Women’s 200 Free
Australia’s Ariarne Titmus had a monster last 50 in the final of the 200 free on Tuesday night at the 2018 FINA World Short Course Championships in Hangzhou. Titmus used a 28.19, the fastest last 50 in the field to run down American Mallory Comerford to take the gold medal at 1:51.38.
Titmus broke the Oceania record in the 200 free, breaking Emma McKeon’s record of 1:51.66 from 2015. Titmus moved up to fourth all-time with her swim here in the 200 free.
After the race Titmus said: “I have been working on my speed, so I am glad it paid off. I knew the back end was my strength, so I just tried to play to that and it worked.
“It is my first individual world title, so it is a good stepping stone to next year with World Championships and then Olympics after that,” she added.
Comerford finished in second at 1:51.81, which moves her up to eighth all-time in the event and lowers the American Record she set in the preliminaries. Comerford led for about 175 meters before Titmus ran her down the final 25.
The bronze medal went to Femke Heemskerk of the Netherlands at 1:52.36. She did not go a best time but adds an eleventh World Short Course Championship medal to her collection.
All-Time Rankings:
- Sarah Sjostrom, SWE, 1:50.43 (2017)
- Federica Pellegrini, ITA, 1:51.17 (2009)
- Katinka Hosszu, HUN, 1:51.18 (2014)
- Ariarne Titmus, AUS, 1:51.38 (2018)
- Camille Muffat, FRA, 1:51.65 (2012)
- Emma McKeon, AUS, 1:51.66 (2015)
- Femke Heemskerk, NED, 1:51.69 (2014)
- Mallory Comerford, USA, 1:51.81 (2018)
