Siobhan Haughey, Egor Kornev Impress at Dubai Open
Siobhan Haughey and Egor Kornev were among the impressive headliners at the weekend’s Dubai Open Swimming Championships.
Haughey won three events, including two on Friday’s opening day of the meet, and was generally busy with an all-around program that included a pair of best times in off events. The Russian sprinter Kornev, meanwhile, outdueled Aussie Kyle Chalmers head to head on three occasions.
First Haughey, who opened with the 200 freestyle-50 freestyle double on Friday’s opening day. The four-time Olympic medalist from Hong Kong went 1:54.85 to boss a deep field in the 200 free to open the meet. She finished the day by winning the 50 free by nearly a full second in 24.67. That’s .37 off her best time/national record.
Haughey was second in the 50 breaststroke on Saturday in 30.83 and third in the 50 butterfly in a best time of 26.87. After setting a best time in the 50 backstroke of 29.28 to finish fifth, she capped the meet with a time 52.77 in the 100 free that beat the field by more than two seconds. Haughey’s best long-course meters 100 free is 52.02.
Kornev reigned in the battle of sprinters at the Hamdan Sports Complex. He went 21.72 in the 50 free to take down Chalmers by three-tenths in both of their best events. His best 50 free is only 21.51.
Kornev won the 50 fly on Saturday in 23.05 to Chalmers’ 23.25, with Jacob Peters of Great Britain third in 23.45. The time is a best for Kornev, who had previously been 23.11. He finished the meet on Sunday by outlasting Chalmers in the 100 free in 48.38 to the Aussies’ 48.47. Third was Ivan Girev in 48.84. James Guy was fourth, the British swimmer having won the 200 free in 1:46.35 to open the meet and taken the 400 free in 3:49.27.
Japan’s Rika Matsuyama dominated men’s backstroke, winning the 100 in 55.09, he 200 in 1:59.84 and the 50 in 25.29. The only threat to his dominance was Kornev’s 25.78 in the latter.
Ellen Walshe of Ireland romped in her events. After finishing third in the 200 free, the Irish Olympian won the 200 fly in 2:12.51, more than 12 seconds ahead of a limited field. She was even more dominant in the 400 individual medley, her time of 4:39.01 claiming victory by more than 22 seconds.
Walshe got a push in the 200 IM, though, her 2:11.47 just edging the 2:11.76 of Abbie Wood. Wood had bested her by a place in the 200 free in second in 1:58.16. Wood ended up getting a win in the 200 breast, her time of 2:25.64 more than five seconds ahead of South Africa’s Lara Van Niekerk, who had won the 100 breast in 1:07.75 and the 50 breast in 30.26.
Men’s breaststroke was an interesting four-way battle. Arno Kamminga won the 100 on the opening day in 1:00.15, ahead of Greece’s Evangelos Ntoumas and veterans Michael Houlie and Ilya Shymanovich. In the 50, Houlie claimed the win in 26.89, followed by Shymanovich’s 27.28 and Kamminga in 27.50. (Houlie at 26.77 and Shymanovich at 27.22 were quicker in prelims.) Ntoumas got his win in the 200 breast by going 2:10.76 to edge Kamminga by .19 seconds. Shymanovich was a distant third.
Daiya Seto won the 200 IM in 2:00.02 and the 400 IM in 4:19.45. He was upended by Indian international Sajan Prakash, who clocked in at 1:59.67 to edge the Japanese Olympic medalist by .27 seconds.
Lauren Cox of Great Britain won the 50 back and 100 back, and Abby Kearney won the 200 back. Egypt’s Lojine Hamed claimed the women’s 400 free and 800 free, the latter by just over a second over Georgian international Anna Kalanadadze. Aleksandra Kuznetsova was second to Haughey in the 50 free, then won the 50 fly in 26.59 by .05 ahead of Farida Osman and claimed the 100 fly in 59.95.
