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The final morning of the 2018 FINA World Cup Beijing featured two timed finals and nine individual preliminary events. Races included numerous controlled swims across all events, with exciting matchups set up among the sprint events to close out the meet at finals.
Men’s 400 IM
The final morning session of this Beijing World Cup stop started with eleven men competing in the 400 IM timed final. With one heat to go in finals, Zhixiao Zong holds the fastest time at 4:24.38. Yu Zhou was the second-fastest qualifier in 4:25.90. Erasmus Ang was also under 4:30 in 4:28.52. Tonight final will feature David Verraszto, Hiromasa Fujimori and more.
Women’s 800 Freestyle
In the women’s distance event of the morning, Yiming Liu swam the fastest 800 out of four competitors. Yuxin Li took second in 9:02.98. All the finals swimmers are seeded at nine minutes or under, with Caiping Yang leading the puck at 8:30.00.
Men’s 50 Butterfly
USA’s Michael Andrew took another preliminary top seed, this time in the 50 Butterfly. He raced to a 22.57 – a season best and two tenths closer to Tom Shields‘ American Record of 22.38 from 2016. Russia’s Vladimir Morozov also dipped under 23 in 22.91 and will be Andrew’s biggest challenger.
Also competing in the final are Riku Poytakivi (23.11), Wang Peng (23.12), William Yang (23.17), Li Zhuhao (23.25), Yauhen Tsurkin (23.32) and Shen Jiahao (23.55).
Women’s 100 Butterfly
Sarah Sjostrom and Wang Yichun tied for top honors in the 100 Butterfly heats in 57.04. Zhang Yufei was next in 58.00 with Alia Atkinson close behind in 58.08. All four swimmers are expected to be much quicker in the final, as Sjostrom (54.91) currently holds the World Record and second-best time in the world this year and Yufei ranks fourth (55.87).
Erin Gallagher (59.03), Lin Xintong (59.13), Yunguan le (59.16) and Lao Lihui (59.49) will round out the heat.
Men’s 100 Backstroke
In similar fashion, Mitchell Larkin (51.50) and Andrew (51.61) cruised to the top two spots, a ways off their season bests of 49.96 and 50.36, respectively. China’s Li Guangyuan was also in the mix at 51.67. He was followed by Bradley Woodward (52.76), Keita Sunama (52.86), Mikita Tsmyh (53.17), Wang Peng (53.25) and Yang (53.31).
Women’s 200 Backstroke
Another women’s backstroke showdown has been setup between Liu Yaxin (2:05.85), Minna Atherton (2:05.86), Katinka Hosszu (2:05.91) and Emily Seebohm (2:06.45). Hosszu is the World Record holder in this event, Atherton is fresh off a win in last night’s 100 distance and Seebohm is the current world-leader.
They will be joined by Peng Xuwei (206.98), Haiyun Liu (2:07.73), Kira Toussaint (2:09.26) and Yifan Yang (2:10.69).
Men’s 200 Breaststroke
Russian duo Kirill Prigoda and Anton Chupkov, the fastest two performers in the world this year, claimed the top two seeds in the 200 Breaststroke 2:04.47 to 2:05.07. Ilya Shymanovich will also pose a challenge after coming in at 2:05.47 for third. Matthew Wilson was fourth in 2:05.76.
Fujimori (2:06.58), Arno Kamminga (2:06.65), Yan Zibei (2:07.49) and Feilian Mao (2:08.73) placed fifth through eighth.
Women’s 50 Breaststroke
The women’s 50 Breaststroke was stacked with its typical stars including Atkinson (30.18) and Yulia Efimova (30.38), with the addition of wildcard Seebohm in 31.04.
Junyang Feng (30.78), Vitalina Simonova (31.35), Pei Win Lin (31.62), Qianting Tang (31.71) and Yun He (31.72) will join them in the final.
Women’s 100 Freestyle
After a quick opening fifty, Pernille Blume is the top seed headed into the 100 Freestyle finals. Her time of 52.53 edged out Sjostrom in 52.69. Femke Heemskerk was right behind in 52.72. Ranomi Kromowidjojo will also add some spark to the race after taking the fifth seed in 53.29.
Yuhan Qiu (53.12), Yang Junxuan (26.04), Zhu Menghui (53.41) and Wang Jingzhuo (53.57) will also race in the final.
Men’s 200 Freestyle
China placed six swimmers in the men’s 200 Freestyle in Ji Xinjie (1:44.17), Shang Keyuan (1:44.92), Xu Jiayu (1:46.77), Qian Zhiyong (1:46.79) Ma Tianchi (1:46.94) and Can Jiwen (1:46.96). USA’s Blake Pieroni and Australia’s Bradley Woodward broke up the country’s domination in 1:45.61 and 1:46.98, respectively.
Women’s 200 IM
Numerous swimmers returned to the pool for the last individual prelim of the meet. To no surprise, Hosszu raced to the top seed in 2:08.15. China’s Zhou Min (2:09.10) and Ye Shiwen (2:10.01) were next and were followed by Seebohm in 2:10.43.
Heemskerk took the fifth position in 2:10.58. Chang Yang (2:11.29), Efimova (2:11.49) and Franziska Weidener (2:12.16) took sixth through eighth.
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