Title holder Chase Kalisz swam a horror 400 metres individual medley heat Sunday, handing Japanese rival Daiya Seto a golden opportunity to complete a world title double.
Olympic and world champ Katinka Hosszu made no mistake, setting the pace in the women’s 400m prelims, clocking four minutes, 35.40 seconds in Gwangju — nearly two seconds faster than Japan’s Yui Ohashi, who is realistically chasing silver.
Kalisz looked aghast after fading horribly in the morning, the American finishing 10th overall as Seto won his heat in 4:12.27 to top the time sheets.
“Looks like I’ll be travelling alone,” joked Seto after seeing Kalisz had failed to reach the final.
“I just have to focus on pushing hard in the first half of the race and keep pushing to get the adrenalin pumping over the second half.”
Seto, world champion in 2013 and 2015, captured his first 200m world title earlier in the week, ending an American winning streak in the event dating back 16 years.
“It felt good to win the 200m but I’ve got to put that behind me,” Seto told AFP.
