By Loretta Race on SwimSwam

University of Stirling Olympian Ross Murdoch has represented his nation of Great Britain at the Commonwealth Games, World Championships, European Championships, as well as the Olympics. Yet, the 23-year-old still yearns for more as he heads to Edinburgh for a few days before moving on to the 2017 World Championships in Budapest.

Entering the final stretch before the swimming competition begins on July 23rd, the European Championships Ambassador says, “I have worked really hard this winter and I am excited to be back on the big stage in my favoured event.”

His favored event meaning the men’s 200m breaststroke, a race Murdoch has only undertaken once on an international championship level since his breakout gold medal win at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Murdoch earned gold at the 2016 European Championships in the 200m event, but was a member of the shorter 100m breaststroke field at both the 2015 World Championships, as well as the 2016 Olympic Games. In the former, he earned bronze in the race, while in Rio he managed to wind up just 11th after the semi-finals.

Entering his 3rd World Championships competition, Murdoch now says, “Being able to swim my main event on the biggest stage is exciting. I’ve earned the right to be on the team in the 200m and I’m focused on what I need to do to achieve my aim.”

Murdoch currently ranks 14th in the world with the 2:09.15 that earned him silver at the 2017 British Swimming Championships, but the man has clocked two sub-2:08 marks in the past, including a 2:07.30, which would have won gold in Kazan. However, the field has upped its game worldwide as of late, with the 200m breaststroke representing the most recent event to have seen a new world record set. Japan’s Ippei Watanabe cranked out a monster time of 2:06.67 earlier this year to mark the first time ever a swimmer has dipped under the 2:07 barrier.

In addition to trusting his training, Murdoch has a balanced mindset on his side headed into one of the biggest events of his career.

“I’m definitely a lot happier with my swimming going into these World Championships,” explained Murdoch. “I’m enjoying training and take great confidence from knowing the amount of work that has gone it to defining this summer’s performance.”

Quotes courtesy of British Swimming.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Murdoch Looks To Make 200 Breaststroke Magic In Budapest

By Charlie Nash on SwimSwam

The National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association (NISCA) has released their All-American lists for the 2016-2017 swim season.

For an athlete to achieve All-American honors, one must achieve the automatic qualifying time that was determined at the beginning of the season, or be one of the top 100 competitors under the consideration standard. The athletes must also achieve these times in a high school level competition, as club competition times do not qualify.

• All-American Standards for 2016-2017

This year’s list featured athletes from several familiar high school powerhouses, such as Carmel High school in Indiana, Minnetonka High School in Minnesota, and Saint Xavier High School in Cincinnati.

One athlete in this list that stood above the rest was Carmel Junior Drew Kibler, who earned All-American honors in four events, including achieving the top time in two of events. Kibler achieved the top times in all of high school swimming in the 200 freestyle (1:33.30) and in the 100 freestyle (43.20). He was also a contributor on Carmel’s 200 freestyle relay, which was only beaten by the team from North Allegheny High school, and Carmel’s third place finishing 400 freestyle relay, which fell behind the team from Southlake Carroll High School in Texas, and the team from St. Xavier. Kibler is currently committed to swim at Texas after graduating in 2018.

St. Xavier senior and Arizona State commit Grant House frequented the All-American list this year, as he achieved honors in eight of the eleven events. House earned honors in the 200 freestyle, 200 IM, 100 butterfly, 100 freestyle, 500 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, as well as being a part of Xavier’s 200 and 400 freestyle relays. House was also among the top three finishers in both in the 200 and 500 freestyles as well as both relays.

On the women’s side, there were several athletes who achieved multiple All-American honors, including sophomore Katherine Douglass of Pelham Memorial High School in Pelham, New York. Douglass achieved the honors in the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, and the 200 and 400 freestyle relays. Douglass was the top finisher in the 50 freestyle at 22.21 and was second in the 100 freestyle at 48.54.

Another woman that stood above the rest was Carmel High school and Georgia commit Sammie Burchill. Burchill contributed to Carmel’s All-American placing 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay, as well as picking up individual honors in the 200 IM and 100 backstroke. Burchill was the fastest 200 IM swimmer in the nation by nearly a second and a half after going 1:56.67 at the IHSAA state finals.

This swim season also featured one new national high school record, as William Penn Charter School Junior Reece Whitley set a new national record in the 100 breaststroke. Whitley broke Creighton Prep’s Jacob Molacek’s old record of 52.92 by more than a second, as he went 51.84 in the final of the 2017 Eastern Championships. Whitely also achieved All-American honors in the 200 IM and as part of William Penn’s 200 medley relay. Whitley is committed to swim at Cal after graduating in 2018.

The NISCA have not released the standards for the 2017-2018 season.

NATIONAL INTERSCHOLASTIC SWIMMING COACHES ASSOCIATION
2016-2017 ALL-AMERICA SWIMMERS AND DIVERS

Boys Events in Yards

200 Med Rel | 200 Free | 200 Ind Med | 50 Free

Dive | 100 Fly |100 Free | 500 Free

200 Fr Rel | 100 Back | 100 Breast | 400 Fr Rel

Girls Events in Yards

200 Med Rel | 200 Free | 200 Ind Med |50 Free

Dive | 100 Fly | 100 Free | 500 Free

200 Fr Rel | 100 Back | 100 Breast | 400 Fr Rel

Water Polo

• Boys’ Water Polo
• Girls’ Water Polo

Diving

• Boys’ Diving
• Girls’ Diving

Academic

• Scholar Team Lists
• Boys Academic All-America
• Girls Academic All-America

Read the full story on SwimSwam: NISCA Releases 2016-2017 High School All-American List

By Jared Anderson on SwimSwam

Two-time Olympic champ Ous Mellouli will be withdrawing from the FINA World Championships in Budapest due to a training injury, the Tunisian national tweeted today.

Mellouli announced the news today on his Twitter profile:

Due to recent injury in training, I'm forced to withdraw my participation to World Championships in Budapest

— Oussama Mellouli (@MellouliOussama) July 12, 2017

Mellouli was the Olympic champ in the 1500 free back in 2008. He would go on in 2012 to win gold in the 10K open water event, along with silver in the 1500. He’s been a mainstay at the World Championships for well over a decade, winning his first World Champs medal in 2003. That year, he took third in the 400 IM behind Michael Phelps and Laszlo Cseh.

