World Cup Athens, Day 1 Prelims: Michael Andrew Heads 50 Free & 100 Fly
The second stop of the World Aquatics World Cup began in Athens, Greece, on Friday with Michael Andrew heading the heats of the 100 fly and 50 free.
Kaylee McKeown and Qin Haiyang arrived in the Greek capital atop the respective women’s and men’s leaderboards following their performances in the opening leg of the World Cup in Berlin last week.
Here’s how the morning prelims unfolded on day one:
Women’s 400m Freestyle
Erika Fairweather set a World Cup record of 4:01.09 in Berlin and the New Zealander led the way once more in 4:07.96.
Lani Pallister, who picked up silver last week, was second in 4:10.72.
Men’s 400m Freestyle
Henrik Christiansen led the way in 3:52.07 ahead of Berlin bronze medallist Kieran Smith (3:55.02) as second to eighth was separated by 0.59.
Danys Rapsys, last week’s winner, progressed in 3:55.13 for fourth.
Women’s 50m Backstroke
McKeown lowered the World Cup record to 27.24 in Berlin and she once more booked lane four in 27.65.
Kylie Masse, the 2022 world champion, was the only other woman inside 28secs in 27.85 ahead of fellow Canadian Maggie MacNeil (28.31).
Kira Toussaint, the 2020 European champion, won a swimoff with Hanna Rosvall to claim eighth spot.
Men’s 200m Backstroke
Pieter Coetze led the way in 2:00.87 ahead of Berlin winner Thomas Ceccon (2:00.99).
Rio 2016 silver medallist Mitch Larkin grabbed the eighth and final spot in 2:02.87.
Women’s 200m Butterfly
Zhang Yufei, winner in Berlin, booked lane four in 2:12.26 ahead of Katie Grimes, fourth last week, with the American clocking 2:13.55.
Men’s 100m Butterfly
Just 0.86 separated first to eighth with Michael Andrew leading the way in 52.11 as he looks to repeat his Berlin victory.
Cody Simpson will be alongside him in lane five after going 52.13 with Chad le Clos claiming the final spot in 52.97.
Women’s 200m Breaststroke
Thea Blomsterberg of Denmark booked lane four in 2:25.61 ahead of Jenna Strauch, who finished 0.02 ahead of Berlin winner Tes Schouten in 2:26.41 to 2:26.43.
Men’s 100m Breaststroke
Qin has swept all before him in 2023 starting at the World Championships in Fukuoka before moving on to the World University Games and Asian Games.
He set a World Cup record of 57.69 last week in Berlin and booked lane four in 59.52.
Double Olympic silver medallist Arno Kamminga was the other man inside the 60sec mark in 59.74.
Adam Peaty also progressed in sixth in 1:00.31.
Women’s 50m Freestyle
Last week’s one-length sprint was an absolute corker with Sarah Sjostrom going 23.95 for gold ahead of Cate Campbell.
The world record-holder stopped the clock at 24.28 ahead of the sisters of speed with Cate going 24.76 and Bronte 24.99.
Men’s 50m Freestyle
Andrew claimed his second first place of the prelims in 22.04 ahead of Dylan Carter (22.25) and Shinri Shioura (22.28).
Isaac Cooper – who won in Berlin – came through in a swim-off for the final spot, clocking 22.24 to Sean Niewold’s 22.39.
