Budapest 2024, Day 4 Prelims: Shaine Casas Rattles American 200 Free Record On Lead-Off; USA Miss Cut In 4×50 Free
Shaine Casas went second in the United States 200 free rankings on day four of prelims at short-course worlds in Budapest.
There was a fourth individual world record for Gretchen Walsh as she hit 53.24 in the 100 fly: read more here.
Ilya Kharun, Yamato Fukasawa and Kate Douglass all topped individual prelims but there was a shock as the USA missed the cut on the mixed 4×50 free as they finished ninth.
Mixed 4x50m Freestyle
Reigning champions France opted not to defend their title in Budapest and nor did silver medallists Australia.
In their absence, Italy booked top spot into the finals in 1:29.46, featuring a 23.42 anchor leg from Sara Curtis. A neutral athletes quartet was next through in 1:29.94.
Also through: Poland (1:30.14), Canada (1:30.23), 2022 bronze medallists the Netherlands (1:30.53), Norway (1:30.89), Hong Kong (1:30.94) and Slovakia (1:31.00).
However, the United States failed to qualify with the quartet of Michael Andrew (21.27), Matt King (21.23), Claire Weinstein (24.49) and Alex Shackell (24.09) combining to post 1:31.08 and finish ninth. Japan were 0.01 behind the USA in 10th for second reserve.
Women’s 200m Breaststroke
Kate Douglass and Evgeniia Chikunova booked the centre lanes for the final which promises a thrilling duel between the pair.
Douglass topped prelims in 2:16.64, 3.92 off the WR of 2:12.72 she set during the final leg of the World Cup in Singapore. Chikunova, the WJR holder in 2:14.70, was 0.40 behind the USA swimmer, clocking 2:17.04 for lane five.
Alex Walsh was third in 2:18.74 with Rebecca Meder of South Africa fourth in 2:18.79.
Men’s 200m Breaststroke
Yamato Fukasawa of Japan headed prelims in 2:02.24 ahead of neutral athlete Aleksandr Zhigalov (2:02.46) and Aj Pouch of the USA (2:03.06).
Behind the trio, 0.54 separated the remaining qualifiers headed by world record-holder Kirill Prigoda in 2:03.61 with Joshua Yong of Australia claiming the final spot in 2:04.15.
However, that meant there was no place for 2022 bronze medallist Qin Haiyang who returned from victory in the 100m to finish ninth in 2:04.42.
Men’s 100m Butterfly
Ilya Kharun returned to the Budapest waters after winning the 200 fly title to head the prelims in the shorter race. The 19-year-old clocked 49.17, 0.14 off the WJR and Canadian mark he set at Melbourne 2022 en-route to silver.
Just 0.41 separated the field with Maxime Grousset and Ponti safely through and Andrei Minakov claiming the eighth and last spot in 49.58.
Men’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay
Shaine Casas swam the second-fastest 200 free by an American man leading off the USA quartet in 1:40.88. Only Townley Haas has gone quicker in US waters with the national record of 1:40.49 at the ISL in November 2020.
Casas’ eye-opening performance helped guide the USA to top seed in 6:51.69 in the defence of their Melbourne 2022 title.
Australia, silver medallists in 2022, are second through in 6:53.50 with Italy (6:53.89) and China (6:55.96) next home.
Also progressing were Spain, Germany – featuring a 1:44.48 split from Florian Wellbrock – a neutral quartet and Canada with Japan and Hungary locked out.
Women’s 1500m Freestyle Slowest Heats
Jillian Cox of the United States headed the field in 15:41.29 followed by Moesha Johnson in 15:45.07. The Australian has had a memorable season that has included Olympic 10k silver and team open water gold at the World Championships in Doha.
Friday’s fastest heat in Budapest includes Paris 2024 medallists Anastasiya Kirpichnikova and Isabel Gose plus Simona Quadarella, the 2024 world champion.