Mellouli would go on to medal in every championship up to 2013, though his two medals from Melbourne in 2007 were vacated due to a positive drug test.

He competed only in open water at Worlds in 2015, taking 23rd in the 10K. He also competed in both pool and open water at the Rio Olympics last summer, taking 21st in the 1500 free and 12th in the 10K.

There’s no word on the specifics of Mellouli’s injury or its extent, other than the fact that it will keep the now-33-year-old distance swimmer out of next week’s World Championships in Budapest.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Ous Mellouli Withdraws From 2017 Worlds With Training Injury

By Anne Lepesant on SwimSwam

It’s only July 12, 2017, but already 101 athletes have given their verbal commitments to class of 2022 swimming and diving programs at 32 colleges and universities across the country. More than a quarter of these 101 swimmers (we haven’t heard from any verbally-committed divers yet), come from our lists of the top 20 girls in the high school class of 2018 and the top 20 boys in the high school class of 2018.

This new rush to fill up recruit classes earlier in the season is likely a result of changes the NCAA’s Division I Council made to loosen recruiting rules. These include:

• Deregulating electronic communications between swimming and diving (as well as football, cross country, and track and field) coaches and their recruits; and
• Allowing coaches to “indicate approval” of recruits’ social media posts.

While coaches still may not initiate telephone or off-campus contact until July 1st of the recruit’s rising senior year, they can now have unlimited electronic correspondence with a recruit beginning on September 1st of the recruit’s junior year. Meanwhile, as we mentioned here, sports like lacrosse are moving in the other direction to turn back the tide of extremely early verbal commitments.

Here is the list of the 101 verbal commitments from student-athletes in the high school class of 2018, about which we have already written.

We also have over 1500 names on the list of athletes from the class of 2017 (you can find that list in this article) who plan to swim and dive in all three divisions of the NCAA, in the NAIA, or in junior college.

If you have a commitment to report, please send an email with a photo (landscape, or horizontal, looks best) and a quote to Recruits@swimswam.com.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: The First 101 Verbal Commitments in the High School Class of 2018

By Braden Keith on SwimSwam

In the post-Olympic year, swimmers received a historic 10 nominations for honors at the 2017 ESPY Awards. The awards show, produced by ESPN, recognizes the best in sports from the prior year, with a heavy American lean, and for swimmers, especially American swimmers, that was a record-breaking year.

It’s fitting, then, that the first swimmer to win an award on Wednesday evening in Los Angeles was Michael Phelps, who won the ESPY for Best Record-Breaking Performance. Phelps won the award over 2 basketball players and a football coach, which shows the power of his Olympic medal count. In a year where Bill Belichick broke the record for championships by a coach in the highest-profile sport in the country, Russell Westbrook had an unprecedented season in the megalithic NBA, and Diana Taurusi broke an all-time scoring record, Phelps stood out among 3 who in the last year pushed themselves ahead of the best in the history of their respective sports.

For Phelps’ record, his only competition within his sport for greatest ever was himself. He entered 2016 with the record for most Olympic medals and gold medals, and by winning 5 more gold in Rio and a silver, extended both records to an unprecedented 23 and 28, respectively.

Phelps’ performance in Rio cemented his legacy – especially by the route he took to get there. He retired after the London Olympics, game back, was arrested for DUI, went to rehab, and even at 31-years old, past the age of most swimmers’ prime, re-established himself in a short time as the best male swimmer in the world. His performance in Rio effectively eliminated any complaints about how his records aren’t reasonable because of the number of medals available in swimming: Phelps was a dominant swimmer for three-straight Olympic Games. If swimming were to give out one set of medals to each gender on the totality of their performance, Phelps would have received it in Beijing, London, and Rio – which highlights the breadth of his dominance as an individual sport athlete.

Phelps has been nominated for 16 ESPYs in his career, and with still more nominations to go on Wednesday, this is his 8th win.

Nominees

• Bill Belichick: Most Super Bowl wins by a coach
• X — Michael Phelps: Extends his own record for most gold medals
• Diana Taurasi: Breaks WNBA career scoring record
• Russell Westbrook: Most triple doubles in a season

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Michael Phelps wins ESPY Award for Record-Breaking Performance

By Braden Keith on SwimSwam

It’s a new year, a new Olympic quad, and the same old Katinka Hosszu. The 28-year old Hungarian has entered 6 individual events at the upcoming World Championships that will be hosted in the capital of her home country later this month: Budapest, Hungary.

Hosszu is known for Herculean event schedules, including having at times entered every single event at a meet. She’s been slightly more measured in her championship efforts, though she’s excelled with schedules that few other swimmers would dare contest.

Hosszu’s list this year is actually one bigger than her Olympic list, at least individually. In Rio, she didn’t enter the 200 free, but is scheduled to swim the race in Budapest. Hungary is entered in all 5 relays for which Hosszu is eligible (400 free, 400 medley, 800 free, 400 mixed medley, 400 mixed free), but no indication has been given yet as to whether she’ll swim any of those races. In Rio, she also swam on Hungary’s 800 free relay that finished in 6th place. Swimming for a home crowd could be enough to convince her to swim more relays, however – she would be a part of the best possible combination on each of those 5 thanks to her skill and versatility.

If Hosszu were to swim her full schedule of individual events, she would have only one session off – Saturday, July 29th, during the prelims session, she has no potential races. If she were called into 400 mixed freestyle relay prelims, though, that gap would go away as well.

Provisional Individual Event Entries for 2017 World Championships:

• 200 IM
• 400 IM
• 100 back
• 200 free
• 200 fly
• 200 back

Hosszu’s Potential Schedule

• Day 1 AM – 200 IM prelims (400 free relay prelims)
• Day 1 PM – 200 IM semi-finals (400 free relay finals)
• Day 2 AM – 100 back prelims
• Day 2 PM – 100 back semi-finals, 200 IM finals
• Day 3 AM – 200 free prelims
• Day 3 PM – 200 free semi-finals, 100 back finals
• Day 4 AM – 200 fly prelims (mixed 400 medley prelims)
• Day 4 PM – 200 fly semi-finals, 200 free finals (mixed 400 medley finals)
• Day 5 AM – (800 free relay prelims)
• Day 5 PM – 200 fly finals (800 free relay finals)
• Day 6 AM – 200 back prelims
• Day 6 PM – 200 back semi-finals
• Day 7 AM – (Mixed 400 free prelims)
• Day 7 PM – 200 back finals (Mixed 400 free finals)
• Day 8 AM – 400 IM prelims (400 medley prelims)
• Day 8 PM – 400 IM finals (400 medley finals)

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Katinka Hosszu Has 6 Provisional Entries at 2017 World Championships

By Karl Ortegon on SwimSwam

Mireia Belmonte of Spain has taken on quite a schedule for the upcoming World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. Her event lineup comes out to six total, tying Katinka Hosszu (100, 200 back, 200 free, 200 fly, 200, 400 IM) and surpassing Leah Smith (200, 400, 800, 1500 free, 400 IM) in number of events and passing both in total distance.

