As mentioned yesterday, Anastasia Zueva went from finishing second in the world in 2009 to failing to even reach the semifinals in 2011. It’s obvious the former world record holder is making this year count as she posted the fastest time in the world this year in the finals of the 200 backstroke. Her time of 2:06.59 betters the previous season best held by Belinda Hocking of Australia at 2:06.59. In what is shaping up to be a stellar field this summer these two ladies along with Missy Franklin. She will be the lone Russian competitor in the event as place finisher Maria Gromov touched in 2:11.11 to miss the mark of 2:10.84.
Another strong showing came from Yulia Efimova who took the women’s 100 breaststroke in a time of 1:07.05. While not quite as fast as she was in prelims where she posted the fifth fastest time in the world this year in 1:06.92 she still easily met the FINA A mark and will look to break into the medals in London. Known as a better 200 breaststroker she finished fourth in this event last year at the world championships. Daria Deeva took second in 1:07.22 to also earn a trip to London. That time also moves her to eighth in the world this year.
Against a strong field in the 200 free that saw the top four swim under the Olympic qualifying time it was Danila Izotov who took the win in 1:46.56. The 20 year old was a member of the 800 free relay in Beijing four years ago and has been a vital member of the relay squad for the past few years. His time now moves him to fifth in the world this season. Taking second was Evgeny Lagunov in 1:47.47 and will also swim the individual event in London. Artem Lobuzov (1:47.53) and Nikita Lobinstov (1:47.78) will likely be members of the relay team this summer; all four will be looking to get Russia back in the medal picture after a disappointing 11th place at last year’s world championships (they won silver back in 2009).
Vyacheslav Sinkevich claimed the 200 breaststroke title with a time of 2:11.04, good enough to qualify him for London in the event. That time also moves him up to 11th in the world this season. He will be the lone representative in the event as Anton Lobanov failed to reach the mark needed as he touched in 2:12.35.
In the women’s 50 free the win went to Svetlana Fedulova in 25.32 which came up just shy of the 25.27 needed. She could still be added to the Olympic roster if the Russian Federation submits her time for consideration as she easily met the FINA B standard. The at-large qualifiers will be announced at a later date. Taking second was Veronika Popova in 25.77. That means the Russian national record holder will miss this event in London.
Nikita Konovalov had a lot of built up frustration after just missing the team in the 100 fly in which he took out on the 50 fly today. Konovalov won in 23.2; his semifinals time of 23.26 put him in a tie with Cesar Cielo for the top time in the world this year and just missed the national record of 23.24 held by Evgeny Korotyshkin from the 2009 world championships.
In semifinal action it was Yana Martinova who topped the field in the women’s 200 IM with a time of 2:14.75. She has already qualified for London based on her 400 IM from earlier in the meet and will look to add the shorter medley to her Olympic program. A close second is Daria Belyakin in 2:14.81. Both will need to be under 2:13.36 tomorrow night for a trip to London.
Arkady Vyatchanin posted the 23rd best time in the 200 backstroke with a 1:58.69. He is still shy of the 1:58.48 needed but is likely to be much faster tomorrow night in the finals. Anton Anchin was also under 2:00 in the semifinals with a 1:59.19 and will be looking for an Olympic berth as well.