The sprint sisters Cate Campbell and Bronte Campbell picked up two of the top three spots in a loaded women’s 50-meter free finale at the 2015 FINA World Cup Hong Kong.
Cate led the way with a strong time of 24.84, while Bronte qualified third in 25.46. Denmark’s Jeanette Ottesen split the difference with a 25.31.
USA’s Madison Kennedy tied Bronte for third with a 25.46 of her own, while Australia’s Holly Barratt put up a 25.85 to qualify fifth as the only other sub-26 of the morning.
In the first high profile matchup of the morning, points leader Katinka Hosszu of Hungary paced the women’s 200-meter freestyle prelims in 2:00.30. USA’s Missy Franklin, who was just named a USA Swimming Foundation Ambassador today, qualified second in 2:00.98.
Hosszu then eased her way through to the second seed of the women’s 100-meter fly in 1:00.37 with China’s Li Shuang leading the way with a 1:00.31.
In one of the deepest events of the day, Australia’s Emily Seebohm (28.32) and Holly Barratt (28.95) led the way in the women’s 50-meter back with a 1-2 effort. Hosszu (28.96) and Franklin (29.13) qualified third and fourth.
Hosszu cranked out her second top seed of the morning with a 2:13.92 to top the women’s 200-meter IM for her fourth final tonight. Her Hungarian runningmate Zsuzsanna Jakabos qualified second in 2:15.92.
Franklin countered in the women’s 200-meter back with a 2:13.76 to 2:14.99 head-to-head duel against Hosszu in heat 2 as the duo finished 1-2 in qualifying. Seebohm eased her way into finals with a seventh-seeded 2:17.83.
Hosszu then turned in an 8:42.88 to top the early heats of the women’s 800-meter free timed final.
Men’s points leader, Cameron van der Burgh of South Africa, turned in the top seed in the men’s 50-meter breast by a wide margin with a 28.16. He should easily cruise to victory this evening.
Van der Burgh then eased up a bit too much in the men’s 200-meter breast prelims to finish 12th and out of finals with a 2:25.71. USA’s Sean Mahoney smashed the field with a 2:14.90, while world-record holder Akihiro Yamaguchi qualified second in 2:18.85.
Jamaica’s Alia Atkinson, another top points-getter on the circuit so far, definitely did not need top speed as she led the women’s 100-meter breast with a 1:09.75, more than a second ahead of the rest of the field.
Other top seeds:
Kenneth To in the men’s 100-meter free, 49.55; in men’s 50-meter fly, 24.19
Yuki Shirai in the men’s 100-meter back, 55.77.
Masato Sakai in the men’s 200-meter fly, 2:00.27
Dan Smith in the men’s 400-meter free, 3:59.65.
