FINA World Championships Predictions: Men’s 50 Free

Photo Courtesy: Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports

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The field for the men’s 50 free at the FINA World Championships will be missing some familiar names, including the reigning Olympic gold medalist and the reigning World Champion.

Olympic gold medalist Anthony Ervin won’t be in Budapest after he was sixth in the event at U.S. Nationals. World Champion and Olympic silver medalist Florent Manaudou is taking the year off from competition.

Rio Bronze medalist Nathan Adrian will be in the field, but his 100 free has been much stronger than his 50 so far this season, as he ranks only 10th in the world at 21.87.

Right now, the favorite looks like 22-year-old Brit Ben Proud, who has the top time in the world this year. The only man in the field with a major title to his credit? Cesar Cielo, the Brazilian 2008 Olympic gold medalist and 2009/2011/2013 World Champion, back after missing out on a spot in the Olympic Games last year.

Read below to see what Swimming World’s trio of experts think will happen in Budapest. David Rieder, John Lohn and Andy Ross will each offer their predictions for who will finish on the podium.

Men’s 50 Free

Current Records:

World Record: Cesar Cielo, BRA (2009) — 20.91
Championship Record: Cesar Cielo, BRA (2009) — 21.08
American Record: Nathan Adrian (2015) — 21.37

2015 World Champion: Florent Manaudou, FRA — 21.19
2016 Olympic Gold Medalist: Anthony Ervin, USA — 21.40
2017 World No. 1: Ben Proud, GBR — 21.32

Swimming World Predictions

David Rieder’s Picks:

Gold: Ben Proud, GBR
Silver: Caeleb Dressel, USA
Bronze: Vladimir Morozov, RUS

John Lohn’s Picks:

Gold: Caeleb Dressel, USA
Silver: Ben Proud, GBR
Bronze: Vladimir Morozov, RUS

Andy Ross’ Picks:

Gold: Ben Proud, GBR
Silver: Caeleb Dressel, USA
Bronze: Cameron McEvoy, AUS

Previous Events

Day One:

Day Two:

Day Three:

Day Four:

Day Five:

Day Six:

Day Seven:

Women’s 50 Fly

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7 years ago

I think Vlad Morozov will get it this time. He has struggled a lot with this event in LCM, but after shifting his focus from 50/100 free, to only 50 free this time around, I think it may pay off for the LA-based Russian. His 21.8 effort in practice was impressive, just hoping he gets his taper right. Caeleb Dressel and Ben Proud will challenge him for the splash’n’dash-throne, though.