BEIJING, China, October 12. THE first day of short course meter finals action is complete at the World Cup stop in Beijing.
Women's 800 free
Ren Luomeng won the distance event with a time of 8:28.41. That swim put her in eighth in the early world rankings. Japan's Yumi Kida placed second in 8:31.08, while Li Limeng wound up third in 8:34.17. Kida moved to 12th in the rankings, while Li jumped into the top 15.
Zheng Qianqian (8:34.72), Zhang Xue (8:38.42), Chen Shiyun (8:40.60), Cao Shiyue (8:43.98) and Japan's Ayano Koguchi (8:49.74) made up the rest of the top eight.
Men's 100 free
South Africa's Lyndon Ferns nabbed the sprint free title in 47.70, good for 12th in the early world rankings. Germany's Steffen Deibler claimed second in 47.71, while South Africa's Darian Townsend took third overall in 47.92. Deibler already has a third-ranked season best of 47.18 to his credit, while Townsend moved into the top 15.
Li Zhiwu (48.07), Chen Zuo (48.42), Russia's Sergey Fesikov (48.49), Sweden's Lars Frolander (48.67) and Zhang Enjian (49.62) completed the championship heat.
Women's 200 free
Zhu Qianwei (1:54.32) and Liu Jing (1:54.79) raced to the top two times in the early world rankings with a gold-silver finish for China. Bronte Barratt held the previously top-ranked time with a 1:54.83 from the Australian Short Course Championships in July. Zheng Rongrong rounded out the podium with a third-place 1:57.26. That effort moved her to 11th in the rankings.
Wang Xinyu (1:57.50), Kong Xiangtong (1:57.77), Han Tingru (1:59.88), Liu Xinyi (2:01.44) and Yang Jieqiao (2:03.62) made up the rest of the finale.
Men's 50 breast
South Africa went 1-2 in the sprint breast with Cameron van der Burgh winning in 26.36 and Roland Schoeman racing to second in 26.54. The times stand as second and third in the early world rankings with only Felipe Silva clocking a swifter time with a 26.27 at the Jose Finkel Trophy Meet last month. Brazil's Henrique Barbosa took third tonight in 27.10, while Japan's Naoya Tomita placed fourth in 27.26.
Xie Zhi (27.40), Huang Yunkun (27.75), Xue Jiajia (28.18) and Chen Cheng (28.20) also swam in the finale.
Women's 100 breast
Sun Ye captured the gold medal in the event with a top time of 1:06.18, while Chen Huijia (1:06.79) and Sweden's Jennie Johansson (1:06.97) joined her under 1:07 for the podium. Only six other swimmers have cleared 1:07 in the early goings this year, with Leisel Jones leading the way with a top-ranked 1:03.63.
Liu Siwen (1:07.78), Japan's Nanaka Tamura (1:07.80) and Germany's Kerstin Vogel (1:09.38) completed the rest of the championship field.
Men's 400 IM
Brazil's Thiago Pereira grabbed the crown in the distance medley with a time of 4:14.03. Pereira has been much faster with a top-ranked season best of 4:06.47. Li Xiang captured second in 4:15.52, while Mao Feilian picked up third in 4:19.09.
Ni Zhanpeng (4:22.43), Jiang Tiansheng (4:27.59), Hu Yichao (4:28.04), Wei Haobo (4:30.29) and Wang Junfeng (4:38.98) placed fourth through eighth.
Women's 100 fly
Sweden's Therese Alshammar blazed to victory in 56.80, improving upon her second-ranked season best of 57.04. USA's Elaine Breeden clinched second in 57.83 to move to fourth in the early world rankings, while Ling Shuyuan pocketed third in 58.26.
Liu Jan (58.35), Gong Jie (1:00.16), Deng Biying (1:00.26), Zou Xinyi (1:01.68) and Zhu Xixi (1:01.98) also vied for the title.
Men's 100 back
Brazil's Guilherme Guido and USA's Peter Marshall put on a show with Guido capturing the touch-out triumph, 50.90 to 50.97. Guido came up short of his top-ranked season best of 50.46 from the Jose Finkel Trophy Meet last month, while Marshall became just the second man under 51 seconds this year. Russia's Arkady Vyatchanin grabbed the other podium spot with a third-place 51.40 to move to fourth in the early world rankings.
Japan's Kazuki Watanabe (52.65), Zhang Yu (52.68), South Africa's George Du Rand (53.19), Duan Qiong (55.09) and Lin Taiqi (55.43) also swam in the championship finale.