Belmonte’s incredibly versatile, and she’s capable of reaching the final of any of these races (should she swim them all).

Below is a list of her provisional entries for Budapest. We’ve sectioned it off per day, so that it’s clear how many races she’s swimming per day and where any events might conflict with one another.

Belmonte’s Budapest Schedule

• July 23rd (Day 1)
  • 200 IM prelims
  • 400 free prelims
  • 200 IM semifinals
  • 400 free final
• July 24th (Day 2)
  • 1500 free prelims
  • 200 IM final
• July 25th (Day 3)
  • 1500 free final
• July 26th (Day 4)
  • 200 fly prelims
  • 200 fly semifinals
• July 27th (Day 5)
  • 200 fly final
• July 28th (Day 6)
  • 800 free prelims
  • Night off
• July 29th (Day 7)
  • Morning off
  • 800 free final
• July 30th (Day 8)
  • 400 IM prelims
  • 400 IM final

As shown, there would only be two of the sixteen sessions that Belmonte would have off: finals on Day 6 and prelims on Day 7. Her worst day would be Day 1, where she’d have two prelims and two finals swims, with one of the finals swims being the 400 free final. Of course, every semifinal and final swim is tentative, as she has to place high enough to move on to each round.

If she swims every event, just prelims will amount to 3500 meters. Add in semifinals for the 200s, and she gets to 3900 meters. Add in finals swims, and the grand total comes out to 7400 meters. Open water swimmers may scoff at that number, but that is a lot of meters to take on– not that we think Belmonte can’t do it. Like plenty of other tough distance-type swimmers, she’s put in the work. It’s just a feat in itself to race that much over a week’s time.

Belmonte, the defending Olympic champion in the 200 fly and the 2016 bronze medalist in the 400 IM, will probably be putting the most focus on those two events, as those (along with the 800 and 1500, but to a lesser extent) are her best medal shots. It’s possible that she’d drop the 400 free and/or the 200 IM, as those are her weakest events comparatively, which would allow her to rest all of Day 1 as well as Day 2 finals.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Mireia Belmonte May Swim 7400 Total Meters in Budapest

By Karl Ortegon on SwimSwam

You can find links to all of our event-by-event previews and a compilation of our predicted medal-winners here.

WOMEN’S 200 FREESTYLE

• 2015 Worlds Champ: Katie Ledecky (USA), 1:55.16
• 2016 Olympic Champ: Katie Ledecky (USA), 1:53.73
• World Record: 1:52.98 | Federica Pellegrini (Italy) | 07/28/09

With Sarah Sjöström out of the picture to focus on her sprints, Katie Ledecky has a much clearer path to gold than she did last year. It was a battle of titans in Rio between the Swede and the American, with Ledecky fighting off a late charge to hold on for the gold. Now, it’s not looking very likely that Ledecky will have quite as tough an opponent as Sjöström later this month in Budapest.

If anyone is going to push back, however, it’ll be Federica Pellegrini or Emma McKeon (or both). Pellegrini, the world record holder, has medalled in this race countless times. Pit her experience against McKeon, a younger (though not Ledecky-young) Australian competitor who beat the Italian Pellegrini in Rio, and you have an interesting dynamic between experience and fresh talent. The 200 free is not a race to be swum without strategy– McKeon likes to take it out fast, and she was out ahead of both Sjöström and Ledecky at the 100 mark in Rio. Pellegrini and Ledecky are better closers, though Ledecky obviously puts it all together the best.

McKeon (1:55.68) and Pellegrini (1:55.94) have swum similar times this season. The Australian came into Rio with a 1:54.8 from Aussie Trials, and earned the bronze in 1:54.9. Pellegrini came in with a season best 1:54.5, then fell six tenths to fourth in Rio. McKeon has to be favored to upgrade to a silver behind Ledecky this summer.

Another Swede, Michelle Coleman, posted a lifetime best 1:55.64 at the Stockholm Open this April. She is a very fast in-season swimmer, like Pellegrini– she was 1:55.8 in the months before Rio but was 7th (1:56.27) in Rio. If Coleman can match or improve upon her best in Budapest, she could catch Pellegrini off her game and sneak in for a medal.

Interestingly enough, Katinka Hosszu decided to enter this race after not swimming it in Rio. Hosszu is great in the 200 free, and her 1:55.41 PR from the Dubai World Cup stop in 2015 is a really strong time. She does have a heavy schedule, taking on the 200 fly, 200 back, 100 back, 200 IM, and 400 IM, but so does someone like Leah Smith. The American will race the 200 through 1500 free as well as the 400 IM, amassing 3300 meters of prelims swims only, excluding any relay swims. These women are tough enough to make the final, and Hosszu maybe a medal, but they will be feeling the load of their other events if they swim this final.

Ai Yanhan and Li Bingjie will lead the Chinese women, while Mary-Sophie Harvey will be one of the Canadian entrants in this event along with Katerine Savard. Ai and Li are both just 15, while Harvey is 17. Li is made more for the 400 free, where she’s a medal threat, but both Chinese women are very talented young prospects. Harvey will be more fun to watch in the 400 IM, but she continues to develop her mid-distance free, and this could become one of her strong points in a couple of years.

Japan’s Rikako Ikee would be another young name to watch, but FINA’s app doesn’t show her among the two entries for Japan into the event. Ikee was a 5-event national champion for Japan, and this event makes the most sense for her to drop, especially considering the big role she’ll have to play on most of her nation’s relays.

Meanwhile, Femke Heemskerk and Charlotte Bonnet are two big European names who will be hard to get past for the final. Bonnet (1:55.80) of France is one of a flurry of 1:55’s this season, with Heemskerk of the Netherlands not far back (1:56.28). Heemskerk faltered in Rio, missing the final, while Bonnet touched 8th. If they’re on form, though, they should find themselves racing in the final.

