Swimming, Finals, Day 3: Hosszu (HUN) shines; USA with 2 gold

Another glorious day in the pool for the Iron Lady! In the women’s 100m backstroke, Katinka Hosszu (HUN) collected her second gold in Brazil (after the 400m IM crown), touching home in 58.45. In a thrilling race, the silver went to Kathleen Baker (USA, 58.75), while the bronze was shared by Kylie Masse (CAN) and Yuanhui Fu (CHN), in a time of 58.76. Emily Seebohm (AUS), gold medallist in Kazan 2015 in this event and second in London 2012, finished in a disappointing seventh place (59.19).

In a surprising outcome, Mitch Larkin (AUS), the 2015 world champion, ended up without a medal in the men’s 100m backstroke. The fastest qualifier for the decisive race, US Ryan Murphy ended up being also the winner of the race, in a new Olympic record of 51.97. He largely improves the previous best mark of the competition, achieved in 2012 by his compatriot Matt Grevers in 52.16. The silver went to China’s Jiayu Xu in 52.31, while the second North American of the final, David Plummer, earned the bronze in 52.40. The 2011 world champion and silver medallist in 2015, Camille Lacourt (FRA) was fifth in 52.70.

In the men’s 200m free, Chad Le Clos (RSA), on lane 1, departed very fast, but this initial effort did not paid off. Swimming in lane 4, Sun Yang (CHN) showed all his strength in the end of the race, getting the gold in 1:44.65. It was the second medal for the Chinese star at these Games, after his silver in the 400m free. The Chinese had been silver medallist in this event both in London 2012 and in Kazan 2015

Le Clos, visibly disappointed at the end of his effort, got the silver in 1:45.20, while the bronze went to US Conor Dwyer in 1:45.23. The 2015 world champion in Kazan (RUS), James Guy (GBR), could not reach the podium, finishing in fourth (1:45.49), while world record holder Paul Biedermann (GER) was sixth (1:45.84).

In the fourth and last final of the day, the 19-year-old Lilly King (USA) made a brilliant race, for a win in a new Olympic record of 1:04.93 – the previous best mark of the Games had been set in Beijing 2008, by Leisel Jones (AUS), in 1:05.17. Yulia Efimova (RUS), the 2015 world champion, tried her best to touch first, but ended up with the silver in 1:05.50. Katie Meili, also from the USA, got the bronze in 1:05.69. The 2012 Olympic champion and current world record holder, Ruta Meilutyte (LTU) could not make the podium and concluded in a modest seventh position (1:07.32).

Concerning the semi-finals of the evening, Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) confirmed her excellent shape here in Rio, qualifying first in the women’s 200m free, in a time of 1:54.65. The 2015 world champion Katie Ledecky (USA) was second in 1:54.81, while world record holder Federica Pellegrini (ITA) was the third best of the semis in 1:55.42. Missy Franklin (USA), world champion in 2013 and bronze medallist in 2015 will not swim the final, after her 13th position this evening. Hungarian revelation Tamas Kenderesi (19 years old) had impressed in the morning and came back even stronger in the evening, securing the fastest time in the semis of the men’s 200m fly, in a time of 1:53.96, in front of a very respectable trio: Michael Phelps (USA, 1:54.12), Laszlo Cseh (HUN, 2015 world champion, 1:55.18) and Chad Le Clos (RSA, 2012 Olympic winner, 1:55.19). Finally, in the women’s 200m IM, Katinka Hosszu didn’t look very tired after the 100m back effort and will swim on lane 5 in the decisive race of the event, after clocking the second best time (2:08.13) of the semis, just behind Siobhan-Marie O’Connor (GBR, 2:07.57).

QUOTES

Sun Yang (CHN), gold, men’s 200m free

“Today I competed in the 200m and focused on myself only. To be a champion I focused on myself.”

“Frankly I was quite relaxed today more than for the 400m. My family was watching me on TV and they thought I was quite nervous but today I was relaxed. I am very happy with my gold medal and I want to thank my two coaches. They provided a lot of efforts in my training, when I trained overseas and they have a big part in my success.”

“I was trying to control myself. So this gold medal to me was easier to get than the 400m. The 400m victory helped me with this medal I think.”

