Dressel, Andrew In Semi-Finals For FINA Championships
Dressel and Andrew are the first swimmers in the 2018 FINA World Short Course Championships to qualify for the semi-finals.
The third morning of the event, taking place in Hangzhou, China, featured the heats of the men’s 100 IM, men’s 50 back, women’s 100 IM, man’s 50 free, women’s 50 fly, women’s 200 back, men’s 200 breast, and mixed 4×50 medley relay.
Caeleb Dressel broke the official American Record while Katinka Hosszu, Kathleen Baker, and Emily Seebohm all qualified for two events. Michael Andrew put up a solid double, and Ranomi Kromowidjojo proved her skill for the third morning of the prelims.
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Michael Andrew put up the top time in the 100 IM heats. Andrew is the top seed, and will be heading into the semi-finals in the hope of defending his 2016 gold medal that he won in Windsor, which was also his first international gold medal. Andrew is just ahead of Russian Kliment Kolenikov (51.69) and Italian Morco Orsi (51.86) who are not normally known for taking place in the IM, but the 100 is short enough for most hardcore sprinters to give it a try. Norwat’s Markus Lie (52.12) is the fourth seed, and is ahead of the 200 IM champion Wang Shun (52.15) from China.
Caio Pumputis qualified in sixth place with 52.31, followed by Russian Surgey Fesikov with 52.33m and Japanese Hirosama has also qualified for the semi-finals thanks to his score of 52.25. There was not a second American swimmer in the event.