Dark Horse: Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey. She’s the 2nd-best LCM 200 freestyler currently in the NCAA (yes, Leah Smith is no longer a collegiate swimmer) behind Ledecky with her 1:56.91 PR from Rio. She’ll have to lop off at least five or six tenths, but a finals berth could be in store for her. 

Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2017 Worlds Preview: McKeon Making Claim for 200 Free Medal Upgrade

By Karl Ortegon on SwimSwam

The University of Wisconsin has released its women’s schedule for the upcoming NCAA season.

Their fall schedule is similar to last year, though there are a few changes. Their first dual, which is usually with just Auburn, will feature another SEC team: the Tennessee Volunteers. Both SEC teams are very well-matched; UT was 4th at SECs last year, with Auburn 6 points behind at 5th.

Additionally, their dual with Georgia will be one day on Oct. 19th instead of the typical two day-meet in November, and their dual with Minnesota will be combined with their meet against Michigan taking place when the UGA meet usually is (Nov. 3rd-4th).

The Badgers’ only January dual will be a matchup with powerhouse USC in Los Angeles on January 15th, 2018. Their championship season starts with the B1G Women’s Championships in Columbus, Ohio, before NCAA’s take place (also in Columbus).

Wisconsin will be led by 2017 World Championships Team Member Cierra Runge, though the team will be hard-pressed to rebuild their sprint group after graduating Chase Kinney, one of the conference’s best sprinters the last few years.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Wisconsin Women Add Tennessee Vols to 2017-18 Dual Meet Opponents

By James Sutherland on SwimSwam

While swimming at the World Championships in Budapest doesn’t get underway until the 23rd of July, the other events will all begin next week, with things kicking off on Friday the 14th with diving and synchronized swimming prelims. Open water swimming will then get underway on Saturday, with the men’s 5k up first.

Men’s Events

In the 5k, defending world champion Chad Ho of South Africa will be competing, though 2015 silver and bronze medalists Rob Muffels (GER) and Matteo Furlan (ITA) will not. American David Heron will be back after finishing 6th in Kazan, and he’ll be joined by 2012 pool Olympian Andrew Gemmell.

A few other pool swimmers will be in the mix: Timothy Shuttleworth of Great Britain, Jack McLoughlin of Australia, Eric Hedlin of Canada, and David Brandl of Austria.

In the 10k we’ll see 2015 world champion Jordan Wilimovsky square-off with 2016 Olympic champ Ferry Weertman, who was also 2nd to Wilimovsky in Kazan. The American managed to finish 4th in the pool in the 1500 free and then follow-up with a 5th in the 10k in Rio, but has opted to completely focus on the 10k this summer, sitting out of the U.S. World Trials at the end of June.

Olympic bronze medalist Marc-Antoine Olivier will also be in the mix, as ten of the top eleven finishers in Rio will be competing. The only one missing is Spyridon Gianniotis of Greece, who won silver in Rio at the age of 36, the oldest man in the field.

Other 10k entries include 2012 bronze medalist Richard Weinberger of Canada, American Brendan Casey, and Brit Jack Burnell, who was disqualified both in Rio and at U.S. Open Water Nationals in May.

Italy’s Simone Ruffini will defend his world title in the men’s 25k, and will be joined by the likes of countryman Matteo Furlan who won bronze, and well-known Hungarian Gergely Gyurta.

Tunisian Ous Mellouli, who famously won 1500 Olympic gold in 2008 and followed up with 10k open water gold in 2012 (plus 1500 bronze) is entered to swim all three distances, but has announced that he’s withdrawn from the championships due to a training injury.

Women’s Events

The women’s 5k will feature defending champion Haley Anderson of the U.S., alongside teammate Ashley Twichell who was 6th back in 2015 but has made significant strides since. Twichell won silver in the 800 free at the 2016 Short Course World Championships, and then blew away the field at Open Water Nationals in the 10k for the win. She was 3rd in the 5k behind Anderson and Italian Rachele Bruni who won’t swim the 5k but will be in the 10k in Budapest.

2015 silver medalist Kalliopi Araouzou of Greece will be there, as will 10k Olympic champ Sharon van Rouwendaal who was 4th in the 5k in Kazan. Another notable name competing is Australian Kiah Melverton, who’s known more for her abilities in the pool.

The 10k will feature seven of the top ten from Rio, including gold and silver medalists van Rouwendaal and Bruni. 2015 world champion Aurelie Muller is in the lineup, as are the Americans Twichell and Anderson.

van Rouwendaal and Muller are also slated to swim the 25k, as are all three medalists from 2015: Ana Marcela Cunha, Anna Olasz, and Angela Maurer. Becca Mann and Cathryn Salladin will be the American representatives.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2017 Open Water World Championship Preview

By Rachel Harvill on SwimSwam

For the first time in its country’s history, Afghanistan has swimmers registered to compete at the FINA World Championships.

The Afghanistan National Swimming Federation registered two swimmers, Mohammad Ebrahim Rajabi and Hamid Rahmi, for the upcoming FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

“This was a dream for all Afghans to have a chance to participate in the World Championships in swimming,” said Afghanistan National Swimming Federation Secretary General Sayed Sajad Aghazada in an interview with FINA. “Participating in such a great and high level swimming Championships is a chance for the Federation and its swimmers to engage more in the swimming world and show that Afghanistan is now ready to be part of all international events.”

He went on to state that Afghanistan’s goal is to have three Afghan swimmers, 2 men and 1 woman, competing at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Rajabi and Rahmi both hold national records and have participated in the South Asia and Central Swimming Championships. According to FINA, they expressed their belief that swimming plays a crucial role in mobilizing Afghani people and bringing peace to their country.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Afghanistan to Send First Swimmers to FINA World Championships

By James Sutherland on SwimSwam

2017 FINA World Aquatics Championships

• July 23 – July 30 (Swimming portion)
• Budapest, Hungary
• Meet Central
• Start Lists / Results (Closer to the meet)

You can find links to all of our event-by-event previews and a compilation of our predicted medal-winners here.