Women's 50 back
Gao Chang just missed the Chinese record with a sterling time of 26.00. Zhao Jing owns the national mark with the second-ranked time of 25.82, while Gao's top time of 25.92 puts her third all-time in the event. Gao demolished Marieke Guehrer's top-ranked time of 26.81 in the early world rankings for this year. The Netherlands' Hinkelien Schreuder finished second in 27.38, while Japan's Wakana Hirai claimed third in 27.89.
Cheng Haihua (28.45), Rao Shengxue (28.59), Germany's Jenny Mensing (28.70), Singapore's Lynette Ng (28.82) and Bai Anqi (28.89) completed the rest of the championship field.
Men's 200 fly
Brazil's Thiago Pereira doubled up with a winning time of 1:56.21 to add to his 400 IM victory from earlier in the evening. Teammate Frederico Castro placed second in 1:58.20, while Fu Yanging (1:58.79) completed the sub-2:00 times for third place.
Chen Yanlong (2:01.54), Wei Yuming (2:02.46), Feng Ze (2:02.87), Li Kaiyu (2:03.43) and Wei Haobo (2:08.14) also competed in the finale.
Women's 200 IM
Ye Shiwen snared the medley title with a top time of 2:08.87. That swim just missed her third-ranked season best of 2:08.70 set back in June. USA's Julia Smit finished second overall in 2:09.16 to move to fourth in the early world rankings, while Xue Jiao touched third in 2:11.16.
USA's Elaine Breeden (2:11.43), Chen Xiaojun (2:12.65), Zhang Jiaqi (2:12.72), Zhu Wenrui (2:15.47) and Japan's Ayano Koguchi (2:19.71) comprised the rest of the championship field.
Men's 400 free
Zhang Zhongchao topped the middle distance event in 3:46.00 to move to ninth in the early world rankings. Russia's Mikhail Polishchuk turned in a second-place time of 3:48.46, while Li Xiang earned third in 3:51.03.
Zhang Jiachen (3:51.65), Zhang Zibin (3:52.55), Liu Zhaochen (3:52.59), Zhang Yunxiang (3:54.25) and Wei Kun (3:59.83) placed fourth through eighth.
Women's 50 free
In an exciting finish, Sweden's Therese Alshammar clipped The Netherlands' Hinkelien Schreuder, 24.04 to 24.07, in the sprint free. Both efforts cleared Jessica Hardy's previously top-ranked effort of 24.11 from the Jose Finkel Trophy Meet in September. The win gave Alshammar her second of the evening. Germany's Dorothea Brandt placed third overall in 24.94.
Ling Shuyuan (25.29), Zheng Yifei (25.74), Liu Xinyi (25.80), Zhu Wenrui (26.14) and Zou Winyi (26.15) touched fourth through eighth.
Men's 200 breast
Japan went 1-2 in the distance breast event with Naoya Tomita posting the top-ranked time in the world with a 2:05.30. That effort cleared teammate Kazuki Otsuka's previously top-ranked 2:05.60 from the Rio stop of the World Cup. Otsuka finished second this evening in 2:06.00, while Brazil's Henrique Barbosa grabbed third in 2:06.19.
Xie Zhi (2:06.71), Huang Yunkun (2:09.93), Russia's Grigory Falko (2:11.11), Ma Xiang (2:11.39) and Sun Han (2:12.53) picked up the rest of the finishes in the finale.
Men's 100 IM
Brazil's Thiago Pereira missed out on a gold-medal trifecta with a disqualification in the sprint medley. South Africa's Darian Townsend won in 53.27 to move to fifth in the early world rankings. Russia's Sergey Fesikov took second in 53.80, while Zhang Zishan finished third in 54.27.
Mao Feilian (56.88), Huang Zhenghan (57.22), Li Xiang (57.89) and Xie Zhi (1:01.51) made up the rest of the championship field.
Women's 200 back
USA's Julia Smit finished first in the event with a time of 2:06.29 for sixth in the early world rankings, while Bai Anqi took second in 2:07.06. Germany's Jenny Mensing finished third in 2:07.59, while Yang Jiegiao (2:11.41) and Zhang Siqi (2:13.75) touched fourth and fifth. Zhao Aolun (2:14.54), Han Wei (2:14.91) and Qiao Hong (2:16.99) rounded out the top eight.
Men's 50 fly
South Africa's Roland Schoeman checked in with a winning time of 22.72 to grab fourth in the early world rankings. Germany's Steffen Deibler touched second in 23.01, while Japan's Kohei Kawamoto placed third in 23.11.
Sweden's Lars Frolander (23.18), Shi Tengfei (23.88), Hu Chao (23.96), Brazil's Frederico Castro (24.05) and Li Zhiwu (24.23) finished fourth through eighth.