Gold medalists already at the Rio Olympics, Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom and Katie Ledecky battled head-to-head during Monday night’s 200m freestyle semifinals. They finished 0.16 seconds apart, with Sjostrom touching first in 1:54.65 to advance to Tuesday’s final.
Italy’s Federica Pellegrini, who set the world record in 2009 at the height of the rubberized suit era, advanced in third place with her time of 1:55.42.
Fellow American Missy Franklin finished tied for 13th place and out of the eight-woman final with a time of 1:57.56.
2012 Olympic champion Allison Schmitt finished third to Ledecky and Franklin at the U.S. Trials in June. She didn’t qualify to swim individually in Rio, but participated in the 4x100m freestyle relay which won gold on Saturday and is expected in the 4x200m freestyle relay lineup on Wednesday.