400m Mixed Medley Relay

• World Record: 3:41.71, Great Britain, 2015
• World Championship Record: 3:41.71, Great Britain, 2015
• Defending World Champions: Great Britain (Walker-Hebborn, Peaty, O’Connor, Halsall), 3:41.71

First debuting at the 2014 Short Course World Championships, the mixed relays have gained steam over the last few years. They were added to the 2015 LC World Championships, and the mixed medley has also been recently added to the Olympic schedule, set to debut in 2020.

What first started off as a bit of a fun experiment will immediately be taken a bit more seriously with Olympic medals on the line in three years. Despite that, the race will still be fun. Who could forget the roar of the Russian crowd in 2015 as Vladimir Morozov attempted to mow down as many women as he could on the freestyle leg? Teams will have different tactics in the race, but in general, which is the fastest?

Taking the average time done by the eight finalists in Rio, the eight finalists in Kazan, and averaging those two times out, the data finds that men and women have the smallest difference over 100 metres of freestyle at 5.18 seconds. The largest? Breaststroke, at 7.40 seconds. Check out the results below:

If every country had swimmers of equal strength, it would make the most sense to go men on back and breast, and women on fly and free. However, this won’t be the case for every country. This will likely be the case for the top countries, like the U.S., but others may have one star on one specific stroke that may not align with the conventional order, but will make their aggregate time faster. Let’s take a look at the countries in contention.

The U.S. will likely pop into your head first as the favorite simply because they’re so deep. And you’d be right. Their add-up from times posted this year gets them to 3:41.64, the fastest among anyone. If we take the average of their top swims from the past two seasons, they’re at 3:40.76, which is probably closer to where they’ll be (not including relay takeovers). Going off 2017 times won’t always tell the whole story, especially considering Ryan Murphy (51.85) and Kelsi Worrell (56.48) were both nearly a second faster last year than the fastest U.S. times this year (52.71, 57.38). If we use the season bests of Murphy and Simone Manuel in the add-up instead of Matt Grevers and Mallory Comerford, anticipating that they have a great chance of swimming the final, their season-best add-up bumps up to 3:42.19. But as the reigning Olympic champions in their respective races, we know they’ll perform on the big stage.

With the 100 back and 100 breast for men and women’s 100 fly all taking place before this relay, whoever emerges from those swims will likely get the nod in the final. Murphy or Matt Grevers on back, Kevin Cordes or Cody Miller on breast, likely Worrell on fly, and either Manuel or Mallory Comerford on free, whoever manages to outperform the other in the 400 free relay on day 1.

The one move they could potentially do is swim Kathleen Baker on back and Caeleb Dressel on fly. The difference between Dressel and Worrell was actually much greater (6.51) than the difference between Grevers and Baker (5.86) at Trials. With that switch, their 2017 add-up improves to 3:40.99. However, this is unlikely with Dressel’s packed schedule and the likelihood that Worrell and the male backstrokers will be faster in Budapest.

Though the U.S. will be the favorites, China is the team most capable of stealing the gold.

They’re led by backstroker Xu Jiayu, who came within 0.01 of Murphy’s 100m world record this year in 51.86. After him they don’t get a whole lot weaker either. Yan Zibei is ranked 3rd in the world in the 100 breast at 58.92, and Zhang Yufei (57.63) and Zhu Menghui are no slouch on the female legs. That adds them up to 3:41.83, less than two tenths behind the Americans. They could also end up using Lu Ying on fly, who is a bit slower (57.98) than Zhang this year but was 56.76 in Rio.

Defending champions Great Britain have their secret weapon in Adam Peaty, who is the most dominant swimmer over any single 100, but they may have to change up their order to keep competitive. Based off this year’s times, the conventional order only gets them to 3:44.23, with the retirement of freestyler Francesca Halsall being a bit of a blow. If they switch up the order a bit, subbing in Georgia Davies on backstroke for Chris Walker-Hebborn, and then put world #1 Duncan Scott on free, they get down to 3:42.88, putting them back in the mix.

If Australian backstroker Mitch Larkin returns to the 52-mid range on the lead-off they’ll be in contention for a medal, though the Aussies are relatively weak on breaststroke. Matthew Wilson was only 1:00.23 to win Trials, but a 59-mid leg would put them right in the race for gold. They’re very solid on the back end with Emma McKeon and Bronte Campbell.

Those will be the four main medal contenders. This next group should all manage to final, but would need one of the big four to slip up or not use their top swimmers to have a chance at a medal.

Japan, Canada and Russia all add-up to between 3:44.24 and 3:44.38, based on 2017 rankings. Japan is very solid on the first three legs, with Ryosuke Irie, Yasuhiro Koseki and Rikako Ikee all potential medalists in their individual 100s. The freestyle leg would be their weak leg, as Ikee is also their top option, though she’s better off doing fly. Chihiro Igarashi (54.98) has been the slowest freestyle leg this year out of the top teams.

Canada is another one of those teams that will likely switch around the order. They’ve got the world’s top female backstroker in Kylie Masse, and it would be advantageous to use her on that leg. They would then likely follow with Richard Funk on breast, Penny Oleksiak on fly (their men’s fly is weak), and then Yuri Kisil on freestyle.

The Russians are very similar to Japan. Solid up front on three legs, and then relatively weak coming home. Evgeny Rylov and Anton Chupkov will be competitive on the front-end despite being better at the 200 distance, and Svetlana Chimrova is an elite flyer ranked 4th in the world this year at 57.17. Veronika Popova is their weakest link, but is capable of a 53-mid split.

The French and Swedes appear to be out of luck. France doesn’t have a breaststroker on their roster, and Sweden’s team of three guys includes two breaststrokers and a distance freestyler. The hometown Hungarians? They’re capable of making the final.

If they utilize Katinka Hosszu on backstroke, and then Daniel Gyurta, Liliana Szilagyi and then one of their three 48-second freestylers, they’ll be okay. However, it seems very possible Hosszu sits out, at least for the prelims, which puts them in jeopardy. Laszlo Cseh or Richard Bohus on back and Evelyn Verraszto on freestyle would probably be the best move in that scenario.

That 8th spot could come down to the Hungarians and the Italians, who are fairly solid throughout their lineup. They’re weakest on the lead-off with 200 backstroker Matteo Restivo, but are decent after that with Nicolo Martinenghi, Ilaria Bianchi and Federica Pellegrini.

