BELGRADE, Serbia, July 6. THE second night of swimming at the World University Games featured a sizzling 100 back from Japan's Ryosuke Irie. Meanwhile, four breaststrokes cleared the 1:00 barrier.
Men's 50 fly finals
While Kenya's Jason Dunford lit up the meet with a swift 23.09 during semis yesterday, Slovenia's Jernej Godec touched first when it mattered most with a 23.41 in the finale. Dunford settled for second in 23.45. Godec's winning time eclipsed his national record of 23.55 set yesterday when he qualified third. American Chris Brady completed the podium with a third-place time of 23.56, off his semifinal effort of 23.38.
Women's 100 free semis
Serbia's Miroslava Najdanovski and Hong Kong's Hannah Wilson led the way in qualifying with matching times of 54.73. The times beat both swimmers' respective national records. Najdanovski held the previous Serbian mark with a 55.88 set in June 2008. Meanwhile, Wilson's previous best came with a 55.32 set at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Australia's Alice Mills finished third in 55.11, while Morgan Scroggy of the U.S. qualified fourth in 55.15.
Men's 100 back finals
The Universiade audience witnessed a pair of sub-53 second performances, but neither could approach Aschwin Wildeboer Faber's world record of 52.38. Japan's Ryosuke Irie just missed his national record of 52.56 with a winning time of 52.60. Meanwhile, Germany's Helge Meeuw touched in 52.94 to clip his German standard of 53.08 set last week. Junya Koga gave Japan a 1-3 finish with a bronze-winning time of 53.50.
Women's 50 fly finals
Belarus' Svetlana Khokhlova smashed her national record of 26.47 set yesterday with a top time of 25.97 for the sprint fly title. Italy's Cristina Maccagnola finished a distant second with a 26.52, while China's Hong Wenwen wound up third in 26.66.
Men's 100 breast finals
Ukraine's Igor Borysik led four swimmers under the 1:00 mark in the event with a triumphant time of 59.53. The swim broke Oleg Lisogor's Ukrainian standard of 1:00.06 set in 2005. Italy's Fabio Scozzoli wound up second in 59.85, which crushed his record of 1:00.14 set during semis.
Japan's Hiromasa Sakimoto placed third in 59.90, while Lithuania's Giedrius Titenis took fourth in 59.94. Titenis' readout cleared his national record of 1:00.04 set during semis. Serbia's Caba Siladi, who led semis with a sub-1:00 59.90, settled for fifth in 1:00.02.
Women's 100 breast semis
Japan's Hitomi Nose closed in on Masami Tanaka's Japanese record with a top qualifying time of 1:07.86. Tanaka owns the national mark with a 1:07.27 set in 2000. Italy's Chiaro Boggiatto touched in 1:08.01 for the second seed, while Serbia's Nada Higl qualified third in 1:08.07. Higl's effort beat her national record of 1:08.30 set during prelims, which smashed her standard of 1:11.15 set in June 2008. France's Coralie Dobral clocked a 1:08.48 to qualify fourth.
Men's 200 IM semis
Alex Vanderkaay of the U.S. cracked 2:00 with a leading time of 1:59.09. A full second behind, Canada's Brian Johns qualified second in 2:00.20. Japan's Yuma Kosaka touched third in 2:00.43, while Canada picked up two of the top four qualifying spots with a 2:00.89 from Keith Beavers.
Women's 200 back finals
Great Britain's Stephanie Proud led nearly wire-to-wire during the finale en route to a Games record time of 2:08.91. Kristen Heiss of the U.S., who is on the comeback trail after losing a year to shoulder surgery, clinched a silver medal with a time of 2:09.22. Japan's Tomoyo Fukuda claimed third in 2:11.17.
Men's 200 free semis
Japan's Sho Uchida paced the semifinal heats with a top seeded time of 1:48.19. Compatriot Shogo Hihara claimed second-seed honors with a 1:48.34. Dorde Markovic of Serbia gave the home crowd something to cheer for with a third-seeded time of 1:48.34. The performance wiped out Radovan Siljevski's national mark of 1:49.49 set in June 2009. Meanwhile, Italy's Nicola Cassio qualified fourth in 1:48.83.