James Guy of Great Britain kicked off day two prelims of the Doha stop of the World Cup with a time of 1:48.31 in the 200-meter free. Guy’s time earns him the first-place seed going into finals and is only 2.91 seconds off his world best of 1:45.14 for the year 2015. Maxime Rooney of the USA (1:49.09) and Velimir Stjepanovic of Serbia (1:49.44) complete the top three.
The women’s 50-meter breaststroke will be a close finish with Molly Hannis of the USA, Alia Atkinson of Jamaica, Leiston Pickett of Australia, and Kate Matts and Sarah Marie Vasey of Great Britain all within .45 seconds of one another. Hannis leads the group going into finals with a 31.37, but Atkinson is seeded close behind with a 31.41.
Vladislav Mustafin of Uzbekistan dashed to a time of 1:00.79 in the 100-meter breaststroke earning himself the first place seed for finals. Kevin Cordes of the USA sits at second with a 1:01.24, while South Africa’s Cameron van der Burgh is seeded third with a 1:01.39.
Tom Shields of the USA secured the first place seed in the men’s 100-meter fly with a time of 53.21. Australia’s Christopher Wright is seeded close behind with a 53.28. Chad le Clos of South Africa rounds out the top three with a time of 53.44.
The finals heat of the women’s 100-meter back is host to a large company of talent. Katinka Hosszu of Hungary holds the first place seed with a time of 1:00.44. Natalie Coughlin of the USA sits at second with a time of 1:01.14, but Emily Seebohm of Australia is seeded close behind with a time of 1:01.20.
David Plummer (USA), Mitchell Larkin (AUS), Michael Andrew (USA) and Ashley Delaney (AUS) are the top four qualifiers in the men’s 50-meter back. Plummer was the only athlete during prelims to swim under the 25-second mark finishing first in his heat with a 24.92.
That Velimir Stjepanovic swims pretty impressive!