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A pair of 58s went up on the board in the women’s 100-meter back semis with Emily Seebohm, and Mie Nielsen claiming the top seeds at the 2015 FINA World Championships.
Seebohm clocked a time of 58.56 for the top seed to move to the top of the world rankings. She’s looking for her second world title and sixth career world championship medal.
Nielsen, meanwhile, clocked in second with a time of 58.84 to move to third in the world rankings. That’s a Danish record for Nielsen, breaking her previous record of 59.14 from March of this year.
Australia’s Madison Wilson captured the third seed in 59.05, off her 58.94 from April as her season best.
China’s Fu Yuanhui (59.33), USA’s Missy Franklin (59.42), Russia’s Anastasia Fesikova (59.55), USA’s Kathleen Baker (59.63) and Great Britain’s Lauren Quigley (59.63) also made the championship heat.
The stunner was that Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu broke 59 seconds for the first time in prelims with a blazing 58.78, but decided to scratch her semifinal swim to focus on the 200-meter IM final later in the evening.
That’s a stunning turn of events for Baker. Baker initially missed semis with a 17th-place effort in prelims, but was pulled into semifinals after Hosszu and Sweden’s Michelle Coleman scratched after prelims.
Baker certainly walked right through that open door as she made the finale alongside American teammate Franklin.
SCHEDULED EVENTS
- Men’s 100 breast finals
- Women’s 100 fly finals
- Men’s 100 back semis
- Women’s 100 breast semis
- Men’s 50 fly finals
- Women’s 100 back semis
- Men’s 200 free semis
- Women’s 200 IM finals
