Looking back on day 3 of the FINA Short Course World Championships in Doha, Qatar, here are 5 big things we noticed, and 5 big things you brought up in the comments section:
From us:
1. Hosszu vs. Belmonte continues: It’s been the story of the women’s meet so far. Spain’s Mireia Belmonte struck first with two world records Wednesday, but Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu had her best day yet on Friday. Hosszu knocked down two world records (200 back and 100 IM) while doubling up on gold, and now has 5 medals from these Championships to her name. It’s been the backstroke where Hosszu has been most dangerous, and she became the first woman ever under two minutes today. Meanwhile Belmonte managed a fourth gold medal by winning the 400 free, and leads all athletes with four wins. A quick side-by-side comparison of the two with two days of racing left:
| Gold | Silver | World Record | Swims so far | Events remaining | |
| Katinka Hosszu | 3 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 3 (50BK, 200IM, 200FR) |
| Mireia Belmonte | 4 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 (200 IM) |
2. Crazy finish to the women’s 100 free: While dominating, record-breaking swims are awe-inspiring to watch, there’s nothing quite like a wild, back-and-forth race where multiple swimmers seem to have shots at the crown. The 100 free was all that and more. Australian Bronte Campbell led at the 50 turn with reigning Olympic gold medalist Ranomi Kromowidjojo and Swedish butterfly star Sarah Sjostrom hot on her heels. But things reversed almost entirely at the finish, with Kromowidjojo passing Campbell and Sjostrom passing both. The only problem? Kromowidjojo’s teammate Femke Heemskerk passed up all three from 5th place to take the win by just .02. Did we mention that Sjostrom’s teammate Michelle Coleman was in the hunt at the 50 turn, as was Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace out of the Bahamas? No? Are you confused yet? Nerdy swimming question: if you swam this exact race in 10 parallel universes, how many different swimmers would win at least one? Lots of questions, and my only definitive statement is this: the women’s 100 free was exactly what we all love about racing.
3. A changing of the world guard in the men’s IMs? Most of us can barely remember all the way back to a time when the world’s IM races were dominated by someone other than Michael Phelps or Ryan Lochte. But with both rapidly approaching 30 years old, we might be seeing the next great IMer rise – Japan’s Kosuke Hagino. After a stellar Asian Games, Hagino was still without a gold medal in Doha after losing the 400 IM to his teammate Daiya Seto. But Hagino came up with his big swim in the 200 IM, besting the American Lochte to put the cherry on top of an incredible season. Lochte, of course, is still coming off of a serious knee injury and is still right in gold medal contention for the next two summers. But Hagino continues to prove that Lochte (and Phelps, when he eventually returns) will have quite a test to stay atop the 200 IM.
4. South American record for Brazilian women: The women’s 4×100 free relay had so many records broken we had continental records falling through the cracks. In addition to the Dutch relay’s world record and the American relay’s national record, the Brazilian squad set the South American record twice, once in prelims, once in finals. That team was made up of Larissa Oliveira, Daynara de Paula, Daiane Oliveira and Alessandra Marchioro, who went 3:33.93 to take 7th in the final. They were also 5th in prelims at 3:34.51.
5. Sjostrom’s straight-line speed: Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom won gold in the women’s 50 fly, and finished just about two tenths off of the world record. But in a curious twist, Sjostrom was actually faster in her long course 50 fly than she was in her short course. With the relative speed of underwater kicking, short course swimming is typically much faster – in fact, the world record in every single 50-meter event is faster in short course than its long course counterpart. Why does Sjostrom buck the trend? Conventional wisdom would say we have a swimmer who truly thrives on top of the water and carries her speed very well in a straight line. Short course swimming is often dominated by underwater specialists, so it’s impressive to see Sjostrom still winning races here, where her greatest asset (straight-line speed) is de-valued.
From you:
6. Manaudou’s margin: Commenter Philip Johnson notes the relatively wide margin of victory for French 50 free champ Florent Manaudou:
Holy heck, Manaudou absolutely destroyed the field. A winning margin of .43 in a 50??!!
