World Cup Incheon: Noe Ponti Does Double, Tying Leon Marchand in 100 IM
The first day of the World Aquatics World Cup Incheon stop had a little of everything: A world record for Kate Douglass, double bids by her, Regan Smith and Noe Ponti and a couple of scintillating races.
In the latter category, none was better than the 100 individual medley on the men’s side, which saw Ponti and Leon Marchand tie for the win at 51.00 seconds. The full recap:
Canada’s Mary-Sophie Harvey planned her move perfectly to get past Siobhan Haughey in the final 50 and storm away with the win. Harvey went 3:56.78. She ran second the entire way to Haughey but made the move on the final 50, catching Haughey by the 375-meter wall. Haughey came in second in 3:58.06, the duo more than five seconds ahead of the field.
Harvey was the only finalist from outside Asia. Japan’s Waka Kobori finished third in 4:04.09. Dakyung Han gave the home fans a rooting interest, finishing fourth.
In a little bit of a surprise, China’s Pan Zhanle showed he’s not just a sprinter, winning the 400 free in 3:36.43. He had been fifth in prelims, but in finals, the world record holder in the long-course 100 free gritted his way through the first 350 meters and turned it on late. He was fourth with 50 meters left, but overhauled the field in the final strokes.
Duncan Scott took home second in 3:37.04. He just edged out Kieran Smith, who led the way in prelims and held the finals lead as late as 350 meters. The American went 3:37.15 for third. He just held off Danys Rapsys of Lithuania, fourth in 3:37.31.
South Korea had three finalists, led by Woo-Min Kim in fifth at 3:39.84.
In the front half of her double, Regan Smith won the 50 back in 25.71 seconds. She was second at the turn but delivered the fastest final 25 of the field at 12.90 seconds. That allowed her to edge out Canada’s Ingrid Wilm, second in 26.09, with fellow American Beata Nelson third in 26.17. Japan’s Mizuki Hirai, the leader at the wall, slipped to fourth in 26.24.
South Africa’s Pieter Coetzee controlled the field to win in 1:50.05. He was first at every wall and ended up 1.5 seconds clear of Kacper Stokowski of Poland. Stokowski went 1:51.56 to rally past Enoch Robb in the final 50 by four tenths.
Fourth place went to Juho Lee of South Korea, who had led the way in prelims. He clocked in at 1:52.95.
Racing 13 minutes apart, Regan Smith very nearly pulled off the double, but she ended up .08 seconds down on Aussie Bella Grant. Grant took over the lead at 150 meters and held firm in the last 50 to clock in at 2:03.13. Smith took a half-second out of Grant on the final 25 but it wasn’t quite enough, the American going 2:03.21.
Laura Lahtinen of Finland was the leader for the first 125 meters of the race. She took third in 2:03.79, followed by Brittany Castelluzzo of Australia.
In maybe the deepest field of the morning, Noe Ponti held off Nyls Korstanje for the win in a thriller. Ponti went 48.81, four tenths off the World Cup record he set last week in Shanghai. Korstanje was right with him with a stellar final 50, the Dutchman touching in 48.99. Ponti got the win despite losing his goggles during the race. Korstanje lowered his Dutch national record.
Finishers three through seven were separated by .16 seconds. Atop that heap was Andrei Minakov, the Russian swimming as a Neutral Independent Athlete. The Stanford swimmer went 49.71, .04 ahead of Chad le Clos and .12 up on Aussie Matthew Temple.
Kate Douglass delivered the swim of the day and a swim that has been more than a decade in waiting. Douglass took down the super-suited world record set in 2009 by Rebecca Soni, going 2:14.16 to demolish the field by more than five seconds. Soni’s time in Manchester in 2009 was 2:14.57, withstanding nearly 15 years of challenges. The World Cup record dated to 2009 as well, in the hands of Leisel Jones.
No one was close to Douglass. Tara Kinder won the race for second in 2:19.21, .37 up on South Korea’s Sieun Park.
Ilya Shymanovich got his hand to the wall first in 56.10, just edging out Qin Haiyang in a thriller. Qin, who set the Asian record at the Shanghai stop last week, was second in 56.22, though Shymanovich led at each wall. Caspar Corbeau continued a stellar 2024 by finishing third in 56.59, .04 ahead of Dong-Yeol Choi of South Korea. Aussie Josh Yong also broke 57 seconds.
The event held a slight surprise in that neither reigning Olympic champion Nicolo Martinenghi (10th in 58.81) nor veteran mainstays Michael Andrew (13th) nor Arno Kamminga (14th) advanced to the final.
Ever reliable Kasia Wasick added another gold medal to her bag, dominating the 50 in 23.51. She was first in prelims, first at the turn and six-tenths clear of the field in a relative laugher for the setting.
China’s Yang Junxuan was the best of the rest in 24.11 for silver. Milla Jansen edged fellow Aussie Lily Price by .03 for third place.
South Korea got a gold medal and more in the men’s 50 free thanks to Yu-Chan Ji. The 22-year-old went 20.80 to set the Asian record and get gold. He had tied the mark of 20.95 in prelims before speeding up to handle the field in the final.
Isaac Cooper of Australia edged mate Jamie Jack by .02 to take silver in 21.07. Fourth was Marius Kusch in 21.10, while America Jack Dolan was fifth in 21.13. Nyls Korstanje returned to finish seventh, behind Hong Kong’s Ian Ho.
Back in the water, Kate Douglass added a second gold and put a scare into the World Cup record. She went 56.97 to take the 100 IM by nine tenths. She nearly did enough on her stronger back half to run down the World Cup record of 56.51 set by Katinka Hosszu in 2017. Douglass was .99 seconds off the world record set last weekend by her training partner at Virginia Gretchen Walsh.
Yu Yiting of China captured second place in 57.88. She was .07 up on Mary-Sophie Harvey. Beata Nelson of the U.S. was fourth in 58.08.
Saving the best for last, Noe Ponti and Leon Marchand engaged in an epic battle, one they drew with matching times of 51.00 seconds to share gold. The front-halfer Ponti was second at the 50 and slid to third after breaststroke before delivering the fastest freestyle 25 of 12.44. Marchand was fifth at the halfway point, but the triple Olympic champion gouged .97 seconds out of Ponti in breast to take the lead. His 12.83 coming home was second only to Ponti.
Third was Thomas Ceccon of Italy, who led after 25 meters. He went 51.15, never out of contention. Jihun Kim of South Korea was fourth in 52.00, rallying past Daiya Seto and Michael Andrew on the final 25.
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