World Aquatics World Cup #2 – Tashkent
The first day of the Tashkent World Cup prelims looked eerily similar to the first prelims session a week ago in Baku, with some big names leading the way to the finals and setting up some eye-catching finals battles.
Two of tonight’s finals races will feature Marrit Steenbergen and Roos Vanotterdijk, who both currently sit 1st and 2nd in the women’s World Cup standings after one stop. They will first meet in the 50 backstroke and again in the penultimate event, the 100 IM.
Steenbergen won both last week and comes into today’s final as the top qualifier in the 50 backstroke with 26.48. She was not alone in the sub-27 club in prelims. Vanotterdijk was only a tenth of a second behind Steenbergen in 26.58; Russia’s Mariia Osetrova and Alina Gaifutdinova also touched under 27 in prelims to secure the 3rd and 4th seeds in 26.93 and 26.97.
The 100 IM saw Vanotterdijk claim lane 4 honors in 58.09, turning in the top prelims time by nearly a full second. Rebecca Meder was the closest competitor through the prelims, touching in 59.01, with both Aleksandsa Kuznetsova and Steenbergen tying for the 3rd-fastest prelims time in 59.08. However, Steenbergen will be in lane 6 rather than lane 3, putting her and Vanotterdijk one swimmer apart instead of racing side by side.
The men’s 50 free saw neither Egor Kornev nor Cam McEvoy claim the top spot in tonight’s final; Australia’s Isaac Cooper touched the quickest in 20.86, one of only two swimmers this morning to dip into that 20-point range, with Kornev in 20.93. McEvoy finished 4th in 21.19, right behind Kornev for another splash-and-dash for big World Cup points.
Kasia Wasick continued her reign over the women’s 50 free with a narrow prelims win in the women’s 50 free, touching in 23.89, followed closely by Taylor Ruck of Canada in 23.94; those two appear to be the key favorites for the final, finishing more than a quarter of a second quicker than the rest of the prelims field.
Other Event Highlights:
- Caspar Corbeau nabbed the 100 breast’s top seed on the men’s side as the lone sub-57 swimmer in 56.92, followed by both Luke Barr and Michael Houlie, both clocking 57.35 to bookend Corbeau’s lane in the final.
- Pieter Coetze nearly replicated his prelims 200 back from a week ago, finishing 4th in the prelims in 1:53.01. However, he is almost certainly going to explode for another World Cup win ahead of top qualifier Blake Tierney of Canada in 1:52.59.
- Barr’s first breakout swim of week 1 came in the 100 IM, winning by .01 over Shaine Casas; he locked in the middle lane for the final this morning in 52.48, about a half second quicker than 52.48.
- Evgeniia Chikunova was relatively uncontested on her way to the top seed in the 200 breast, touching more than a full second ahead of Mona McSharry (2:18.27) in 2:17.20 as she looks to repeat as champion from last week in Baku.
- Three sub-51-second swims highlighted the men’s 100 fly, with Chen Juner touching as the clear top seed in 50.08, followed by Andrei Minakov (50.75) and Finlay Knox (50.92).
