World Championships, Day Three Finals: Dakota Luther, Hali Flickinger Go 1-2 in 200 Fly

Dakota Luther & Hali Flickinger: Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

A Special Thanks to Deep Blue Media for providing the images from this meet

World Championships, Day Three Women’s Finals: Dakota Luther, Hali Flickinger Go 1-2 in 200 Fly

They were a long way from Athens Thursday night. But the sight of two Georgia Bulldogs in Melbourne going stroke-for-stroke down the stretch of the 200 butterfly might have looked familiar to some, even if this time a FINA Short-Course World Championships gold medal was on the line.

Dakota Luther came out on top over her fellow former Bulldog Hali Flickinger, taking control on the penultimate lap and touching in a winning time of 2:03.37. It’s the second personal best of the day for the 23-year-old.

Women’s 200 butterfly

World Record: Mireia Belmonte Garcia, Spain 1:59.61 (2014)
Championship Record: Katinka Hosszu, Hungary 2:02.20 (2012)
World Junior Record: Suzuka Hasegawa, Japan 2:02.96 (2017)

Luther had set the pace in prelims with a time of 2:03.73. She and Flickinger were clear of the field then, and they separated themselves after 75 meters of the final Thursday night. Elizabeth Dekkers, buoyed by the home crown and hiding in Lane 1, gave it a go in the final lap. But she couldn’t quite get to Flickinger, who grabbed silver in 2:03.78. Dekkers went 2:03.94.

Luther had only swum the event in SCM sparingly, hence the big drops from the 2:07 neighborhood to 2:03.

“It’s been a while since I’ve swam SCM,” Luther said. “But watching Team USA swim the last few days, I was just ready to go, ready to put it all on the line.”

The 200 fly remains one of the most in-flux events this Olympic cycle. Lana Pudar was the only holdover from the final at last year’s meet, where she earned bronze (that includes two Russians not participating this year). Dekkers, Flickinger, Helena Bach and Pudar were in the final in Budapest at long-course worlds this summer. Flickinger is the lone finalist to have been in the final eight in Tokyo just 16 months ago, where she won bronze.

With reigning Olympic gold medalist (and the winner in Abu Dhabi last December) Zhang Yufei not contesting the 200 and Budapest champion Summer McIntosh missingMelbourne, the field was wide open. Youth is certainly on the field’s side, with four teens in the final.

Into that breach stepped someone with an intriguing career arc. Luther has had her biggest breakthrough at age 23. She made it to Worlds in 2017 and swam well at the World University Games in 2019 but has otherwise missed out on major senior events. Thursday, she showed those times may be in the past, seizing the opportunity with both hands.

Bach finished fourth in 2:04.41, but she was never in a podium position. Pudar finished sixth with Airi Mitsui of Japan sixth.

Luther said:

“It’s crazy. I just wanted to put myself into that race.

“I knew that Hali was coming.

“I wasn’t nervous, I was talking and laughing in the ready room.

“It feels great, this is my first international competition. I am really happy.”

Flickinger added:

“I’m happy with that. I’m just trying to enjoy the sport again as I’m going through some stuff mentally. So I’m just really happy to be finding the fun again.

“It’s so fun (racing with teammate Dakota). We’re both actually from the same college. We both went to the University of Georgia in the U.S., so it’s really cool. And really cool for her to win gold in her first Short Course World Championships. It’s so exciting for her.”

SCW200flyfinal

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