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Sunday, July 30, 2017

2017 FINA World Championships: Day 8 Finals Preview


2017 FINA World Championships: Day 8 Finals Preview


BUDAPEST – With eight events on the schedule, the eighth and final night of the 17th FINA World Championships will be a busy one.

Here’s how the events are shaping up for American swimmers:

 

The Event: Women’s 50m Breast

The Swimmers: Lilly King (1st seed) and Katie Meilie (3rd seed)

The Facts: Lilly King will be shooting for her third gold medal of the meet after winning gold in the 100m breast and mixed 400m medley relay. She set the American record in this event in last night’s semifinals in 29.60. Meili will be racing for her second medal of the meet after winning silver in the 100m breast.

The last time the U.S. won a medal in this event was Jessica Hardy with a bronze in 2013. Hardy won gold in 2011.

 

The Event: Men’s 400m IM

The Swimmers: Chase Kalisz (1st seed) and Jay Litherland (6th seed)

The Facts: Chase Kalisz won a gold medal in the 200m IM on Thursday, his first time winning gold in a major international competition, and his first time swimming that event on the world stage. The 400m IM has been his specialty since making his first Worlds team in 2013. He won silver in 2013, bronze in 2015, and silver at the 2016 Olympic Games.

Litherland finished fifth in the 400m IM in Rio. He won bronze swimming in the prelims of the men’s 800m free relay on Friday.

The two will be looking for the U.S.’s first gold since the 2011 World Championships.

 

The Event: Women’s 50m Free

The Swimmer: Simone Manuel (3rd Seed)

The Facts: Manuel has won four golds at this meet, in the 100m free, the 400m free relay, the mixed 400m medley relay, and the mixed 400m free relay. She set an American record in the 100m free, and helped set world records in both mixed relays.

The last time an American woman medaled in this event was 1998, when Amy Van Dyken won gold.

 

The Event: Men’s 50m Back

The Swimmers: Matt Grevers (3rd seed) and Justin Ress (5th seed)

The Facts: Grevers has won gold in the mixed medley relay in the last week, and silver in the men’s 100m back. Americans have won only three medals all-time in this event at worlds, and of those medals, Grevers has won two. He is the last American to win a medal in this event at Worlds, a bronze in 2015.

Ress is competing in his first World Championships, and in his first World Championship finals.

 

The Event: Women’s 400m IM

The Swimmers: Elizabeth Beisel (3rd seed) and Leah Smith (6th seed)

The Facts: Elizabeth Beisel is competing in her sixth World Championships. Now a grizzled veteran at the age of 24, Beisel qualified for her first international team in 2006 at the age of 13, and has competed at every major international long course competition since then, which, in addition to the World Championships, includes three Olympic Games and three Pan Pacific Championships. She has won nine medals over the course of her career at international meets – four gold, one silver and four bronze. She has won one gold at the World Championships – in 2011 in the 400m IM. That was the last time the U.S. won gold at Worlds in this event.

Smith will be going for her fourth medal at these Worlds. She won gold in the 800m free relay, silver in the 400m free and bronze in the 800m free.

 

The Event: Men’s 1500m Free

The Swimmers: No American swimmers qualified for this event.

The Facts: The U.S. has won just six medals all time in this event at Worlds, the last a silver by Connor Jaeger in 2015.

 

The Event: Women’s 400m Medley Relay

The Swimmers: The unofficial line-up will likely be Kathleen Baker, Lilly King, Kelsi Worrell and Simone Manuel.

The Facts: Olivia Smoliga, Katie Meili, Sarah Gibson and Mallory Comerford qualified first in this morning’s prelims in 3:55.95. The U.S. has won back-to-back golds at Worlds in 2013 and 2015.

 

The Event: Men’s 400m Medley Relay

The Swimmers: The unofficial line-up will likely be Matt Grevers, Kevin Cordes, Caeleb Dressel and Nathan Adrian.

The Facts: Ryan Murphy, Cody Miller, Tim Phillips and Townely Haas qualified first in this morning’s prelims in 3:29.66. The U.S. has won five of the last seven World Championships at Worlds. The losses were a result of disqualifications in prelims in 2007 and finals in 2013. Otherwise, the U.S. stands undefeated in this event on the World Championships stage.

 

For more expert analysis and insight from the 17th FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, catch Deck Pass Live, right here on usaswimming.org. The show begins approximately one hour after finals. Also, follow our coverage from Hungary on Facebook and Twitter. #DeckPassLive.

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