Anna Hopkin swims two rounds of 100m freestyle at Olympics

PARIS – Arkansas alum Anna Hopkin raced in the 100m freestyle twice on Tuesday, posting times of 53.67 in the prelim and 53.74 in the semifinal at the La Defense Arena.

Racing in lane two of her semifinal heat, Hopkin produced a time of 53.74 to place sixth in the race and finished 11th overall. The top eight times advanced to Wednesday’s final.

Siobhan Haughey of Hong Kong won the semifinal heat in 52.64, the overall leading time, with Australia’s Shayna Jack (52.72) runner-up and Marrit Steenbergen of the Netherlands third (52.86). The top three finishers in the second semifinal included Mollie O’Callaghan of Australia (52.75), China’s Yang Junxuan (52.81), and Sweden’s Sarah Sjoestroem (52.87).

In the morning session Hopkin’s time of 53.67 placed fourth in the third of four heats and was equal 10th best overall. Hopkin led her heat to the 50m point with a split of 25.60.

O’Callaghan won the prelim heat in 53.27 over Jack (53.40) and Italy’s Beryl Gastaldello (53.65). Sjoestroem,, the world record holder, led the field overall with a 52.99.

Next up for Hopkin is the 50m freestyle, with heats and semifinals on Saturday, August 3. The mixed 4 x 100m medley relay has prelims on Friday, August 2. Hopkin was part of a gold medal world record performance by Great Britain in that relay during the Tokyo Olympics.