Youth Olympic Games: Potentially Huge Battles Set Up For Night Two Finals

(140817) -- Nanjing,Aug 17,2014 (Xinhua) -- Yu Hexin of China competes in the final of Mixed 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay of Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, capital of east China?s Jiangsu Province, on Aug. 17, 2014.

Photo Courtesy: Xinhua/Youth Olympic Games

NANJING, China, August 17. We’re in for another exciting night tonight after swimmers at the Youth Olympic Games put up some seriously strong times this morning in Nanjing.

Scheduled Events

Men’s 200 IM
Women’s 100 free
Men’s 100 fly
Women’s 200 fly
Men’s 200 free
Women’s 400 medley relay

LIVE STREAM

LIVE RESULTS

Men’s 200 IM

Hungary’s Benjamin Gratz led the way in preliminary qualifying with a time of 2:02.06 out of the second, and fastest, heat of the morning.

Top-Seed Splits:

50m
26.74 (2)
26.74
100m
57.59 (2)
30.85
150m
1:33.80 (2)
36.21
200m
2:02.06 (1)
28.26

USA’s Patrick Mulcare raced into second with a 2:02.66, a big personal best down from his 2:03.57 from the 2013 junior nationals. Hungary’s Norbert Szabo finished third overall in 2:02.95 as the final 2:02 of the morning.

Lithuania’s Povilas Strazdas (2:03.50), Spain’s Guillermo Sanchez Gutierrez (2:03.59), South Africa’s Christopher Reid (2:04.19), Austria’s Sebastian Steffan (2:04.31) and Vietnam’s Khoi Tran Duy (2:04.56) also made the championship heat.

Women’s 100 free

China’s Shen Duo did not waste time blasting a fast 100 free individually after blazing her way to a 53.43 anchor leg for China’s WJR in the mixed 400 free relay last night. This morning, Shen posted a sizzling 54.44 to lead qualifying, and will be vying for her World Junior Record of 54.15 from Chinese Nationals earlier this year.

Top-Seed Splits:

50m
26.74 (2)
26.74
100m
54.44 (1)
27.70

China could go 1-2 in the finale as Qiu Yuhan posted a swift 54.65 for the second seed. Australia’s Ami Matsuo raced her way to third in 55.32 with Italy’s Rachele Ceracchi earning fourth in 55.81.

Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey (55.89), Russia’s Daria Ustinova (55.99), Russia’s Daria Mullakaeva (56.03) and Slovenia’s Nastja Govejsek (56.09) rounded out the top half of the semifinalists.

Lithuania’s Ruta Meilutyte, who will be looking for a world-record swim in the 50 breast tonight, qualified ninth in the 100 free with a 56.20. Austria’s Lena Kreundl (56.32), Slovenia’s Tjasa Pintar (56.39), Norway’s Elise Olsen (57.05), Luxembourg’s Julia Meynen (57.06) and Cuba’s Elisbet Gamez Matos (57.25) secured spots in the semifinals.

Turkey’s Ilknur Nihan Cakici and South Africa’s Marlies Ross set up a swimoff for 16th with matching 57.30s. Cakici won the swimoff, 57.23 to 57.45.

Notably, Clara Smiddy of the U.S. took 18th in 57.38.

Men’s 100 fly

China’s Li Zhuhao could give the hosts another gold medal, especially after crushing prelims in the 100 fly with a smoking 52.97. He finished more than half-a-second ahead of the rest of the semifinalists.

Top-Seed Splits:

50m
24.90 (1)
24.90
100m
52.97 (1)
28.07

Russia’s Aleksandr Sadovnikov turned in the second seed for the morning with a time of 53.64, while South Africa’s Joshua Steyn placed third in 53.74.

Australia’s Nicholas Brown (54.04), Switzerland’s Nils Liess (54.15), The Netherlands’ Mathys Goosen (54.34), Argentina’s Santiago Grassi (54.40) and Germany’s Alexander Kunert (54.84) qualified in the top half of the semifinalist field.