About China Team: “I feel sorry for losing one gold medal. I feel responsible for this. I think the development of the Chinese swimming team is going up and getting better and better. But we are not the only ones, for example the Australian, especially the women.”

Conor Dwyer (USA), bronze, men’s 200m free

“I knew Chad and the others would be taking it very strong so I wanted to swim my own race. I saw Chad out there flying but I was happy with my own strategy.”

“Since many years we have this rivalry with the Australians and China and I like to race them again and again at international meets.”

"I'm happy to be getting up on the podium. You know, I was fourth in the 400m, that was a hell of a race. I knew Sun Yang would come home and I just wanted to be with him or ahead of him at the 150 and he came home like a rocket.”

"This is the biggest stage for us in our sport and we've got the best athletes here and we want to give the fans a good race."

Kathleen Baker (USA), silver, women’s 100m back

“This medal means the world to me because swimming is my life and I love it. It is pure joy. I am loving every single minute of all of this. It is perfect timing. Swimming has always been in my path so I have pursued my dream.”

“Katie (Ledecky) is like a sister to me. Since I am 16, we have been training together. We have been roommate at training camps so we are very close. I always looked up at her. She is incredible.”

"I am just so happy and I have to thank my teammates for all the great support they have given me along the way. I have had a great year and have learned so much."

Kylie Masse (CAN), bronze, women’s 100m back

"I am so shocked and super excited. It is amazing to race these great competitors. We have shown what we’ve got tonight and we (Kathleen) gave each other inspiration to swim faster.”

“I saw that Kathleen and I were very close and I was super excited and happy.”

Yuanhui Fu (CHN), bronze, women’s 100m back

“I actually feel like I have played with my life tonight. It was very tough for me but for some reason I have persisted.”

“Yesterday I was very happy. I never really thought this could happen. When I saw my time I though ‘no it must be a mistake’. I had to look twice.”

Ryan Murphy (USA), gold, men’s 100m back

"The adrenaline is going so hard for me right now, I don't even feel tired just because I'm so excited. This means everything to me. I've been swimming for 16 years and to have it come to this is just a dream come true."

"I honestly haven't thought about the meet that much. Our team has done a good job of trying to distract us. I wanted to win obviously but I didn't think about it too much."

Jiayu Xu (CHN), silver, men’s 100m back

“The most important to win a race is to be yourself. We are all on the same boat. There will be winners and losers so be yourself. I have a good mentality and way of thinking. I felt in training that I could win today and I did. I really tried not to think too much. If you overthink, better to sleep.”

“Before 2013 I didn’t really have any good results and I reached my pick in 2014 and everybody started to have expectation about me, that I was the new star. This made me nervous, I was too young.”

“I will of course celebrate my silver medal and get ready for what’s next. I would like to thank my coaches who helped me a lot. They have been taking care of me since my parents couldn’t come. I would like to pay my coaches back.”

“In Australia, the training was very hard but it gave a lot of confidence for the Games. It was winter there and the water was cold but we were able to work in good conditions and get good results.”

David Plummer (USA), bronze, men’s 100m back

"I would have liked to swim a little bit faster. It was a little bit off my best but just being on the podium is awesome.”

"It seems like the crowd is sitting on top of you. It's just been an awesome experience."

Lilly King (USA), gold, women’s 100m breast

“It was my first Olympics swim and I take a gold so I am very happy. I had a lot of pressure but I stood to what I believed was the right thing.”

"Tonight has been so crazy. My life is changing right now. I'm a gold medallist and it's what I've always wanted to be and it's an incredible feeling.”

"I'm probably going to start crying. I'm usually not a crier but this is a special moment so we'll see if it gets to me or not."

Yulia Efimova (RUS), silver, women’s 100m breast

“Right now I feel pretty heavy with everything that happened. But I am happy to be here to race. It is the best that could happen. You can try to understand me maybe if you were in my skin. It is hard to swim in this atmosphere but I did the best that I could do.”

"A week ago, I didn't even know if I could race because I'm Russian. I'm just happy to be here."

Katie Meili (USA), bronze, women’s 100m breast

“It is such a great honour to swim for Team USA and we know a lot of people are watching us at home and support us. It is a pretty special moment.”

“Tonight’s race spoke for Lilly’s character and it is great to see how far she come.”

"I saw my time and when I realised it was third place I was so happy. It's hard to deal with the excitement."