World Championships: Anna Elendt Wins 100 Breast with Outside Smoke
The attention was on the middle of the pool in Tuesday’s women’s 100 breaststroke final at the World Aquatics Championships.
That was just fine by Anna Elendt.
The German who trains in Austin won a world title out of Lane 1 with a time of 1:05.19. It caps and up-and-down last few years for the German, who won silver in this event at the 2022 World Championships but finished a disappointing 20th at the Paris Olympics in 1:07.00.
“I am so speechless,” Elendt said. “When I knew I was going to start from Lane 1, I was only thinking about my coach, who always used to say, ‘If you have a lane, you have a chance’. I was following that. Just doing everything we worked on in practice, doing my underwaters. It worked out so well.”
Kate Douglass rallied for silver in 1:05.27. Tang Qianting of China grabbed bronze in 1:05.64.
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The attention was trained on the middle lanes. In Lane 3, Tang took the swim out in 29.84, the Chinese swimmer trying to build a lead knowing that the 200 breaststroker in Douglass would be on her heels in the final meters.
Douglass was fourth at the turn, and her 34.63 in the final 50 was the second-quickest coming home. It was enough to get past Tang by .37 seconds, all achieved in the final 10 meters.
But she didn’t get past Elendt, who stayed eight hundredths to the good in the outside lane and tucked away from view, despite Douglass hitting her finish. Elendt was second at the midway point and came back with the third-best final 50.
“We’ve been putting a lot of work into my 200, which has really been helping me out in my 100 — especially in those last 50 meters to keep my stroke together,” Elendt said.
Elendt doesn’t quite fit the profile of a shock Lane 1 winner. She’s not the kind of rabbit who will go out and say out; though she’s aggressive going out, her final 50 and her chops in the 200 are too advanced for that kind of sneak attack.
But she took to the lane anyway.
“Honestly, I really like it,” she said. “You can really focus on yourself and keep the things in your mind that you’ve practiced during practices. So, I really liked it. There was no distraction. Obviously, if you’re in the middle of the pool, you can see the other ones and that might push you. But for my instance, in my situation, I really preferred being in Lane 1.”
It’s the first high-profile 100 breast for Douglass, who won four golds at the Paris Olympics. A star over a variety of distances, the 100 has largely been closed off to her, in part because of American dominance from the likes of Lilly King and Tokyo gold medalist Lydia Jacoby. But with King retiring after this meet (she finished ninth in the semifinals) and Jacoby on a hiatus from the sport, Douglass is the heir apparent for the program and looking the part.
“I’m really happy with it,” Douglass said. “I think this is my first time swimming the 100m breaststroke on the international stage, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect. But I didn’t think I’d be able to go the time that I did tonight, so I’m really happy with it.”
Douglass has steadily dropped time this summer as she’s focused on the 100 breast – 1:05.79 at nationals, 1:05.49 in semifinals and then a best of 1:05.27 in finals. That’s a scary prospect for the rest of the world.
“This is the first time I’ve ever focused on it,” she said. “This is the first year I’ve ever swam the 100m while tapered and rested at a meet. So, I’m excited to keep focusing on it in the future.”
Tang, who won this event at the Doha World Championships, add to an impressive last 18 months. The 21-year-old won 100 gold/50 silver in Doha, then silver in the 100 breast at the Paris Olympics and 100 gold/50 silver at the World Short-Course Championships in Budapest last December.
“The result makes me feel very confident about the 50m race,” she said. “It’s not too far from my peak.”
Fourth was Satomi Suzuki of Japan in 1:05.78. Evgeniia Chikunova closed the quickest, in 34.59. But she was seventh at the wall, too far back to make the podium. Her 1:06.04 edged Anita Bottazzo by two hundredths.
Excellent! America denied by a European triumphant!