Sweden binds WR, Zhang Yufei wins 200 flights
Short Course WC: Louise Hansson leads Sweden to relay WR, then wins individual gold (day two ladies’ summary)
The second night of competition at the World Short Course Championships began with thunder and crashes as Sweden’s group Louise Hansson, Sophie Hansson, Sarah Sjöström and Michelle Coleman blew up a world record swimming in the ladies’ relay 200 medley. Later in the session, Louise Hansson added her own gold medal when she struck Kylie Masse with two hundredths for the top step on the podium in the ladies’ 100 backstroke final. Even younger sister Sophie secured an individual medal later in the session, a bronze in the 50 breaststroke.
In addition, Olympic gold medalist Zhang Yufei added a world title in 200 butterfly, while Anastasia Gorbenko became Israel’s first world champion in swimming in 50 breaststroke.
200 medley ladies, FINAL
Sweden qualified only five for the final in the women’s relay 200 medley at the World Short Course Championships, but the Swedes changed their squad before the final and rolled out a group of Louise Hansson, Sophie Hansson, Sarah Sjöström and Michelle Coleman. That combination turned out to be golden.
Louise Hansson gave her team the lead with a split of 25.91, Sophie Hansson built up the lead with 29.07, and then Sjöström exploded with 23.96 which was more than half a second ahead of schedule. That gave Coleman plenty of room to come home at 23.44. Coleman reached a final time of 1: 42.38, which is the world record from the USA (Olivia Smoliga, Katie Meili, Kelsi Dahlia and Mallory Comerford) at the previous Short Course Worlds 2018.
The medal was Sjöström’s second in the competition after Sweden took bronze in 400 free relays on Thursday, and she could certainly add to the total number with three individual competitions and many more relays in the future. Despite breaking her hand in February last year, she returned to earn silver in the 50 freestyle at the Olympics, and she has had a remarkably short season between the ISL and now the World Cup.
The United States claimed silver here as well Rhyan White, Lydia Jacoby, Claire Curzan and Abbey long line in 1: 43.61. Curzan blew a split of 24.56, the third best in the field, to take the Americans from fifth place after a sluggish start, and Weitzeil came home at 23.10.
At the same time, the Netherlands took bronze in 1: 44.03 Kira Toussaint, Kim Busch, Maaike de Waard and Ranomi Kromowidjojo. The Dutch were in seventh place after 150 meters, but Kromowidjojo had the fastest anchor split with 22.85 to help the Dutch sneak Canada (1: 44.16) with 0.13.
200 butterfly ladies FINAL
China Zhang Yufei was one of the breakout stars during the Tokyo Olympics when she took silver in a nearly 100 fly final and then stormed for gold in the 200 fly. In that race she swam 2: 03.86 which was a textile best time, and she won by more than one and a half seconds. So it was no surprise to see Zhang dominate the field in the competition at Short Course Worlds. She was already up by six tenths at the 50-meter mark, and with only two lengths left, the lead was more than 2.2 seconds. She crossed home to win gold in 2: 03.01.
The real race was for silver, and Switzerland Maria Ugolkova held that place for the first 150 meters before fading badly on the way home. At the back was an American teenager Charlotte Hook, a 17-year-old from North Carolina who is teammates with Claire Curzan at TAC Titans) and will go to Stanford next fall. Hook was in eighth place after 50 meters and sixth in 100, but her back half was brilliant. Hook’s last 50 was 31.69, faster than anyone else in the field (including Zhang), and she ended up taking the silver medal in 2: 04.35. She finished in less than a second Cammile Adams American record of 2: 03.93.
Bosnia and Herzegovina also finished with a brilliant split Lana Pudar. She was fifth with 50 meters left before closing at 31.98. That pulled her to third place and she finished in 2: 04.88. Russia Svetlana Chimrova, the top qualifier of preliminaries, just missed the podium when she took fourth in 2: 05.65.
50 Ladies Breaststroke FINAL
After Jamaican favorite Alia Atkinson disqualified in the 50-breast semifinals, the field was wide open on the way to the final. In the end, the gold went to Anastasia Gorbenko from Israel, an 18-year-old who had appeared as a challenger in IM and backstroke but was never considered a medalist in breaststroke. Gorbenko was European Champion this year in both long and short course, and she took 10th place in the competition at the Olympic Games after finishing eight on the 100-hill.
Here Gorbenko moved at 29.34 and knocked out the world record holder on a long course Benedetta Pilato Italy with 0.16. Pilato took silver at 29.50, and Sweden’s Sophie Hansson took bronze at 29.55, just over Ireland Mona Mc Sharry (29.59) off the podium. Hansson took his second medal for the night after previously helping Sweden to break the world record in the 200 medley relay. Top quality Nika Godun Russia, who swam 29.42 in the semifinals, finished fifth at 29.79.
100 freestyle ladies, semifinals
In a quick semifinal round of the ladies’ 100 freestyle, it took 52.59 to get back to the medal competition on Saturday, and only three tenths separated the third to eighth qualifiers. But there is no doubt about the two favorites here. Sweden Sarah Sjöström came first in the semi at 51.53, while 200 free world champions and new world record holder Siobhan Haughey qualified second at 51.53. It’s hard to imagine someone beating these two for the gold and silver medals, in whatever order they finish.
However, the battle for bronze will be wide open. Poland Kasia Wasick and Canada Kayla Sanchez share third at 52.28, while the United States Abbey long line and the Netherlands ” Marrit Steenbergen also a draw, just one hundredth back at 52.29. USA: s Torri Huske (52.48) and France Marie Wattel (52.59) also reached the final, almost exclusively Michelle Coleman, a Swedish relay gold medalist earlier in the night, and Freja Andersson of Great Britain.
100 backstroke ladies FINAL
Sweden Louise Hansson has primarily been a butterfly throughout her college and international career, but in short, she can use her phenomenal underwater dolphin parks to make a real impression in the backstroke events. And on this occasion, these short backstroke skills were translated into a gold medal. Hansson was out at 26.45, more than two tenths ahead of schedule and at a world record pace, and she held on to the end as Canada Kylie Masse closed in.
Hansson finished by touching Masse for gold with two hundredths, 55.20 to 55.22. Earlier in her career, Hansson had won two total medals at the World Championships (one long distance and one short course) and none since 2015, but she has earned three in two days in Abu Dhabi, with Sweden’s 400 free relay bronze on Thursday and then two gold medals on Friday. This win came less than two hours after Hansson led the gold medal-winning, world record-breaking 200 medley relay for Sweden. This medal was Hansson’s first individual award regardless of color on a global level.
At the same time, bronze went to the United States Katharine Berkoff at 55.40, just before the Netherlands Kira Toussaint. USA: s Rhyan White finished fifth at 55.87.
DeepBlue Media is Swimming World’s official provider of images from the World Short Course Championships.
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