The 2018 FINA Swimming World Cup in Doha (QAT) opened on Thursday with 10 events, half of which were for women. And The Iron Lady was in all five.
Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu won the 400 m Freestyle and 200 m Butterfly and picked up a third in the 50 m Backstroke, a sixth in the 200 m Breaststroke and an eighth in the 50 m Free. Her main rival in the World Cup, Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom, won the 50 m Free, her only event on Thursday.
Two American men are swimming and both did well, with Michael Andrew winning the 100 m Fly and Blake Pieroni taking the 400 m Free. The pair went 2-3 in the 50 m Free behind Russia’s Vladimir Morozov.
The meet continues on Friday and Saturday at the Hamad Aquatic Center. The FINA World Cup regulations allow an individual swimmer to score points in a maximum of three events, but do not cap the prize money; cash prizes of $1,500-1,000-500-400-300-200 are available in individual events and $3,000-2,000-1,000 for relays. Summaries so far:
FINA Swimming World Cup II
Doha (QAT) ~ 13-15 September 2018
(Full results here)
Men
50 m Freestyle: 1. Vladimir Morozov (RUS), 21.80; 2. Michael Andrew (USA), 21.95; 3. Blake Pieroni (USA), 22.17.
400 m Free: 1. Pieroni (USA), 3:53.98; 2. Lorenz Weiremans (BEL), 3:54.94; 3. Yuhang Wu (CHN), 3:55.57.
200 m Backstroke: 1. Mitch Larkin (AUS), 1:57.45; 2. Manuel Martos (ESP), 2:02.52; 3. David Verraszto (HUN), 2:07.08.
100 m Breaststroke: 1. Felipe Lima (BRA), 59.61; 2. Arno Kamminga (NED), 59.74; 3. Anton Chupkov (RUS), 59.89.
100 m Butterfly: 1. Andrew (USA), 51.83; 2. Ryan Coetzee (RSA), 52.20; 3. Mathys Goosen (NED), 52.99.
Women
50 m Freestyle: 1. Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), 23.99; 2. Femke Heemskerk (NED), 24.54; 3. Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED), 24.62. Also: 8. Katinka Hosszu (HUN), 26.41.
400 m Free: 1. Hosszu (HUN), 4:10.02; 2. Heemskerk (NED), 4;12.56; 3. Chanzhen Zhou (CHN), 4:13.62.
50 m Backstroke: 1. Kira Toussaint (NED), 28.01; 2. Kromowidjojo (NED), 28.49; 3. Hosszu (HUN), 28.57.
200 m Breaststroke: 1. Yuliya Efimova (RUS), 2:23.55; 2. Vitalina Simonova (RUS), 2:24.06; 3. Alba Vazquez (ESP), 2:30.33. Also: 6. Hosszu (HUN), 2:41.60.
200 m Butterfly: 1. Hosszu (HUN), 2:09.26; 2. Zsuzsanna Jakabos (HUN), 2:10.34; 3. Carina Brand (RSA), 2:35.58.
