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Lilly King got her Pan Pacific Swimming Championships off to a good start with her 1:05.44 in the 100 breast final. King was well off her 1:04.13 world record from last summer but it was still good enough for gold.
King went faster at Nationals a few weeks ago with her 1:05.36 as she is still second in the world rankings behind Russia’s Yulia Efimova (1:04.98). King finished ahead of a charging Australian in Jessica Hansen (1:06.20) and Japan’s Reona Aoki (1:06.34).
This was a relatively slow final with King, Aoki and Micah Sumrall going slower than their in-season bests. Australia’s Hansen improved on her best and moved up to sixth in the world rankings for 2018.
The other American in the final was Sumrall, who finished in fifth at 1:06.56. Sumrall beat out Bethany Galat and Katie Meili in the heats but it appears Meili will get the second World Championship spot thanks to her 1:06.19 at US Nationals. Galat won the B-Final with a 1:06.41 ahead of Meili’s 1:06.86.
Japan’s Satomi Suzuki (1:06.51), Argentina’s Julia Sebastian (1:07.69), Canada’s Kelsey Wog (1:07.91) and Argentina’s Macarena Ceballos (1:08.38) also competed in the A-Final.
2018 World Rankings:
- Yulia Efimova, RUS, 1:04.98
- Lilly King, USA, 1:05.36
- Molly Hannis, USA, 1:05.78
- Reona Aoki, JPN, 1:05.90
- Katie Meili, USA, 1:06.19
- Jessica Hansen, AUS, 1:06.20
- Ruta Meilutyte, LTU, 1:06.26
- Micah Sumrall, USA, 1:06.34
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Good work, Lil!
Way to go Micah! #goldswim