Germany won bronze in Kazan, but doesn’t have great prospects here. With no female breaststrokers or freestylers, they really only have one order they can use, and it’s looking like a 7th or 8th finish at best. The same is the case for Denmark, who have always been dangerous in the women’s medley relay but don’t quite have the top-end speed here. With no male backstrokers or breaststrokers on the team, they would need to swim two females first, putting them well behind, and Viktor Bromer and Anders Nielsen are far from 100m specialists.

The Brazilians would need Etiene Medeiros to be on her 2016 form in either back (1:00.0) or fly (58.4) to have a chance. Their men are strong on breast, fly and free, but Medeiros’ focus on 50s this year seems to close the door on them.

TOP 8 PREDICTIONS

By Lauren Neidigh on SwimSwam

You can find links to all of our event-by-event previews and a compilation of our predicted medal-winners here.

2017 FINA World Championships

• Sunday, July 23rd – Sunday, July 30th
• Budapest, Hungary
• 50-Meter Course
• Event Schedule
• Meet Info

Sarah Sjostrom (photo: Tim Binning)

We’re just weeks away from the 2017 FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary and the women’s 100 free could be a historic event. No woman has ever broken 52 seconds in the 100 meter free, though Australia’s Cate Cambpell nearly did so when she set the World Record at 52.06 last summer. Campbell will be absent from this summer’s Worlds, but Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom is up to the challenge. Sjostrom was narrowly off the World Record with her 52.08 at the Mare Nostrum.

In Budapest, we’ll get a chance to see what Sjostrom can do with a full taper. The big challenge concerning most swimming fans is that the 100 free comes on day 5 of the meet. However, Sjostrom will skip out on the 200 free this summer, meaning she’ll only be swimming the 100 fly ahead of the 100 free and will be significantly fresher than she was in Rio. After the 100 fly final on day 2, she’ll have 2 whole days to recharge before prelims of the 100 free on day 5.

Though Cate Campbell won’t be in Budapest to challenge Sjostrom, her sister, Bronte Campbell, will be in the mix for a medal. Bronte Campbell is the defending World Champion in this event after she won the race in Kazan with her personal best 52.52. She’s already been 52.89 this year, which is almost 2 tenths faster than she was when she placed 4th in the Olympic final and just a few tenths shy of her best. The Aussies will also send out Emma McKeon, who boasts a season best 53.12. McKeon has been under 53 before with her 52.80 form last April, so she definitely has the speed for a top 5 finish.

Manuel and Oleksiak (photo: Simone Castrovillari)

Olympic co-champions Simone Manuel (USA) and Penny Oleksiak (CAN) will go head-to-head in the long course pool for the first time since they tied for gold in Rio. Neither seems to have shown too many of their cards yet this season, as they haven’t dipped under 53 yet, but both were able to qualify for their respective worlds teams relatively easily without a full taper.

Things could get interesting in the race for the American Record between Manuel and Nationals winner Mallory Comerford. In Indianapolis, Comerford became just the 2nd American woman to ever break 53 seconds, taking down Sjostrom’s U.S. Open Record with a 52.81. The American Record currently stands at a 52.70 done by Manuel in last summer’s Olympic final, but with Comerford only a tenth off the mark, we could see the record change hands at some point during the meet.

Dutch sprint star Ranomi Kromowidjojo has already been faster in-season this year than she was in the Olympic final last summer. Her 53.07 is also the fastest she’s been since December of 2012 when she set her personal best 52.75 at the Swim Cup Eindhoven. If she breaks 53 in Budapest, that’ll mark her first sub-53 swim in almost 5 years.

Japanese youngster Rikako Ikee has been crushing Junior World Records over the last couple of seasons. In February, she showed the world that she was only getting faster, as she set the Junior World Record at 24.48 in the 50 free. She set a personal best 53.83 in the 100 free at the 2017 Japan Swim, and seems to have the speed and endurance to move up into the top 8 with a few tenths of improvement. A handful of women will be fighting for those final few spots in the final, though, and Sweden’s Michelle Coleman is looking great this season with her 53.36 from the Mare Nostrum. China’s Zhu Menghui (53.42), Denmark’s Olympic 50 free champ Pernille Blume (53.52), and France’s Charlotte Bonnet (53.65) should also be up there fighting for a finals spot.

TOP 8 PREDICTIONS:

DARKHORSE: Dutch Record holder Femke Heemskerk wasn’t at her best when she swam this event in Rio, as she failed to qualify for the semifinals with a 54.63 in prelims. She’s been significantly faster than that already this year with a 53.75 from the Swim Cup Eindhoven, and she’s been as fast as a 52.69 in 2015.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2017 Worlds Previews: Historic 51 on Notice in Women’s 100 Free

By Jared Anderson on SwimSwam

2017 FINA WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

• July 23 – July 30 (Swimming portion)
• Budapest, Hungary
• Meet Central
• Start Lists / Results (Closer to the meet)

Don’t want to miss a single one of our 2017 World Championship event-by-event previews or predictions? We’ve got you covered. Bookmark this page and come back daily for updated predictions and links out to each new event preview.

We’ll be individually previewing all 42 World Championships events, including predictions of the top 8 finishers in each. Below, we’ll be updating the chart to show our predicted medalists, as well as including links to the full-length previews on each event.

Women

Men

Mixed Relays

Open Water Previews

Read the full story on SwimSwam: The Official SwimSwam 2017 World Champs Preview/Predictions Tracker

By Loretta Race on SwimSwam

We’ve taken a look at several swimmers’ provisional meet entries for the 2017 World Championships, including Spain’s Mireia Belmonte, Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu and South Africa’s Chad Le Clos, but are continuing to take stock of where athletes from around the world stand entry-wise just 10 days from the start of the pool swimming competition in Budapest.

Korea’s Park Tae Hwan had several options available to him for Budapest, as the 27-year-old qualified across his freestyle mid-distance events at this spring’s Arena Pro Swim Series in Atlanta. In addition to his usual 200m, 400m and 1500m freestyle specialties, the 2008 Olympic champion also notched a FINA A cut in the 100m freestyle this season. In Atlanta prelims, Park clocked a speedy 48.62 to easily fall under the 48.93 qualifying standard and also check-in as the Korean’s 2nd fastest time of his career.

