Windsor, Day 2 – First WR for US quartet

First final of the day and first World Record of the Championships: the US quartet, formed by Alexandra de Loof, Lilly King, Kelsi Worrell and Katrina Konopka swam the women’s 4x50m medley relay in 1:43.27. They remarkably improved the previous global mark, owned by the team of Denmark since Doha 2014 in 1:44.04. Italy continues to make waves in Windsor, earning silver in 1:45.38, while the Danish swimmers, the 2014 champions, had to content with bronze in 1:45.98. They were faster by a mere 0.02 than the Canadian relay, in fourth!

In the men’s 100m backstroke, Mitch Larkin from Australia managed to revalidate his 2014 title, winning gold in 49.65 (he had done 49.57 two years ago). The 23-year-old star had also won this event at the Kazan 2015 FINA World Championships, but missed the podium (fourth) at the 2016 Rio Olympics. The Australian overcame the fastest of the semis, Russia’s Andrei Shabasov (silver in 49.69), and China’s Xu Jiayu (bronze in 50.02). In the history of the Championships, Larkin is the second swimmer of his country to win this event, after precedent triumphs of Matt Welsh in 2002 and 2004.

After the non-qualification of WR holder and 2014 champion Mireia Belmonte (ESP), Katinka Hosszu (HUN) found no difficulties in getting another gold (after the 400m IM) in Windsor, triumphing in the women’s 200m butterfly in a time of 2:02.15. It was a relatively slow time compared with Belmonte’s global mark of 1:59.61, but largely sufficient to defeat US Kelsi Worrell (silver in 2:02.89) and China’s Zhang Yufei (bronze in 2:05.10). The Magyar great had already won this event at the 2012 edition of the Championships, in Istanbul (TUR).

In the men’s 100m breaststroke, Marco Koch (GER) perfectly controlled operations, earning the gold in 56.77. The German swimmer had been second in 2014 in the 200m breast, and is clearly a specialist in the longer event, having the long course crown from Kazan 2015. Vladimir Morozov, from Russia, was the silver medallist (57.00) in Windsor, while Fabio Scozzoli added another medal (bronze, 57.04) to the Italian collection. It was the third podium for Scozzoli in this event, after being gold medallist in 2012 and second in 2010.

Despite having the best time of the semis and the World Record of 28.64 recently established in Tokyo, Alia Atkinson (JAM) could not resist to the speed of Lilly King (USA) in the women’s 50m breaststroke. The US champion, winner of the 100m breast at the Rio Olympics, needed 28.92 seconds to touch home for gold, while Atkinson arrived in 29.11 for silver. It’s the fifth medal for the Jamaican great, after three silver and one gold (100m breast in 2014). The bronze went to Molly Hannis (USA) in 29.58. The victories in the last two editions of the Championships went to Ruta Meilutyte (LTU), absent here in Windsor.

After winning the 400m free on Day 1, Taehwan Park (KOR) earned his second gold in Canada, also triumphing in the 200m free. Swimming in lane 1, the Korean star completed the race in 1:41.03, a new Championships record. The previous best mark of the competition had been established by Ryan Lochte (USA) in 2010, in a time of 1:41.08. Chad Le Clos (RSA), winner in 2014 and gold medallist on Day 1 in the 200m fly, was second in 1:41.65, while Aleksandr Krasnykh (RUS) earned bronze in 1:41.95. Park was the first Korean swimmer to win an Olympic medal, after getting the 400m crown in Beijing 2008.

After the 200m fly, Hosszu was again the strongest in the 100m backstroke, winning the gold in 55.54, and revalidating her 2014 title from Doha. The Hungarian star couldn’t however improve her World Record, established in the capital of Qatar in a time of 55.03. Swimming in lane 2, Hosszu (also Olympic champion in this event) left home hero Kylie Masse (CAN) with the silver in 56.24, while Georgia Davies (GBR) earned bronze in 56.45. The Canadian was the bronze medallist in Rio. Emily Seebohm (AUS), second in Doha 2014, was this time outside the podium, arriving in fourth (56.46).

In the last final of the day, Russia was the strongest quartet in the mixed 4x50m free relay, earning gold in 1:29.73. In a race in which all the eight teams chose the same tactics – two men first, and then the two female competitors in the end – the European side competed with Aleksei Brianskii, Vladimir Morozov, Maria Kameneva and Rozaliya Nasretdinova. In a very close final, the Netherlands grabbed the silver in 1:29.82, while the Canadians occupied the last march of the podium in 1:29.83. The USA, first winners of this event in 2014, did not reach the final, concluding the heats in 11^th.