Summer McIntosh set another world
junior record in the 400m IM as two of the best women swimmers in the world
flexed their muscles on Saturday evening in Toronto.
It was an incredibly fast night in
Toronto with the first two races producing both a world record and a world
junior record, back-to-back.
It couldn’t have started better as
USA’s Katie Ledecky set her very first short course meters world record in the
1500m freestyle with a 15:08.24, completely wiping away the old record of
Germany’s Sarah Wellbrock, who swam a 15:18.01 in 2019.
“I didn’t have it as a set goal (to
break the World Record),” Ledecky said. “I really didn’t know what to expect
coming out of this meet, being my first meet of the season, taking most of
August off, getting back into training rhythm, didn’t have any type of super
preparation for this meet, just wanted to come in and race international
swimmers being a meet in North American soil.”
Ledecky also nearly broke the 800m
freestyle world record on the way out, held by Spain’s Mireia Belmonte at
7:59.34, as the American broke the national record with an 8:00.58. The 800m
freestyle will be offered as an event next weekend in Indianapolis where she
will aim to be the third woman ever under 8:00.
“I knew that record was in reach just
based on some things I’ve done in training especially my distance stuff has
felt really good this fall.
"Walked into a pace and fell off
a little bit towards the end probably. My stroke count was 16, pretty steady
through maybe the 900, 1000, and jumped up to 17, 18 and I got a little
worried, but I held it together to get the job done.”
That swim immediately followed
Canada’s Summer McIntosh, who trained every day in this pool leading up to this
summer’s FINA World Championships, as she set a new world junior record in the
400m IM at 4:21.49.
McIntosh had pushed Mireia Belmonte’s
4:18.94 world record for 200 meters before falling off on the breaststroke leg,
but good enough to be recognized as the fastest junior swimmer in the event. It
was a perfect start for the Canadians as Sydney Pickrem (4:28.45) and Bailey
Andison (4:29.36) finished second and third to the delight of the Toronto
crowd.
“It was amazing to have the support of
the many Canadians in the stands, and I want to say thanks for their support,”
McIntosh said. “I didn’t know what time to expect, I just wanted to swim a good
race.
“Coming off a great summer in the
400m IM I wanted to see what I can do for all four sets. I’m really happy with
my race. I have to check my splits, I don’t know where that puts me, but
throughout the race I felt in control and strong so I’m really happy.”
The Race For the Overall World Cup
Title Begins to Heat Up
There were a few other near-world
records that happened on Saturday night, as Siobhan Haughey of Hong Kong, China
won the 200m freestyle with a 1:51.13, taking out the first 100 meters under
her own world record pace. Haughey’s time was among the ten fastest times ever
swum in the event as she repeated her 200m freestyle win from Berlin as she
goes for the hat trick next week in Indianapolis.
“I’m definitely not as fresh as I was
in Berlin so the fact that I was able to drop my times in my 200, that’s a
positive sign,” Haughey said.
“I’m definitely learning a lot and I
think it’s also helpful to watch my race videos from Berlin and see what I can
work on. So between my races, I'm focusing on those, seeing what I can work on,
instead of focusing on how tired I am. I think it helped.”
USA’s Shaine Casas gave the men’s
200m IM world record a scare as he swam the third fastest time in history with
a 1:50.37, getting closer to Ryan Lochte’s 1:49.63 than anyone has in nearly
eight full years. This is a new World Cup Record.
Casas’ efforts launched him past
Matthew Sates in the World Cup rankings to sit second behind Dylan Carter, who
won the 50m backstroke for his fifth win on the circuit at 22.94.
Carter currently has 109.2 points,
while Casas is right behind with 106.8 and Sates is third with 106.1. With one
more day left and three next week in Indianapolis, it could come down to the
wire between these three.
The women’s overall rankings are
currently led by American Beata Nelson, who won the 100m backstroke on Saturday
with a 55.75 ahead of Canada’s Kylie Masse (56.16) as she holds a slim lead of
0.6 points over Siobhan Haughey.
Women Rankings https://www.fina.org/competitions/2957/fina-swimming-world-cup-2022/rankings?scoringId=fd59d212-4e6f-4c9e-b43e-aa2cc3413aa6
“It’s really about racing,” Nelson
said. “I’m swimming against some of the fastest swimmers in the world. I just wanted to get my hand on the wall
first.
“I am happy about it. It’s about
competing and racing. I’m trying to do the best that I can and rack up some
points, it’s good to be back in North America, just to do the time zone here, I
never really did when I was in Germany so I’m getting good recovery and nights
of sleep so I’m enjoying that until I can, first time in Canada, it’s been
great.”
Canada was also able to cheer on one
of its favourite swimmers in Maggie Mac Neil, who is only racing in the Toronto
stop of the FINA Swimming World Cup series this year, as the Tokyo Olympic
champion won the 50m butterfly with a 24.75. She will head back to school as
she is in graduate school at Louisiana State University in the United States
where she trains with long-time coach Rick Bishop.
“Swimming at home and getting to see
my family (is special),” Mac Neil said. “Having a big meet like this (here)
brings a lot of publicity to Canada and brings so many major athletes to this
great city.”
Other Olympic champions celebrated
wins on the weekend as Australia’s Kyle Chalmers won his best event - the 100m
freestyle - with a 45.52 as he will go for a third straight win in that event
next week in Indianapolis.
Lithuania’s Ruta Meilutyte also took
down the last two Olympic champions in the 100m breaststroke with a 1:02.95,
beating Americans Lilly King (1:03.23) and Lydia Jacoby (1:04.62), winners of
the Rio and Tokyo Games, respectively, to the wall.
The London champion inched closer to
the world record held by Jamaica’s Alia Atkinson.
Americans Nic Fink (50m breaststroke)
and Trenton Julian (200m butterfly) also collected wins on Saturday with Fink
winning perhaps his best event at 25.78 while Julian won his best event at
1:49.69 over Chad Le Clos (1:49.78).
Written by Andy Ross, FINA
Correspondent
Katie Ledecky-Fina WC-Photo- Michael
P Hall
No comments:
Post a Comment