Austria’s Sascha Subarsky (54.86), Italy’s Giacomo Carini (55.01), Suriname’s Zuhayr Pigot (55.19), Hungary’s Tamas Kenderesi (55.20), Thailand’s Supakrid Pananuratana (55.21), USA’s Justin Wright (55.47), Estonia’s Daniel Zaitsev (55.55) and Great Britain’s Luke Greenbank (55.59) snared the other lanes in the semis.

Women’s 200 fly

Hungary’s Liliana Sziliagyi, who already stands 16th in the world with a 2:08.37 from Hungarian Nationals, flashed some of that speed this morning with a 2:09.44 to lead qualifying by more than two seconds.

Top-Seed Splits:

50m
28.98 (1)
28.98
100m
1:01.91 (1)
32.93
150m
1:35.38 (1)
33.47
200m
2:09.44 (1)
34.06

China’s Zhang Yufei won the final heat of the morning with a 2:11.62 to take second and ease her way into tonight’s championship finale. Korea’s Park Jinyoung also cleared 2:12 with a third-seeded 2:11.88, while Hungary’s Dalma Sebestyen took fourth in 2:12.14.

Australia’s Brianna Throssell (2:12.31), Japan’s Jurina Shiga (2:12.50), Indonesia’s Monalisa Arieswaty Lorenza (2:13.08) and 200 IM winner Vien Nguyen of Vietnam (2:13.90) also made the championship heat.

Men’s 200 free

Italy’s Nicolangelo di Fabio put up one of the easiest swims of the morning, and it still proved to be the fastest, as he clocked in at 1:50.08. He’s a huge favorite heading into the finale considering just how easy his swim looked this morning.

Top-Seed Splits:

50m
25.71 (2)
25.71
100m
53.64 (1)
27.93
150m
1:22.12 (1)
28.48
200m
1:50.08 (1)
27.96

The Netherlands’ Kyle Stolk powered his way to second in 1:50.32 with Brazil’s Luiz Altamir Lopes Melo taking third in 1:50.58 as those two are the likeliest competition for di Fabio in the finale.

Germany’s Damian Wierling (1:50.70), South Africa’s Joshua Steyn (1:50.79), Israel’s Ido Haber (1:50.84), Great Britain’s Duncan Scott (1:51.23) and USA’s Patrick Mulcare (1:51.33) also made their way into the championship heat.

Women’s 400 medley relay

Although Great Britain had the top swim of the morning with a 4:09.83 by way of Jessica Fullalova, Georgina Evans, Charlotte Atkinson and Amelia Maughan, China looks to be the favorite tonight after Shen Duo shut it down with 15 meters to go en route to China posting a second ranked 4:10.15. Shen already anchored a 53.43 last night as part of China’s WJR in the mixed 400 medley relay. Tonight, she cruised home in 59.10. There’s a likely six-second drop for China’s squad tonight just with that information.

Comparative Splits:

GBR Great Britain 4:09.83
FULLALOVE Jessica 0.58 30.36 1:02.52 1:02.52
EVANS Georgina 0.27 32.11 1:08.89 2:11.41
ATKINSON Charlotte 0.24 28.56 1:01.77 3:13.18
MAUGHAN Amelia 0.21 27.07 56.65 4:09.83

CHN People’s Republic of China 4:10.15 0.32
QIU Yuhan 0.80 30.99 1:02.93 1:02.93
HE Yun 0.16 31.47 1:08.10 2:11.03
ZHANG Yufei 0.23 27.81 1:00.02 3:11.05
SHEN Duo 0.45 29.07 59.10 4:10.15

Australia’s Amy Forrester, Ella Bond, Brianna Throssell and Ami Matsuo finished third in 4:11.22 with Matsuo blazing her way to a 54.82 on the anchor leg.

Canada (4:11.79), Germany (4:12.50), South Africa (4:15.13), Russia (4:16.42) and Japan (4:17.11) also made the finale. Team USA’s Hannah Moore, Meghan Small, Courtney Mykkanen and Clara Smiddy could not catch Japan, missing finals with a ninth-place 4:17.20.

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