Jeanette Ottesen, the second ranked swimmer in the world in the 100-meter fly, unleashed a strong swim in prelims of the event at the 2015 FINA World Cup Beijing.
Ottesen clocked a top time of 58.57, while Zhang Yufei joined her under 1:00 with a second-seeded 59.03. Ottesen has some time to drop to compare with her second-ranked 57.04 from Worlds, but the time put her square in the driver seat to win the gold tonight. Katinka Hosszu, who captured a whopping 129 World Cup points in Hong Kong last weekend, picked up the sixth seed in 1:00.39.
Hosszu picked up the top seed in the women’s 200-meter free. She clocked a 1:58.68, setting herself up for another lifetime best tonight after clocking a 1:55.81 in Hong Kong.
China’s Shen Duo was the only other sub-2:00 swimmer with a second-seeded 1:59.88, while Li Liuyuxin earned the third seed in 2:00.03. Missy Franklin also qualified fifth in 2:00.33.
Alia Atkinson hit the wall in 1:08.67 to top prelims for the women’s 100-meter breaststroke. Atkinson is in the mix for some big points out of this second cluster behind Hosszu. Shi Jinglin (1:09.03) and Micah Lawrence (1:09.41) also cleared 1:10 to round out the top three.
China’s Fu Yuanhui, the world leader with a 27.11 from Worlds, unleashed a 27.91 in prelims of the sprint back for the top seed. Emily Seebohm collected the second seed in 28.32 with Chen Jie third in 28.63.
Hosszu (28.91) and Franklin (29.10) also made the finale.
Hosszu picked up second top seed with a 2:14.32 in the women’s 200-meter IM. Rika Omoto (2:15.63) and Lisa Zaiser (2:16.57) wound up second and third in prelims.
Seebohm raced her way to the top of the women’s 200-meter back prelims with a 2:13.20. Hosszu collected yet another finals spot with a second-seeded 2:14.11. Claudia Lau (2:14.47) and Franklin (2:15.12) rounded out the top four.
Cate Campbell paced the women’s 50-meter free in 24.81 with Zhu Menghui claiming the second seed in 24.91. Bronte Campbell pocketed the third seed in 25.17 with Ottesen fourth in 25.25.
Cameron van der Burgh, the men’s points leader for the FINA World Cup, touched out Tommy Sucipto, 28.05 to 28.08, for the top seed in the men’s 50-meter breast during prelims. Akihiro Yamaguchi snagged the third seed in 28.63.
Van der Burgh then qualified second behind Yan Zibei in the men’s 200-meter breast (2:13.09 to 2:14.53).
Yuki Shirai stopped the clock in the men’s 100-meter back in 55.60 for the top seed in prelims, while Marco Loughran (56.03) and Ashley Delaney (56.11) are the favorites to push Shirai for a podium spot in finals.
Other top seeds:
Dan Smith in the men’s 100 free, 49.99.
Masato Sakai in the men’s 200 fly, 2:00.57.
David Brandl in the men’s 400 free, 4:01.14.
Li Zhuhao in the men’s 50 fly, 23.97.
