Kosuke Hagino Clips Michael Phelps for 200 IM Win; Ryan Lochte Smokes B Final (Pan Pacific Championships, Results)
Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr
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GOLD COAST, Australia, August 24.
Japan’s Kosuke Hagino had just enough in the tank to hold off a hard-charging Michael Phelps for victory in the shorter distance 200-meter IM, 1:56.02 to 1:56.04. Hagino would have liked to have had his world-leading 1:55.38 from Japanese Nationals in play here to make it less of a battle, but he still managed to stop the clock just .02 seconds ahead of the Greatest of All Time. Phelps lowered his third-ranked season best of 1:56.55 from U.S. Nationals, but could not keep pace with Ryan Lochte, as Lochte tied Hagino’s time with his epic B final swim just minutes earlier (see below).
Japan’s Daiya Seto finished third in 1:57.72, half-a-second back of his fourth-ranked 1:57.32 from the Canet stop of the Mare Nostrum, while Brazil’s Thiago Pereira took fourth in 1:57.83.
USA’s Tyler Clary finished fifth in 1:58.79, and along with Lochte’s amazing swim in the consolation heat, put Phelps and Lochte onto the 2015 Worlds roster for the U.S. in this event.
Australia’s Travis Mahoney (1:59.79), New Zealand’s Mitch Donaldson (2:01.34) and South Africa’s Michael Meyer (2:01.78) also competed in the A final.
A Final Results
1 HAGINO, KOSUKE 20 JAPAN 1:57.61 1:56.02C 948 r:+0.65 24.99 54.15 (29.16) 1:28.20 (34.05) 1:56.02 (27.82) 2 PHELPS, MICHAEL 29 UNITED STATES 1:58.95 1:56.04C 948 r:+0.71 25.28 55.09 (29.81) 1:28.86 (33.77) 1:56.04 (27.18) 3 SETO, DAIYA 20 JAPAN 1:58.02 1:57.72 908 r:+0.63 25.15 55.35 (30.20) 1:29.04 (33.69) 1:57.72 (28.68) 4 PEREIRA, THIAGO 28 BRAZIL 2:00.44 1:57.83 905 r:+0.67 25.05 54.05 (29.00) 1:28.13 (34.08) 1:57.83 (29.70) 5 CLARY, TYLER 25 UNITED STATES 1:58.70 1:58.79 883 r:+0.60 25.79 54.83 (29.04) 1:30.16 (35.33) 1:58.79 (28.63) 6 MAHONEY, TRAVIS 24 AUSTRALIA 2:01.50 1:59.79 861 r:+0.64 25.97 55.71 (29.74) 1:30.90 (35.19) 1:59.79 (28.89) 7 DONALDSON, MITC 21 NEW ZEALAND 2:01.45 2:01.34 829 r:+0.69 25.82 57.00 (31.18) 1:31.87 (34.87) 2:01.34 (29.47) 8 MEYER, MICHAEL 21 SOUTH AFRICA 2:01.80 2:01.78 820 r:+0.66 26.76 57.89 (31.13) 1:32.53 (34.64) 2:01.78 (29.25)
Knowing his spot on the 2015 World Championship roster was in jeopardy after missing the A final, USA’s Ryan Lochte didn’t mess around as he smashed the consolation heat with a 1:56.02. That bettered his second-ranked season best of 1:56.50 from Nationals by half-a-second, and he had to do so while basically swimming by himself, and would have tied him with Hagino for the title.
Japan’s Takeharu Fujimori (2:01.05) and Hiromasa Fujimori (2:01.38) placed well behind for second and third in the consolation heat.
B Final Results
9 LOCHTE, RYAN 30 UNITED STATES 1:59.09 1:56.02C 948 r:+0.66 24.68 53.73 (29.05) 1:27.49 (33.76) 1:56.02 (28.53) 10 FUJIMORI, TAKEH 20 JAPAN 2:01.01 2:01.05 835 r:+0.64 26.45 56.55 (30.10) 1:31.77 (35.22) 2:01.05 (29.28) 11 FUJIMORI, HIROM 23 JAPAN 1:59.41 2:01.38 828 r:+0.63 25.41 55.17 (29.76) 1:31.59 (36.42) 2:01.38 (29.79) 12 REILLY, LUKE 18 CANADA 2:04.32 2:05.23 754 r:+0.67 26.33 57.79 (31.46) 1:35.50 (37.71) 2:05.23 (29.73) 13 ASSAAD, GAMAL 19 CANADA 2:06.61 2:07.13 721 r:+0.59 26.08 58.16 (32.08) 1:36.99 (38.83) 2:07.13 (30.14) 14 MAK, RAYMOND 21 HONG KONG 2:08.81 2:07.92 707 r:+0.64 27.64 59.57 (31.93) 1:37.09 (37.52) 2:07.92 (30.83) 15 NG, CHUN NAM 20 HONG KONG 2:13.43 2:12.61 635 r:+0.69 27.28 1:02.75 (35.47) 1:42.36 (39.61) 2:12.61 (30.25)