Xu Jiayu Headlines Trio of Former Champs Advancing to Semifinals of Men’s 100 Back

by John Lohn - Editor-in-Chief

21 July 2019, 08:25pm

World Swimming Championships (Men’s 100 Backstroke Prelims)

Gwangju 2019

Historical firepower was the theme, as the last three world champions qualified among the top-four finishers. China’s Xu Jiayu, the reigning gold medalist from Budapest, led the field into the semifinals with one of two sub-53 clockings. Xu touched the wall in his heat in 52.85, which was clear of the 52.95 produced by Guilherme Guido, whose effort granted Brazil a national record and first sub-53. Going through in the third and fourth positions were Australia’s Mitch Larkin (53.12) and American Matt Grevers (53.22), the 2015 and 2013 world champions, respectively.

Posting the fifth-fastest time of the morning was Japanese veteran Ryosuke Irie (53.38), who was followed by Russia’s Evgeny Rylov (53.45), the reigning world champion in the 200 backstroke. Rylov looked strong on the anchor leg of Russia’s 4×100 freestyle relay on the opening night of action, an effort that bodes well for his prime events. Rounding out the top eight were Romanians Robert Glinta (53.64) and Daniel Martin (53.65).

Olympic champion Ryan Murphy of the United States was ninth in prelims, as the world-record holder cruised to a time of 53.69, pushing only hard enough to advance to the next round. Murphy’s approach is reminiscent of backstroke legend Aaron Peirsol, who had an uncanny ability to do just enough in the early rounds before turning in his best showing in finals.

Italian Simone Sabbioni qualified for the semifinals in 13th, going 63.85. But his path to an additional swim was hardly normal, as Sabbioni had significant trouble with the starting wedge attached to his block. The wedge initially slipped during the last heat, forcing Sabbioni to stop his swim and be awarded a solo time trial. On his first attempt at the time trial, the wedge again slipped, causing another reset.

Dylan Carter of Trinidad and Tobago was also granted a re-swim after a backstroke wedge issue in his heat. He was originally 30th with a 55.33 but moved up to 16th at 54.03, bumping out Italy’s Thomas Ceccon (54.04) from the semifinals.

1		XU	Jiayu	CHN	52.85
2		GUIDO	Guilherme	BRA	52.95
3		LARKIN	Mitchell	AUS	53.12
4		GREVERS	Matt	USA	53.22
5		IRIE	Ryosuke	JPN	53.38
6		RYLOV	Evgeny	RUS	53.45
7		GLINTA	Robert	ROU	53.64
8		MARTIN	Daniel	ROU	53.65
9		MURPHY	Ryan	USA	53.69
10		THORMEYER	Markus	CAN	53.77
11		TSMYH	Mikita	BLR	53.81
12		CHRISTOU	Apostolos	GRE	53.82
13		SABBIONI	Simone	ITA	53.85
14		KOLESNIKOV	Kliment	RUS	53.89
15		GREENBANK	Luke	GBR	53.95
16		CARTER	Dylan	TTO	54.03

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