Iron Lady Katinka Hosszu had a strong evening of swimming at the Mare Nostrum stop in Monte Carlo as she collected a title trifecta.
Hosszu, who stands at the top of the 400-meter IM rankings with a 4:31.93 from the Barcelona stop, won tonight in 4:34.16. Sakiko Shimizu finished second in 4:40.14 with Chihiro Igarashi taking third in 4:43.89.
Hosszu doubled up with a time of 1:56.69 in the women’s 200-meter free. That’s a second off her fourth-ranked season best of 1:55.89 from the Arena Pro Swim Series stop in Charlotte. Charlotte Bonnet touched second in 1:57.36 with Annika Bruhn earning third in 1:59.25.
Hosszu claimed her third victory of the night with a time of 2:08.54 in the women’s 200-meter back. That’s well off her sizzling second-ranked 2:06.81 from the Golden Tour, but more than a second ahead of the pack here in Monte Carlo.
Kirsty Coventry, the double Olympic gold medalist in this event, took second in 2:10.01 as she continues on the comeback trail. Jenny Mensing earned third in 2:10.53.
Myles Brown won the men’s 400-meter free in 3:47.96, while Ryan Cochrane took second in 3:49.40. Florian Vogel rounded out the top three in 3:49.67.
Marco Koch crushed the field in the men’s 200-meter breast with a 2:09.35. That’s a second off his third-ranked 2:08.57 from the Canet stop.
Yasuhiro Koseki, top-ranked with a 2:07.77 from Japanese Nationals, took second in 2:11.25 with Christian Vom Lehn clinching third in 2:11.47.
Kanako Watanabe, ranked third in the world with a 1:06.45 from Japanese Nationals, won the women’s 100-meter breast in 1:07.19. Rikke Moller Pedersen turned in a 1:07.44, just off her seventh-ranked 1:07.01 from Canet. Micah Lawrence earned bronze with a time of 1:07.89.
Jeremy Stravius emerged from a star-studded men’s 100-meter free final with a 49.12 for the win. Katsumi Nakamura placed second in 49.14 with Paul Biedermann earning third in 49.72. Ryan Lochte just missed the podium with a fourth-place time of 49.74.
In a heavyweight battle, Japan’s Daiya Seto nearly cracked his world best of 1:54.46 from the Japan Open with a 1:54.68 to win the men’s 200-meter fly. That swim cleared his own meet record of 1:54.70 set last year.
Chad le Clos, ranked second in the world with a 1:54.90 from the Barcelona stop, took second tonight in 1:55.47. Masato Sakai picked up third in 1:55.83.
Jeanette Ottesen clinched the women’s 100-meter fly title in 57.32 to down her meet record. That swim cleared the 57.46 she set last year, and was a bit shy of her second-ranked 57.15 from the Barcelona stop this year.
Alexandra Wenk placed second in the 100 fly with a 58.91, while Rikako Ikee touched third in 58.95.
Ryosuke Irie cruised to the men’s 100-meter back title in 53.27, while Jan Philip Glania took second in 54.58. Irie finished a bit off his second-ranked 52.99 from Japanese Nationals. Masaki Kaneko wound up third in 54.65.
Kosuke Hagino and Seto, the top two ranked swimmers in the men’s 200-meter IM with a 1:56.30 and 1:56.82 from Japanese Nationals, respectively, went 1-2 in the event tonight. Hagino won in 1:57.79 to down Seto’s 2013 meet record of 1:58.14. Seto took second in 1:57.85.
Lochte, who is ranked third in the world with a 1:57.20 from the Charlotte stop of the Arena Pro Swim Series, placed third in 1:59.50.
50 Shootout Quarterfinals:
These swimmers all qualified for semifinals that take place tomorrow.
Women’s 50 fly:
Ottesen (26.10), Yamaguchi (26.50), Vanderpool-Wallace (26.56), Ikee (26.78)
Men’s 50 fly:
Kawamoto (23.87), Josa (24.07), Weber (24.47), Clark (24.80)
Women’s 50 back:
Nielsen (27.99), Fesikova (28.43), Coventry (28.53), Baker (28.65)
Men’s 50 back:
Stravius (25.50), Irie (25.53), Schwarz (25.57), Glania (25.76)
Women’s 50 breast:
Pedersen (31.43), Watanabe (31.63), Kreundel (32.36), Hummel (32.67)
Men’s 50 breast:
Feldwehr (27.60), Siladji (27.78), Koseki (28.08), Steeples (28.30)
Women’s 50 free:
Blume (24.79), Uchida (25.07), Brandt (25.15), Santamans (25.15)
Men’s 50 free:
Nakamura (22.47), Grechin (22.60), Chadwick (22.78), Abood (22.79)
2015 Mare Nostrum Monte Carlo, Day One – Results