2010 Short Course World Championship Results from Omega Timing
Lochte led the 200m free from the start to pick up the first U.S. gold medal of the Championships. His time broke Michael Phelps' American record in the event as well as the championship record Lochte set in the morning prelims. Russia's Danila Izotov won the silver in 1:41.70 and Tunisia's Ous Mellouli earned the bronze in 1:42.02.
The women's 4x200m free relay team of Katie Hoff (Towson, Md.), Dagny Knutson (Minot, N.D.), Missy Franklin (Centennial, Colo.) and Dana Vollmer (Granbury, Texas) finished their race under world record pace but were unable to claim a medal in the event. The team finished fourth but still managed to break the American record that was set at the last Short Course World Championships in 2008. China won gold and broke the first world record of 2010 with a time of 7:35.94. Australia earned silver in 7:37.57 and France won the bronze in 7:38.33.
In the men's 4x100m free relay, France picked up the gold and set a championship record with a time of 3:04.78. Russia was second in 3:04.82 and Brazil was third in 3:05.74. The U.S. team of Nathan Adrian (Bremerton, Wash.), Garrett Weber-Gale (Milwaukee, Wis.), Ricky Berens (Charlotte, N.C.) and Lochte finished fourth with a time of 3:06.10
Ariana Kukors (Auburn, Wash.) finished sixth in the women's 400m IM with a time of 4:31.01. The gold medal went to Spain's Mireia Belmonte Garcia, who won in championship record time of 4:24.21. Shiwen Ye of China was second in 4:24.55 and China's Xuanxu Li was third in 4:29.05.
The final of the women's 200m fly did not feature a U.S. swimmer as neither Kim Vandenberg (Moraga, Calif.) nor Mary Mohler (Naperville, Ill.) advanced out of the prelims.
Other U.S. swimmers also turned in strong performances in their respective semifinal events. Olympic gold medalist Rebecca Soni (Plainsboro, N.J.) qualified as the third seed for the final in the 50m breast with her time of 30.00. In the men's 100m back, both Nick Thoman (Cincinnati, Ohio) and David Plummer (Oklahoma City, Okla.) turned in strong swims to advance to Thursday's final. Thoman will be seeded third with his time of 50.69 while Plummer is seeded seventh in 50.94. Natalie Coughlin and Missy Franklin will both swim in Thursday's final of the 100m back. Franklin is the second seed with her time of 57.49 while Coughlin is the fourth seed in 57.61.
In the semifinals of the men's 100m fly, both Tyler McGill (Champaign, Ill.) and Tim Phillips (Vienna, West Va.) were unable to advance to the final. McGill finished in 51.15 and Phillips swam a 51.50.
At the end of the first day of competition, Team USA's medal count stands at one gold medal. Competition continues Thursday and runs through Sunday in Dubai.
