Day two of the Canet stop of the Mare Nostrum circuit continued today with two more meet records being set by Andriy Govorov and Felipe Franca Da Silva.
The women’s 50-meter breaststroke kickstarted the meet with quick times all around. Jhennifer Conceicao dashed ahead of the competition to take first with a time of 31.34. Kanako Watanabe and Rikke Moller Pedersen kept it close for second and third posting times of 31.76 and 31.77 respectively.
Felipe Franca Da Silva turned up the heat in the men’s 50-meter breaststroke to claim a new meet record of 27.18. That time boosts him to fifth in the world rankings for 2016. Cameron van der Burgh, who currently sits second in the world rankings after posting a 27.08 at the Swedish Open, grabbed second overall with a time of 27.44. Joao Gomes Junior was third with a 27.53.
Jeanette Ottesen continued to dominate the butterfly events with a strong win of 25.50 in the women’s 50-meter fly. Ottesen’s time sits just shy of her 2016 best of 25.44 ranked third in the world rankings. Second place was picked up by Theresa Alshammar and her time of 25.87, while third was claimed by Penny Oleksiak’s 25.93.
Meet records continued falling in the men’s events after Andriy Govorov threw down a sizzling 22.94 to claim victory in the men’s 50-meter fly. Henrique Martins grabbed second with a time of 23.68, while Aleksander Popkov was third with a 23.72.
Florian Wellbrock charged ahead of the field in the men’s 1500-meter free to post a first place finish of 15:00.71, finishing more than twelve seconds ahead of the competition. Damien Joly claimed second overall with a final 15:13.56, over Ruwen Straub’s 15:14.07.
Liliana Szilagyi and Zsuzsanna Jakabos delivered a 1-2 punch for Hungary as they topped the competition in the women’s 200-meter fly. The two kept it close throughout the entire race but at the finish it was Szilagyi who stopped the clock first with a 2:07.25 over Jakabos’ 2:07.96.
Chad le Clos maintained his butterfly prowess with a win in the men’s 200-meter fly. Le Clos stopped the clock at a 1:54.82, finishing almost four seconds ahead of the competition. His time was just shy of his 2016 world best of 1:54.80 from last week’s stop in Monte Carlo. Kosuke Hagino turned in a time of 1:8.69 for second, while Robert Zbogar was third with a 1:58.80.
Jazz Carlin continued to throw down fast finishes in the women’s 400-meter free posting yet another un-tapered 4:04. Carlin, who won silver last month at the European Championships, held off Katinka Hosszu to claim the win with a 4:04.67. The Iron Lady finished second with a time of 4:05.40, ahead of Coralie Balmy’s 4:06.13.
After a disappointing prelims swim in the women’s 100-meter back of 1:01.90 (good for fifth) Hosszu elected to scratch the event. This allowed for a trio of 1:00’s to claim the medal count. Anastasiia Fesikova led the charge with a 1:00.50 finish and was followed to the wall by a tie between Zimbabwe’s Kirsty coventry and Japan’s Natsumi Sakai. The duo delivered matching times of 1:00.94 to share the silver.
Germany claimed two of the three spots atop the podium in the men’s 100-meter back. Jan Glania dashed ahead of the competition to earn first with a time of 54.40, ahead of teammate Christian Diener and Brazil’s Guilherme Guido. Diener and Guido finished close behind stopping the clock simultaneously at 54.69 to share the silver.
Rikke Pedersen, the world record holder in the event, grabbed gold in the women’s 200-meter breaststroke with a final time of 2:24.06. That time sits just a couple seconds slower than her 2016 world best of 2:21.69. Kierra Smith was a close second with a time of 2:24.42, while third was picked up by Kanako Watanabe and her final time of 2:25.33. Both Smith and Watanabe have been faster this year with times of 2:23.91 (Smith) and 2:23.54 (Watanabe).
The men’s 200-meter breaststroke was a race to the finish with Anton Chupkov and Marco Koch posting times a slim .07 seconds apart. Chupkov upset the world leader with a final time of 2:08.53, his best for the season, while Koch settled for second and a time of 2:08.60. Koch currently leads the world rankings with a time of 2:07.69, the only sub-2:08 swim this year.
Penny Oleksiak turned on the speed in the women’s 100-meter free to finish first with a quick 53.49. Oleksiak has continued to improve and thrive in international competition as the Rio Olympics nears proving that she is a serious contender for some medals. Ottesen picked up second with a time of 53.66, her fastest yet in 2016, while Charlotte Bonnett grabbed third with a 54.03.
le Clos grabbed his second win of the session with a final 49.02 in the men’s 100-meter free, finishing just ahead of Jeremy Stravius and his time of 49.17. Touching close behind was Damian Wierling with a time of 49.19.
Kosuke Hagino delivered the top time in the men’s 200-meter freestyle, turning in a time of 1:57.63 to be the only athlete under the 2-minute mark. Alexis Santos picked up second with a 2:00.53, while third was Jeremy Desplanches’ 2:01.29.
The meet ended with the women’s 400-meter IM, usually a battle for second. Hosszu grabbed a decisive first with a 4:36.00, but the crowd behind her was much closer than usual. Viktoriia Andreeva posted a 4:40.19 for second, just ahead of Beatriz Gomez Cortes’ time of 4:41.61.
Katinka swam prelims in 200fly at 9h23, 400free at 9h41 and 100back at 10h07 and after them swam the 400 IM prelims in the morning so her time is not so disappointing. She scratched the final (100back) because it was seven minutes after the end of 400free final with the Victory Ceremony in between the two events.