Per the provisional entries within the FINA app for Budapest, Park intends to race the 100m freestyle. He’s ranked well outside the top 10 in the world. But, given the fact the sprint event is situated on Day 4, after his more medal-likely 400m and 200m freestyle events starting on days 1 and 2, respectively, racing the 100m free prelims may keep Park fresh for the 1500m battle set for later in the meet. He’ll need to bring his absolute A-game to land on the podium in that grueling event among the likes of China’s Sun Yang and the Italian partners in crime of Gabriele Detti and Gregorio Paltrinieiri.

But then again, Park is riding momentum from a very successful World Short Course Championships in Windsor, where he grabbed gold in the 200m, 400m and 1500m freestyle events, collecting a new Asian continental record

Park will not be swimming the men’s 800m freestyle in Budapest, per the app, an event that was part of the newly-added line-up for Tokyo 2020.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Korea’s Park Looks To Ride Windsor Momentum Into Budapest

By Braden Keith on SwimSwam

2017 FINA World Aquatics Championships – Water Polo

• July 16th-29th, 2017
• Alfred Hajos National Swimming Stadium, Budapest, Hungary
• Draws
• Teams/Qualifying
• Men’s Schedule
• Women’s Schedule

Tournament rosters for the water polo portion of the 2017 FINA World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary have been announced. The water polo portion of the multi-discipline aquatics tournament will be held between July 16th and 29th, with the women’s championship to be played on the 28th and the men’s on the 29th.

Gracing the pools of the Alfred Hajos National Swimming Stadium on Margaret Island will be men’s and 16 women’s teams split into 4 Groups for preliminary play.

After a round-robin matching each team against the other 3 members of its group, the group winners will advance directly to the quarterfinals. The 2nd and 3rd place teams will go to a play-in round to earn the right to play a group winner in the quarterfinals.

From there, the tournament becomes a single-elimination knockout to determine the eventual champions. The tournament will be played out for 3rd-8th places, even after teams have been eliminated.

Rio Finishes:

Men’s tournament:

• Gold – Serbia
• Silver – Croatia
• Bronze – Italy

Women’s tournament:

• Gold – United States
• Silver – Italy
• Bronze – Russia

In the men’s tournament, traditional powers Serbia and Croatia have risen to the top of the pile. As the American team is in a period of transition, the European forces are expected to continue to dominate at this year’s World Championships.

Team USA will be playing without Tony Azevedo, one of the greatest water polo players in history and Team USA’s captain for a generation, as well as without long-time goalkeeper Merrill Moses, who has been a fixture in cage for the Americans.

Stepping into goal for them will be McQuin Baron, who at 6’9″ tall fits the part for Team USA. He wound up playing more than expected in Rio, and out-performed Moses, though it wasn’t quite enough for Team USA.

In Rio, the Americans failed to advance from group play, even with Moses and Azevedo. They’ve had a nearly-complete overhaul of the roster – which includes not returning any of the three players who singularly held a lead in match scoring for the Americans in the Olympic tournament.

The Serbians, meanwhile, bring back nearly every member of their Olympic gold medal winning roster. Only two players, Zivko Gocic and Slobodan Nikic, aren’t returning from that roster, which has to leave Serbia as the favorites.

Croatia saw a little more of a shakeup,but return both Marko Bijac and Sandro Sukno, who at goalie and wing were both named to the all-tournament team at the Rio Olympics.

In the women’s tournament, the Americans’ depth will be put to the test. The Americans have had the world’s best goalkeeper for most of the last two decades, and that has put them on the podium at each of the 5 Olympic games in which a women’s tournament has been held. That includes winning the last two gold medals.

But Ashleigh Johnson, who far-and-away had the best save percentage at the Olympics, won’t return.

The American offense, however, will remain largely in-tact with the retrutn of Maggie Steffens. Steffens led all players with 17 goals at the Olympics, and she did so on a remarkable 24 shots – a 71% shooting percentage that is unheard of at the elite level of women’s water polo.

Neither of the Olympic goalies returns for the Americans, and so the presumed reigns in goal will go to Team USA’s #1 Gabrielle Stone. If she can perform as well as her predecessors, the Americans are again the favorites. They can win without a best-in-class performances from Stone, but it will get really dicey.

Hungary, who finished 4th at the Olympics, will return its two-headed scoring monster in Budapest. Barbar Bujka, who with 15 goals was the 2nd-leading scorer in Rio, and Rita Keszthelyi, who was 4th, are both back for Hungary.  They struggled on defense, though, and Hungary will need to figure out their goalkeeping situation if they want to contend. Olympic goalkeeper Orsolya Kaso stopped just 27 of the 64 shots she saw at the Olympics, but Hungary will also have the option of Edina Gangl in cage. In 2016, she was named the best goalkeeper as Hungary won the European Championship, and if she plays at that level, then Hungary becomes contender for, if not favorite for, gold.

The toughest drop will be from Spain. They lose their top goal scorer Roser Tarrago from their Olympic silver medal winning team. They’ve also drawn into Group B, which means we’ll get an early rematch of last year’s Olympic gold medal game, where the Americans should be heavily favored. Fortunately for Spain, New Zealand and South Africa, the group’s other two teams, are two of the weaker teams in the draw, which means Spain has a clear path to 2nd in the group even if they lose to the Americans.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: FINA Releases Water Polo Rosters for World Championships

By Loretta Race on SwimSwam

Retired superstar Michael Phelps was awarded the 2017 ESPY for Best Record-Breaking Performance last night in Los Angeles, marking the 8th ESPY win over the course of his storied career. The ESPY awards show, produced by ESPN, recognizes the best in sports from the prior year, with a heavy American lean.

Phelps won the award over 2 basketball players and a football coach, which shows the power of his Olympic medal count. He entered 2016 with the record for most Olympic medals and gold medals, and by winning 5 more gold in Rio and a silver, extended both records to an unprecedented 23 and 28, respectively.

In his acceptance speech, Phelps reminisces to a time when he was just a young guppie in Baltimore, dreaming of bigger and better things for the sport he cares so much about. He then gave a nod to his wife, Nicole, letting the crowd know the mother of Boomer was celebrating her birthday, as well as recognizing the fact the pair first met at the ESPY awards 10 years ago.

Video courtesy of ESPN on YouTube.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Watch Phelps’ 2017 ESPY Awards Speech

By Karl Ortegon on SwimSwam

Notre Dame has announced its schedule for the upcoming NCAA season. Two of their biggest dual meets will take place in the first semester– the year’s first dual is a home meet against Louisville on Saturday, Oct. 7th, followed the next weekend with a two-day home meet that will feature Texas A&M and Michigan State.

