UniversalSports.com Daily Coverage, including webcasts
ROME, Italy, July 30. CANADA's Annamay Pierse led qualifying in the women's 200 breast with another solid outing at the FINA World Championships.
Having already joined the 2:20 club at Canada's Trials this month, Pierse checked in with a 2:21.68 to earn the top seed heading into semis. Her time did, however, lower Leisel Jones' meet record of 2:21.72 set in 2005. World record holder Rebecca Soni of the U.S. coasted into the next round with a 2:22.09.
Austria's Mirna Jukic (2:22.10), Serbia's Nadia Higl (2:23.19), Japan's Nanaka Tamura (2:23.22), Japan's Rie Kaneto (2:23.50), Canada's Martha McCabe (2:23.50) and Keri Hehn of the U.S. (2:23.60) picked up top eight spots. Jukic lowered her national record of 2:22.46 set in April, while Higl did the same to her 2:23.34 from earlier this month.
Italy's Ilaria Scarcella (2:24.20), Denmark's Rikke Moller-Pedersen (2:24.46), Korea's Darae Jeong (2:25.00), Sweden's Joline Hostman (2:25.15), Germany's Carolina Ruhnau (2:25.57), Australia's Sally Foster (2:26.07), Russia's Yuliya Efimova (2:26.18) and France's Sophie De Ronchi (2:26.45) earned the rest of the transfer slots into semis. Moller-Pedersen crushed her national standard of 2:28.51 set in June.