BEIJING, China, February 2. SOME exciting races throughout the top eight spots took place during the fourth day of finals at the Good Luck Beijing China Open held at the National Aquatics Center (Water Cube) in Beijing.
Swimming World will also compare side-to-side how morning finals impact the top eight. The first time listed will always be finals.
Women's 400 free
Germany's Annika Lurz emerged victorious over China's You Meihong, 4:10.60 to 4:12.45, in the women's 400 free after You grabbed the women's 800 free yesterday. Poland's Otylia Jedrzejczak wound up with bronze in 4:14.05.
Lurz led the entire race with intermediate splits of 1:00.85, 2:04.61 and 3:08.28.
"I'm quite satisfied with the result," Lurz told Xinhua. "It's better than I achieved last week in Luxembourg. The 200 meters freestyle is my event, but I also want to be qualified for the 400 meters freestyle at Beijing Olympics."
Morning Finals Impact
1. Annika Lurz; 4:10.60; 4:14.58; Faster
2. You Meihong; 4:12.45 4:11.22; Slower
3. Otylia Jedrzejczak; 4:14.05; 4:12.26; Slower
4. Ionela Cozma; 4:16.15; 4:12.67; Slower
5. Li Mo; 4:16.76; 4:14.52; Slower
6. Yu Rui; 4:18.86; 4:15.89; Slower
7. Zhu Qianwei; 4:19.23; 4:13.46; Slower
8. Zhu Wenrui; 4:21.09; 4:19.17; Slower
Men's 100 free
Sweden's Stefan Nystrand put together a swift 100 free for the gold in 48.94 – just a second off his personal-best time of 47.91. Not bad for an in-season performance. Brazil's Nicholas Dos Santos joined Nystrand under 50 with a second-place effort of 49.98, while China's Huang Shaohua took third in 50.06.
Nystrand had to come from behind as he trailed Germany's Steffen Deibler (23.71) and Dos Santos (23.75) at the 50 with a 23.91. Nystrand, however, dropped a 25.03 final 50 to win.
"I prefer racing in the evening," Nystrand told event organizers. "However, I can do nothing about it since it's already decided."
Morning Finals Impact
1. Stefan Nystrand; 48.94; 49.31, Faster
2. Nicholas Dos Santos; 49.98; 50.38; Faster
3. Huang Shaohua; 50.06; 50.01; Slower
4. Steffen Deibler; 50.61; 50.34; Slower
5. Paul Biedermann; 50.76; 50.85; Faster
6. Ryan Pini; 50.85; 50.69; Slower
7. Christoffer Vikstrom; 51.29; 50.95; Slower
8. Petter Symne; DNS; 50.03; N/A
Women's 100 breast
China's Qi Hui surfaced from one of the closest races of the meet thus far. Qi had to hold off Korea's Seul Ki Jung, 1:09.24 to 1:09.30, for the victory. Jong's performance lowered her own Korean national record of 1:09.48 set during prelims. Meanwhile, China's Sun Ye placed third in 1:09.71.
Qi led at the halfway mark with a 50-meter 32.43, but had to withstand Jung's 36.24 coming down the final stretch. Qi had enough in the tank to post a 36.81.
Morning Finals Impact
1. Qi Hui; 1:09.24; 1:08.22; Slower
2. Seul Ki Jung; 1:09.30; 1:09.48; Faster
3. Sun Ye; 1:09.71; 1:09.78; Faster
4. Nanaka Tamura; 1:10.54; 1:10.35; Slower
5. Liu Xiaoyu; 1:10.60; 1:10.15; Slower
6. Megumi Taneda; 1:10.93; 1:10.66; Slower
7. Rebecca Ejdervik; 1:11.06; 1:10.69; Slower
8. Su Yeon Back; 1:12.08; 1:10.89; Slower
Men’s 200 breast
Japan’s Ryo Tateishi won the men’s 200 breast in 2:13.61 to add to his 100 breast title. Hungary’s Daniel Gyurta placed second in 2:13.98, while Poland’s Slawomir Kuczko touched third in 2:14.23.
Tateishi never trailed, but had to hold off a frenetic charge from Gyurta. Tateishi owned a big lead halfway through, 1:04.15 to 1:05.77, but Gyurta put together splits of 33.91 and 34.30 on the way in to the pads.
Morning Finals Impact
1. Ryo Tateishi; 2:13.61; 2:13.89; Faster
2. Daniel Gyurta; 2:13.98; 2:15.20; Faster
3. Slawomir Kuczko; 2:14.23; 2:16.03; Faster
4. Laszlo Cseh; 2:15.31; 2:14.16; Slower
5. Yuta Suenaga; 2:15.38; 2:15.47; Faster
6. Xue Ruipeng; 2:16.07; 2:16.34; Faster
7. Su Jong Sin; 2:17.52; 2:17.04; Slower
8. Carlos Almeida; 2:19.81; 2:17.58; Slower
Men’s 1500 free
China’s Zhang Lin continued his hometown rock star tour with another victory, this time with a crushing conquest of the metric mile with a time of 15:05.57. Romania’s Dragos Coman grabbed silver with a time of 15:35.39, while Mexico’s Daniel Delgadillo rounded out the podium with a bronze-winning 15:47.00.
Women’s 400 freestyle relay
Germany’s foursome of Britta Steffen (54.28), Daniela Goetz (54.79), Daniela Schreiber (56.35) and Annika Lurz (55.65) won the gold in 3:41.07, while the Chinese contingent of Xu Yanwei (56.20), Zhu Wenrui (57.50), Li Ji (57.17) and Zhu Qianwei (57.27) snagged silver in 3:48.14. Korea’s quartet of Jae Young Lee (57.68), Keo Ra Lee (56.81), Ji Eun Lee (57.64) and Ji Yeon (59.88) completed the podium with a third-place 3:52.01.
Click here to view event results PDF file.