RACHELLE SIMPSON (USA) GETS FIRST WORLD TITLE IN KAZAN

Kazan is definitively an inspiring location for Rachelle Simpson! After winning the first edition of the FINA High Diving World Cup, last year also in the beginning of August, the 27-year-old North American promised to also shine at the 16th FINA World Championships in the capital of Tatarstan.

The promise was kept and after the three rounds of dives in the final, Simpson got the gold in 258.70, getting the first world title of her career. The silver went to the first champion ever, two years ago, in Barcelona, her teammate Cesilie Carlton. The bronze went to a newcomer at this level, Yana Nestsiarava from Belarus.

The youngest competitor of the field (nine divers participated in this final) has been fourth last year in the same Kazanka venue, but had already upgraded to third in the 2015 World Cup in Cozumel (MEX).

After a not so successful first dive (5161B), Simpson appeared more inspired in her second attempt (5262B) and climbed from the sixth to the first position.

RACHELLE SIMPSON (USA) GETS FIRST WORLD TITLE IN KAZAN, photo credit FINA.ORG

Thanks to a very solid final round, where she presented one of the most difficult combinations (5163B, forward 3 somersaults 11/2 twists pike, worth DD 4.0), the US star had no problems in securing the gold. Carlton, with a 3.9 attempt (back 3 somersaults tuck), was also consistent and assured the silver in 237.35, more than four points ahead of the Belarus champion (233.10).

The US athlete, who caused sensation in 2013 by saying after her victory that she was afraid of heights, was third in Kazan in 2014, but was out of the podium at the 2015 rendezvous in Cozumel.

SUN (CHN) AND LEDECKY (USA) REVALIDATE THEIR 400M WORLD CROWN

In a first day of four finals at the 16th FINA World Championships in Kazan (RUS), the best performance appeared in a semi-final, when Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) qualified first for the decisive race in a World Record of 55.74 in the women’s 100m butterfly. The Swedish star improved the previous best global mark from Dana Vollmer (USA), who had raced for gold at the London 2012 Olympics in a time of 55.98. In terms of performances, this was the highlight of the inaugural day in the capital of Tatarstan, but many other intense moments marked the finals’ session.

In the men’s 400m free, Chinese star Sun Yang found no major difficulties in revalidating his world title, touching home in 3:42.58. He was challenged by silver medallist James Guy (GBR) until the 300m-mark, but Sun’s final lap was sufficient to secure gold.

SJOSTROM Sarah SWE Women’s 100m Butterfly Final World Record
Day10 02/08/2015 Kazan Arena
Swimming Nuoto
XVI FINA World Championships Aquatics
Kazan Tatarstan RUS
Photo Andrea Staccioli/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

Starting very strong, Katie Ledecky (USA) was in a good pace to break her own World Record in the women’s 400m free, but some final fatigue dictated a comfortable win in “only” a Championship Record of 3:59.13. The only woman under four minutes, the US champion (winner in 2013) had also been the fastest of the preliminaries, giving the idea that the WR (which she holds at 3:58.37) could be a tangible target in the decisive race.