World Cup Tashkent, Day 1 Finals: Kasia Wasick Extends 50 Free Streak to 8
At age 34, there seems to be no stopping Kasia Wasick in the short-course pool. With a second straight win in the women’s 50 freestyle at the World Cup Silk Road circuit, the Polish sprinter isn’t just most of the way to a Triple Crown. She’s unbeaten in the last three years on the circuit, with eight straight victories in the event.
She added to that number on Thursday as the World Aquatics World Cup visits Tashkent, Uzbekistan, for the first day of three. The 50s supplied the best drama of the night, with Cameron McEvoy improving the World Cup record he set a week ago with a time of 22.13 seconds.
All the results:
Women’s 400 freestyle
A week ago in Baku, Freya Colbert swam away from the field early, and efforts to pull her back fell a half-second short. This time, Anna Peplowski checked her early speed, then turned it on at the 325 to take a lead she wouldn’t surrender. Peplowski went 4:00.25, besting Colbert by .27 seconds.
Third was New Zealand’s Caitlin Deans in 4:01.76, .05 ahead of Waka Kobori of Japan. Fan Yaqi of China, who was third in Baku, fell to sixth.
Men’s 400 freestyle
Carson Foster got a fight but ultimately got his second win in the 400 free. Lucas Henveaux pushed him early and often, but Foster got his hand to the wall first in 3:37.39, more than a second slower than his win in Baku. All he needed, though, was to be better than the 3:37.74 of the Belgian Henveaux, who has showed his length in this circuit by winning the 1,500 free.
Third place went to Matthew Caldwell of South Africa in 3:40.95. Alberto Razzetti collected point sin fourth.
Women’s 50 backstroke
Marrit Steenbergen won for the second straight week, the Dutchwoman speeding up from 25.75 in Baku to 25.70 in Tashkent. It’s her fifth win already of the circuit, with the 100 IM waiting later in the day.
Steenbergen beat the field by six tenths. Roos Vanotterdijk was second in 26.31, up a spot from her placement in Baku. Russia took places three through six, led by Alexandra Kuznetsova.
Men’s 200 backstroke
Pieter Coetzee controlled the pace all the way to pick up the second leg, going 1:49.32. That’s three tenths quicker than he was last week.
Second was Blake Tierney of Canada with a solid swim of 1:50.56, his second straight runner-up result. There was a knot of swimmers vying for second, with Jan Cejka of Czechia .03 behind Tierney and Pavel Samusenko of Russia another two tenths back of Cejka in fourth.
Women’s 200 butterfly
Yu Yiting set a best time of 2:02.75 to take home the win in the 200 fly. She bested Laura Lahtinen of Finland, who is in the first of three events in the finals session, in 2:05.20. It’s a great swim from Lahtinen to edge out last week’s champ, Chang Mohan of China, who was a distant third in 2:05.61. Last week’s runner-up, Ellen Walshe, was an even more distant fifth in 2:08.69.
Men’s 100 butterfly
Chen Juner is 2-for-2 in the 100 fly, clocking in at 49.75 to win in Tashkent. He was 49.70 in Baku.
Once again, it was a great race between Chen and So Ogata. The Japanese swimmer, who was second in Baku in 49.79, finished second again in 50.10, pushing Chen all the way.
Third place went to Finlay Knox of Canada in 50.42. He edged Russia’s Andrei Minakov by .01 seconds.
Women’s 200 breaststroke
Evgeniia Chikunova dominated the field again to pick up her second win in a time of 2:17.23. That’s .03 slower than she was in Baku.
Tes Schouten jumped up two spots form Baku to finish second in 2:20.07. She did so by edging fellow Olympic medalist Mona McSharry by .23 seconds.
Men’s 100 breaststroke
Kirill Prigoda is on top again with a time of 55.98, an authoritative swim to get his second straight win. He was a tenth of a second quicker than he had been in Baku. Second was Luke Barr, who jumped up from fourth in Baku and fourth at the 75 metes in 56.42, as an appetizer for his 100 IM to end the session.
There was a deep field behind the Russian. Caspar Corbeau was third in 56.50. Qin Haiyang was fourth in 56.86. Michael Houlie was sixth for South Africa.
Women’s 50 freestyle
Kasia Wasick remains the sprint queen of the World Cup, no matter what her age. Now 34, she remains a force. Thursday, she went 23.63 to pick up her second straight win of this circuit and eighth straight dating back three years. She had been 23.40 in Baku.
This one was a little closer. Taylor Ruck was second in 23.68. Wasick overtook her off the wall, but Ruck nearly clawed it back in the final meters. Third place went to Daria Klepikova, who surged from sixth to third in 23.94.
Men’s 50 freestyle
A week ago, Cameron McEvoy went 20.22 to set the World cup record. It was even quicker this week, at 20.13 to lower that mark and pick up his second crown. He dominated Russian Egor Kornev, who went 20.61 for second place. Only Aussie Isaac Cooper, who went 20.84 in his first swim of the circuit, broke 21 seconds at 20.84.
Fourth was Sean Niewold of the Netherlands in 21.11.
Women’s 100 individual medley
The battle of the top two in the World Cup women’s standings went to Marrit Steenbergen, who is 2-for-2 in two of her four events. The Dutchwoman went 56.18 to clip a tenth off her European record. She was a half-second ahead of Roos Vanotterdijk, who is second in the standings. And third in those standings is Yu Yiting, who went 57.57 on the back of her double to take third place.
Fourth in the race was Abbie Wood of Great Britian in 58.66.
Men’s 100 individual medley
Luke Barr has back to back wins in the 100 IM, and this one a best time by some four tenths in 51.57 for the American. He was clearly better than his countryman Shaine Casas, who went 51.59 for second for the second straight week. Barr had edged Casas by .01 in Baku.
Third was Finlay Knox in another quick turnaround for the Canadian. He went 51.65. Pieter Coetzee was with that same back in 51.71. It was a full second back to fifth-place Kliment Kolesnikov, who edged Caspar Corbeau by .01 for fifth.
