FINA Newsletter from Barcelona #13

Newsletter #13 // August 01, 2013

THIRD WORLD RECORD AT FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

WORLD RECORD FOR PEDERSEN (DEN) IN THE WOMEN'S 200M BREAST

The fifth session of finals was highlighted, in terms of performances, by the new World Record in the women’s 200m breaststroke by Rikke Moller Pedersen (DEN) in the first semi-final of the event. The Danish swimmer clocked an impressive 2:19.11, improving the previous world global mark (2:19.59) set by Rebecca Soni (USA) at the London Olympic Games. Pedersen is naturally the athlete to beat in the decisive race, but Yulia Efimova, from Russia, is not far, with a 2:19.85 effort in the semis. It was the third World Record of the Championships, all in women’s events - Ruta Meilutyte (LTU) in the 100m breaststroke and Katie Ledecky (USA) in the 1500m free are the two other WR performers so far.

In terms of medals, the five finals gave two titles to USA and also two gold medals to China. In all of these events, logics prevailed, with Ryan Lochte confirming his good shape in the men’s 200m IM and getting the third consecutive gold in this distance since 2009. Additionally, it was his first individual podium presence in Barcelona. In the women’s 4x200m free relay, the North Americans were also the favourites and touched home first for the fifth title in the last six editions of these Championships.

From the Chinese side, 2008 Olympic champion Zige Liu is back at the top, with a brilliant triumph in the women’s 200m butterfly, in front  of the audience’s hero Mireia Belmonte and well ahead of her compatriot Liuyang Jiao (sixth) the reigning Olympic winner. In the women’s 50m backstroke, it was another Chinese affair, with WR holder Jing Zhao defeating her teammate and revelation of the current season, Yuanhui Fu.

Last but not least, Australia took the last gold at stake, by winning the always prestigious men’s 100m free. James Magnussen, from Australia, imposed his class in 47.71, and could forget his silver medal in London, behind Nathan Adrian, this time the bronze medallist in the Catalan capital.

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HUNGARY AND MONTENEGRO TO BATTLE FOR MEN'S GOLD MEDAL

Multiple Olympic champion Hungary and Montenegro will do battle for the FINA Men’s Water Polo World Championships at the Bernat Picornell Pool on Saturday. A reshaped Hungary, a far cry from the triple Olympic champions of the new millennium, pushed London Olympic champion Croatia out of title contention with an 11-10 victory built on better extra-man statistics and the stopping power of goalkeeper Viktor Nagy.

The first semifinal produced an upset according to many pundits, except anyone related to Hungary. The Hungarians, under new head coach Tibor Benedek, himself one of the world’s most decorated athletes, grabbed the lead in the second quarter, took the match to 10-7 early in the fourth, watched Croatia level at 10-10 and then celebrated when Denes Varga scored the winner at 1:58.

It was a return to the glory days for the Hungarians and the man with more gold medals than anyone in the history of the game, Tamas Kasas, visited his countrymen in the changing rooms afterwards. Also watching on was the coaching maestro and architect of those three gold medals from 2000, Denes Kemeny.

In the second medal semifinal, Montenegro hammered outgoing world champion Italy into submission with a stunning 10-8 victory engineered on a 3-0 opening burst that became 5-1 at halftime and 9-4 by the final break. You could smell the fear in the Italian camp as Montenegro shunned the form of the Italian team with its five wins, while Montenegro started the championship with a 6-4 loss to Greece.

It was a tournament of toppled champions and Montenegro wanted Italy to join the rest out of the limelight, although Italy will have a chance for some consolation of a lower podium finish when facing Croatia.

In the round of 5-8 semifinals, there was high drama in the clash between Serbia and Spain. The home team won 14-13 in sudden death penalty shootout after the match was tied at 6-6 at fulltime, 8-8 after extra time and 11-11 after the first rotation of five attempts each. The winning goal by Xavier Garcia came on the sixth shot of sudden death.

In the other 5-8 semifinal, Greece had the better of the high-flying Australia 11-9.

Saturday’s final classification round:

15:00 For 7th & 8th Game 41 AUS vs SRB
13.00 For 3rd & 4th Game 43 CRO vs ITA 
20.45 For 5th & 6th Game 42 GRE vs ESP
22:15 For 1st & 2nd Game 44 HUN vs MNE

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