-Philip Johnson
Then Rafael jumped in to give the swim some historical context:
Cielo won by 0.48 (LCM) on 2011 Worlds the 50 free.. Manadou is the second biggest difference (But I think Manadou is the biggest one on SCM)
-Rafael
Our take: this was far from a weak field, too, with Cesar Cielo and Vlad Morozov competing. Good on Manaudou, who thrives on short course 50s of all kinds.
7. Danes get a world record, but world best is still out there: The Danish women smashed the world record in the 4×50 medley relay, but commenter Floppy astutely points out that the relay was not the fastest in history:
Very good relay for the Americans FLee and Reaney went faster than I expected, but it’s hard to catch a 24.0 fly split.
The Danes get the World Record – officially. But the fastest time ever was swum before 4×50 relays were recognized by FINA. Netherlands 2009 Euro Champs:
Schreuder 26.32 / Nijhuis 29.16 / Dekker 24.51 / Kromowidjojo 22.70 = 1:42.69-Floppy
Our take: Nice detective work, Flop. That 2009 relay was during the super-suit era, and it’s worth noting that Jeanette Ottesen was a full half-second faster than her bodysuited counterpart. A great swim for Ottesen today.
8. Netherlands skips extra medal in favor of world record: Sticking with that same 4×50 medley relay, Lennart van Haaften notes that there’s a sneaky reason the fastest relay in world history (see point #7) didn’t even enter a relay:
Great result for Heemskerk, finally an individual global title for her. The 200 free will be another interesting battle between her and Sjostrom.
I guess the 100 free is why the Netherlands didn’t compete in the 4×50 medley. Otherwise, with Heemskerk, Nijhuis, Dekker, and Kromowidjojo they would easily have medaled.
-Lennart van Haaften
Our take: Lennart seems on the money. We’d suspect the 4×100 free relay at the end of the session had something to do with it, too. When chasing a world record, like the Dutch were in that free relay, why tire out your swimmers with two more races shortly before it? The strategy worked, as they did crush the world mark with Heemskerk swimming lights out on her leg.
9. Live stream frustrations: We noted it yesterday, but the lack of a reliable live stream continues to plague international fans at these Short Course Worlds. Various commenters offered up live stream links, but most turned out to only work in certain countries. ErvinForTheWin expressed his frustration with one such link:
Luigi , thanks for only available in Italy ( OF COURSE ) !!! very bad coverage this year for Pan Pacs and Doha . Swimming is not yet to the level of recognition as it should be .
-ErvinForTheWin
And just when a watchable feed was found… the Hungarian group broadcasting it cut away before the final relay, where no Hungarians were competing:
How is this possible ? they are not showing the final relay – the broadcast is over before the final relay – how in the world is that reasonable ?
-ErvinForTheWin
Our take: Swimming is starting to really expand as a major sport, gaining fans and attracting interest across the world. It’s time the sport stops blacking out its own fans. Organizers of major swim meets, take note: swimming fans want to see the action!
10. Farewell, super-suit records: On a day full of new world records, Lennart van Haaften predicts that the days of the “super-suited” records are numbered:
WRs dropping like flies here. Time is catching up with the suit records. In another 5 years not many will still remain.
-Lennart van Haaften
Our take: There was legitimate concern when the suits were outlawed that the records set would be unattainable for years. The current generation of swimmers is proving that concern to be overblown, breaking two super-suited records today alone. (It’s worth noting, though, that several of the most egregious records still appear well out of reach of any mortals in the pool, at least for now. But it’s clear that their day will eventually come.)
Fun fact: First sprint freestyle WR.
Katinka Hosszú has 3 more events remaining, you forgot the 200 free.
Also fun fact, Hungary won the same amount of gold medals today, they had won at all previous short course worlds combined.
You’re correct. 10 events are a bear to keep track of. Can’t imagine swimming them 🙂 Thanks for the heads-up – the chart is updated now.
From the supersuit list of records allready erased since 2010 to date , if i remember well , Ryan Lochte broke some of the the first ones . LC : 200 IM in 2011 Shangai . SC : 2010 ( 200 and 400 IM )- Dubai , 2012 / Istambul ( 100 and 200 IM ) ; he broke actually 5 of the super suit records if i am not mistaken here . Pretty astonishing if we give a closer account .
impressive ruta meilutyte 100 m breasstroke, even she was not in good condition .
jon rudd full interview
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10153440492394129&set=vb.128572499128&type=2&theater