2:12.96 and was followed in fifth and sixth, respectively, by Russia\u2019s Grigory Falko (2:13.35) and Japan\u2019s Genki Imamura (2:13.36). Italy\u2019s Loris Facci was seventh in 2:13.46 and Australia\u2019s Jim Piper was eighth in 2:13.47. American Scott Usher was ninth in 2:13.89.<\/p>\n
Women\u2019s 800 Freestyle Relay<\/b><\/p>\n
The United States, which won the gold in Athens in world-record time, will take a run at the global standard in tonight\u2019s final of the 800 free relay. During the morning session, the U.S. earned the fastest qualifying time by swimming a mark of 7:59.64. The American foursome consisted of Mary DeScenza (2:01.17), Caroline Burckle (2:00.09), Rachel Komisarz (1:59.50) and Kaitlin Sandeno (1:58.88).<\/p>\n
During the championship final, the United States will likely go with a lineup featuring Natalie Coughlin, Whitney Myers, Katie Hoff and Sandeno. The Australians qualified second for the championship with the other time under eight minutes. The squad of Lisbeth Lenton, Millie Mitchell, Lara Davenport and Bronte Barratt went 7:59.77. Expect some lineup changes for the Aussies, too.<\/p>\n
China (8:02.51) and Japan (8:04.72) picked up the third and fourth berths to the final and Great Britain went 8:05.01 to advance in fifth. The championship heat was completed by New Zealand (8:05.12), France (8:06.23) and Canada (8:07.88).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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