Swimming | Men’s 50m Backstroke

Australia’s Isaac Cooper looked every part a potential world champion in last night’s semi finals as he used every centimetre of permitted underwater work to rocket through as top qualifier in the Men’s 50m Backstroke in an new Oceanian record. Cooper will be chasing Australia’s second gold medal in the pool tonight and will be hoping to eclipse his disappointment of narrowly missing the medals in this event in Fukuoka.

Defending champion Hunter Armstrong will race alongside Cooper in the opening final of tonight’s session with the United States of America swimmer aiming for his third straight podium and his second individual gold of the meet. Armstrong is also the world record holder in this event.

The gold and silver medallists from the World Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships in Lima 2022, Poland’s Ksawery Masiuk and South Africa’s Pieter Coetze, tied for third place in the semis, with Coetze winning bronze two nights ago in the 200m Backstroke and Masiuk winning bronze in this event at Budapest 2022. Doha’s 200m Backstroke World Champion Hugo Gonzalez is seeded fifth, ahead of Italy’s Michele Lamberti who is the son of Perth 1991 world champion Giorgio Lamberti.

Top Qualified:

• 24.12 – Isaac Cooper (AUS)
• 24.43 – Hunter Armstrong (USA)
• 24.46 – Pieter Coetze (RSA)

Best Entry Times:

• 24.05 – Hunter Armstrong (USA)
• 24.36 – Pieter Coetze (RSA)
• 24.38 – Isaac Cooper (AUS)

Fukuoka 2023:

• 24.05 – Gold: Hunter Armstrong (USA)
• 24.24 – Silver: Justin Ress (USA)
• 24.50 – Bronze: Xu Jiayu (CHN)

Records:

• 23.55 – World: Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS), 2023
• 24.04 – Championship: Liam Tancock (GBR), 24.04

Swimming | Women’s 50m Breaststroke

After missing the semi finals of the Women’s 100m Breaststroke, Lithuania’s Ruta Meilutyte proved she wasn’t just in Doha for a vacation last night by knocking out a 29.42 semi final swim. It was Meilutyte’s third fastest time ever and ranks sixth on the all-time list of fastest 50m Breaststroke swims. The 26 year-old broke the world record in this event at Fukuoka 2023 and loves to show up on the biggest stage possible.

Doha 100m Breaststroke champion Tang Qianting will also swim in the middle of the pool tonight, Tang setting a new Asian record to move up to the equal seventh best swimmer of all-time in this event. Italy’s Benedetta Pilato is seeded third with the world junior record holder chasing a fourth straight podium in this event following a silver at Gwangju 2019, silver at Budapest 2022, and a bronze at Fukuoka 2023. Also keep an eye on youngster Piper Enge tonight who snuck through to the heats in 15th, but absolutely nailed her semi final to advance in fourth.

Top Qualified:

• 29.42 – Ruta Meilutyte (LTU)
• 29.80 – Tang Qiantang (CHN)
• 29.91 – Benedetta Pilato (ITA)

Best Entry Times: 

• 29.16 – Ruta Meilutyte (LTU)
• 29.58 – Benedetta Pilato (ITA)
• 29.75 – Lara van Niekerk (RSA)

Fukuoka 2023:

• 29.16 – Gold: Ruta Meilutyte (LTU)
• 29.94 – Silver: Lily King (USA)
• 30.04 – Bronze: Benedetta Pilato (ITA)

Records:

• 29.16 – World: Ruta Meilutyte (LTU), 2023
• 29.16 – Championship: Ruta Meilutyte (LTU), 2023

Swimming | Men’s 1500m Freestyle

It was the tale of two heats in the preliminaries of the Men’s 1500m Freestyle yesterday morning with six swimmers progressing from the penultimate heat and only two making it through from the fourth and final heat. Amongst the casualties in that slower final heat were top seed Ahmed Hafnaoui, three-time world champion in this event Gregorio Paltrinieri, the United States of America’s Charlie Clark, and 800m Freestyle finalist Luca De Tullio. The only two swimmers that progressed through from that heat were new 800m Freestyle World Champion Daniel Wiffen and emerging teen superstar Kuzey Tuncelli. Wiffen and Tuncelli will swim from lanes seven and eight tonight.

Florian Wellbrock progressed through as the fastest swimmer with the German currently medal-less in Doha after medal hauls at the past three World Aquatics Championships. France’s David Aubry will swim alongside Wellbrock in the middle of the pool as he chases his first medal since a bronze in the 800m Freestyle at Gwangju 2019. Tokyo Olympic silver medallist Mykhailo Romanchuk will be aiming to deliver Ukraine’s second gold medal in as many nights, while Hungary’s David Betlehem and Germany’s Sven Schwarz will be hunting the first world championships pool medals of their careers.

Top Qualified:

• 14:48.43 – Florian Wellbrock (GER)
• 14:49.01 – David Aubry (FRA)
• 14:51.48 – David Betlehem (HUN) 

Best Entry Times:

• 14:31.54 – Ahmed Hafnaoui (TUN)  [did not qualify for final]
• 14:34.89 – Florian Wellbrock (GER)
• 14:34.91 – Daniel Wiffen (IRE)

Fukuoka 2023:

• 14:31.54 – Gold: Ahmed Hafnaoui (TUN)
• 14:31.59 – Silver: Bobby Finke (USA)
• 14:37.28 – Bronze: Samuel Short (AUS)

Records:

• 14:31.02 – World: Sun Yang (CHN), 2012
• 14:31.54 – Championship: Ahmed Hafnaoui (TUN), 2023

Swimming | Women’s 50m Freestyle

Sweden’s Sarah Sjoestroem clocked the thirtieth ‘sub 24’ swim of her career last night and the evergreen star again looks at her best here in Doha. Tonight her biggest challenges will come from Poland’s Katarzyna Wasick who posted a lifetime best in the 50m Freestyle here in Doha at age 31. The United States of America’s Kate Douglass will be chasing her third individual medal of the week here at the Aspire Dome, while last year’s silver medallist Shayna Jack and Great Britain’s Anna Hopkin are also expected to feature in the final rush for medals on the wall.

Top Qualified:

• 23.90 - Sarah Sjoestroem (SWE)
• 24.01 – Katarzyna Wasick (POL)
• 24.24 – Kate Douglass (USA)

Best Entry Times:

• 23.61 - Sarah Sjoestroem (SWE)
• 24.01 – Shayna Jack (AUS)
• 24.18 – Katarzyna Wasick (POL)

Fukuoka 2023:

• 23.62 – Gold: Sarah Sjoestroem (SWE)
• 24.10 – Silver: Shayna Jack (AUS)
• 24.15 – Bronze: Zhang Yufei (CHN)

Records:

• 23.61 – World: Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), 2023
• 23.61 – Championship: Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), 2023