BUDAPEST, Hungary – Indiana University had another stellar day at the 2017 FINA Swimming World Championships in Budapest, Hungary on Saturday.
Team USA won the gold medal in the mixed 4×100 freestyle relay in world record fashion, clocking in with a time of 3:19.60, earning Blake Pieroni a gold medal.
Swimming in the morning prelims for the Americans, Pieroni led off with a great split, touching the wall in a IU school record time of 48.23. Pieroni has decimated the 100m free school record over the last year, breaking the mark seven times since the 2016 Olympic Trials.
With Pieroni’s strong split, the Americans qualified second overall for the championship final with a time of 3:23.93.
Pieroni swam on three relays for Team USA at the World Championships, winning gold with the men’s 4×100 free relay team and bronze with the men’s 4×200 free relay team.
In the semifinals of the women’s 50 breaststroke, Lilly King broke her own American record in the event, touching the wall in a time of 29.60. With her mark, King will be the top seed in Sunday’s 50 breast championship final. The Evansville, Ind. native’s time is just 0.12 seconds off the world record in the event.
King will be going for her third gold medal of the World Championships in the 50 breast, after winning gold in world record fashion in both the women’s 100 breast and the mixed 4×100 medley relay with Team USA.
Earlier in prelims, IU’s Mohamed Samy tied for 25th in the world with a time of 25.55 in the men’s 50 backstroke.
Along with the championship final of the women’s 50 breaststroke on Sunday, the IU junior will also likely swim in the women’s 4×100 medley relay for Team USA. IU alum Cody Miller is also likely to swim for the Americans in the men’s 4×100 medley relay.
Prelims are scheduled to begin at 3:30 a.m. ET, with the finals session on Sunday starting at 11:30 a.m. ET.
