Regan Smith Closes Out China Open with Dominant Win in 100 Backstroke
American Regan Smith wrapped up her trip to the China Open in Shenzhen in style on Sunday night, as she collected the title in the 100-meter backstroke. Dueling with Australia’s Mollie O’Callaghan, Smith notched a wire-to-wire triumph and touched the wall in 57.91 for her latest venture inside the 58-second barrier. O’Callaghan followed in second place with a strong effort of 58.64.
Following up on her win in the 200 backstroke, Smith went out in 28.45 to generate a .13 cushion over O’Callaghan. Down the last length, Smith pulled away, splitting 29.46 into the final touch. Smith is the world-record holder in the event and the reigning Olympic silver medalist. The outing marked the 26th time during her career in which Smith logged a time under 58 seconds.
At the China Open, Smith complemented her victories in the 100 backstroke and 200 backstroke with runnerup finishes in the 50 back, 100 butterfly and 200 butterfly.
China’s 13-year-old phenom Yu Zidi grabbed her third win of the meet when she topped the field in the 200 individual medley, clocking 2:09.01. That performance narrowly edged the 2:09.09 by countrywoman Yu Yiting and was made possible by a closing split of 29.91 by the victory, compared to the runnerup’s freestyle split of 30.78.
The home crowd was also treated to a first-place finish in the 800 freestyle by Zhang Zhanshuo, who earlier won the 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle. The teenager, who figures to play a prominent role in future international competitions, won over 16 laps in 7:44.45. That mark was a little more than two seconds faster than Germany’s Lukas Maertens, who turned in a swim of 7:46.97.
In the 400 freestyle, Australian Lani Pallister reversed the finish of the 800 freestyle from earlier in the meet. Pallister turned in a swim of 4:00.61 to touch the wall well ahead of China’s Li Bingjie (4:03.15), who earlier defeated the Aussie in the 800 free.
Just .08 separated first and fourth place in the men’s 50 butterfly, which was won by Switzerland’s Noe Ponti in 22.97. That effort was the only mark under the 23-second barrier, but Kyle Chalmers (23.00), Thomas Ceccon (23.01) and Cam McEvoy (23.05) all produced strong showings. On the women’s side, world champion Gretchen Walsh was the class of the 50 fly, prevailing in 25.12.
South Africa’s Pieter Coetze completed his sweep of the backstroke events by winning the 200 distance in convincing fashion. With titles in the 50 back and 100 back already registered, Coetze posted a time of 1:55.57 to comfortably finish ahead of China’s Wang Ziming (1:57.26) over four laps. Coetze was the silver medalist in the 200 back at the most recent World Champs, where he won gold in the 100 back and silver in the 50 backstroke.
Australian William Petric backed up his victory in the 400 individual medley by winning the 200 IM in 1:57.53, with China’s Wang Shun going 1:58.57 for runnerup honors.
