Xu Jiayu Headlines Trio of Former Champs Advancing to Semifinals of Men’s 100 Back

Editorial content for the 2019 World Championships coverage is sponsored by FORM Swim Goggles. See full event coverage. Follow FORM on Instagram at @FORMSwim #swimwithform

World Swimming Championships (Men’s 100 Backstroke Prelims)

Gwangju 2019

Historical firepower was the theme, as the last three world champions qualified among the top-four finishers. China’s Xu Jiayu, the reigning gold medalist from Budapest, led the field into the semifinals with one of two sub-53 clockings. Xu touched the wall in his heat in 52.85, which was clear of the 52.95 produced by Guilherme Guido, whose effort granted Brazil a national record and first sub-53. Going through in the third and fourth positions were Australia’s Mitch Larkin (53.12) and American Matt Grevers (53.22), the 2015 and 2013 world champions, respectively.

Posting the fifth-fastest time of the morning was Japanese veteran Ryosuke Irie (53.38), who was followed by Russia’s Evgeny Rylov (53.45), the reigning world champion in the 200 backstroke. Rylov looked strong on the anchor leg of Russia’s 4×100 freestyle relay on the opening night of action, an effort that bodes well for his prime events. Rounding out the top eight were Romanians Robert Glinta (53.64) and Daniel Martin (53.65).

Olympic champion Ryan Murphy of the United States was ninth in prelims, as the world-record holder cruised to a time of 53.69, pushing only hard enough to advance to the next round. Murphy’s approach is reminiscent of backstroke legend Aaron Peirsol, who had an uncanny ability to do just enough in the early rounds before turning in his best showing in finals.

Italian Simone Sabbioni qualified for the semifinals in 13th, going 63.85. But his path to an additional swim was hardly normal, as Sabbioni had significant trouble with the starting wedge attached to his block. The wedge initially slipped during the last heat, forcing Sabbioni to stop his swim and be awarded a solo time trial. On his first attempt at the time trial, the wedge again slipped, causing another reset.

Dylan Carter of Trinidad and Tobago was also granted a re-swim after a backstroke wedge issue in his heat. He was originally 30th with a 55.33 but moved up to 16th at 54.03, bumping out Italy’s Thomas Ceccon (54.04) from the semifinals.

Jiayu

CHN

52.85

GUIDO

Guilherme

BRA

52.95

LARKIN

Mitchell

AUS

53.12

GREVERS

Matt

USA

53.22

IRIE

Ryosuke

JPN

53.38

RYLOV

Evgeny

RUS

53.45

GLINTA

Robert

ROU

53.64

MARTIN

Daniel

ROU

53.65

MURPHY

Ryan

USA

53.69

THORMEYER

Markus

CAN

53.77

TSMYH

Mikita

BLR

53.81

CHRISTOU

Apostolos

GRE

53.82

SABBIONI

Simone

ITA

53.85

KOLESNIKOV

Kliment

RUS

53.89

GREENBANK

Luke

GBR

53.95

CARTER

Dylan

TTO

54.03

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use