The Fighting Irish will travel to Bloomington on November 10th to close their fall dual meet schedule with a meet against Indiana University, before heading to the Ohio State Invitational the next weekend.

Notre Dame‘s January schedule is highlighted by a two-day meet in Tallahassee to take on the Florida State Seminoles. The women will then prepare for their ACC Championships from February 14th-17th, while the men will get set for theirs from February 21st-24th. Both meets will take place in Greensboro. Finally, NCAAs will be held in March at Ohio State for the women and Minnesota for the men.

The Irish women, who have a very strong rising sophomore class, will be building on a strong 2016-17 season with notable sprint additions in Carly Quast, Skylar Fore, and Rachel Wittmer.

Date	Opponent / Event	Location	Time / Result	Media
Fri., Oct. 6	Dennis Stark Relays	Notre Dame, Ind. (Rolfs Aquatic Center)	5:00 p.m. ET		MORE
Sat., Oct. 7	vs. Louisville	Notre Dame, Ind. (Rolfs Aquatic Center)	11:00 a.m. ET		MORE
Fri., Oct. 13	Texas A&M & Michigan State	Notre Dame, Ind. (Rolfs Aquatic Center)	5:00 p.m. ET		MORE
Sat., Oct. 14	Texas A&M & Michigan State	Notre Dame, Ind. (Rolfs Aquatic Center)	11:00 a.m. ET		MORE
Fri., Oct. 20	vs. Georgia Tech	Notre Dame, Ind. (Rolfs Aquatic Center)	5:00 p.m. ET		MORE
Fri., Oct. 27	at Purdue	West Lafayette, Ind.	5:00 p.m. ET		MORE
Fri., Nov. 10	at Indiana	Bloomington, Ind.	2:00 p.m. ET		MORE
Fri., Nov. 17	Ohio State Invitational	Columbus, Ohio	All Day		MORE
Sat., Nov. 18	Ohio State Invitational	Columbus, Ohio	All Day		MORE
Sun., Nov. 19	Ohio State Invitational	Columbus, Ohio	All Day		MORE
Fri., Jan. 12	Iowa & Illinois	Champaign, Ill.	6:00 p.m. ET		MORE
Sat., Jan. 13	Iowa & Illinois	Champaign, Ill.	12:00 p.m. ET		MORE
Fri., Jan. 19	at Florida State	Tallahassee, Fla.	4:00 p.m. ET		MORE
Sat., Jan. 20	at Florida State	Tallahassee, Fla.	10:00 a.m. ET		MORE
Fri., Jan. 26	Shamrock Invitational	Notre Dame, Ind. (Rolfs Aquatic Center)	All Day		MORE
Sat., Jan. 27	Shamrock Invitational	Notre Dame, Ind. (Rolfs Aquatic Center)	All Day		MORE
Sat., Feb. 3	Ball State & Green Bay	Notre Dame, Ind. (Rolfs Aquatic Center)	1:00 p.m. ET		MORE
Sat., Feb. 10	Ohio State Winter Invitational	Columbus, Ohio	All Day		MORE
Sun., Feb. 11	Ohio State Winter Invitational	Columbus, Ohio	All Day		MORE
ACC Championships
Wed., Feb. 14	Women’s ACC Championship	Greensboro, N.C.	All Day		MORE
Thu., Feb. 15	Women’s ACC Championship	Greensboro, N.C.	All Day		MORE
Fri., Feb. 16	Women’s ACC Championship	Greensboro, N.C.	All Day		MORE
Sat., Feb. 17	Women’s ACC Championship	Greensboro, N.C.	All Day		MORE
Wed., Feb. 21	Men’s ACC Championship	Greensboro, N.C.	All Day		MORE
Thu., Feb. 22	Men’s ACC Championship	Greensboro, N.C.	All Day		MORE
Fri., Feb. 23	Men’s ACC Championship	Greensboro, N.C.	All Day		MORE
Sat., Feb. 24	Men’s ACC Championship	Greensboro, N.C.	All Day		MORE
NCAA Championships
Wed., Mar. 14	Women’s NCAA Championship	Columbus, Ohio	All Day		MORE
Thu., Mar. 15	Women’s NCAA Championship	Columbus, Ohio	All Day		MORE
Fri., Mar. 16	Women’s NCAA Championship	Columbus, Ohio	All Day		MORE
Sat., Mar. 17	Women’s NCAA Championship	Columbus, Ohio	All Day		MORE
Wed., Mar. 21	Men’s NCAA Championship	Minneapolis, Minn.	All Day		MORE
Thu., Mar. 22	Men’s NCAA Championship	Minneapolis, Minn.	All Day		MORE
Fri., Mar. 23	Men’s NCAA Championship	Minneapolis, Minn.	All Day		MORE
Sat., Mar. 24	Men’s NCAA Championship	Minneapolis, Minn.	All Day		MORE

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Notre Dame to Battle Louisville, Texas A&M, IU During 2017-18 Season

By Karl Ortegon on SwimSwam

2017 FINA WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

• July 14 – July 30
• Budapest, Hungary
• Meet Central

The preliminary round of the one meter springboard diving event has concluded in Budapest, with China’s Peng Jianfeng leading the men’s event and Australia’s Maddison Keeney leading the women’s.

Peng has amassed 435.15 points thus far after six dives, rocketing to first after starting in 12th after round 1. He’s not far ahead of his Chinese teammate, He Chao, who is in 2nd at 431.35 points. Italian Giovanni Tocci sits in third a ways back at 410.60 points. The top American finisher this morning was Mike Hixon at 384.80 points– he sits 5th, while Steele Johnson (360.15) just sneaks in at 12th for the final on Sunday.

2016 Olympic bronze medalist in the 3 meter springboard, Patrick Hausding of Germany, sits 4th at 403.80, the last man to have scored over 400 points in the prelims.

Meanwhile, Keeney sits atop the women’s rankings with 283.20 points ahead of China’s Chen Yiwen (277.20). No Americans made the final 12, with Maria Coburn and Alison Gibson finishing in 22nd and 25th, respectively, this morning. Keeney was 5th in the 3 meter springboard event last summer in Rio.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2017 World Champs: Peng, Keeney Lead 1M Springboard After Prelims