OK, it’s on. The rule changes to the 30th edition of the FINA Swimming World Cup allow swimmers to compete in as many events as desired, but only the top three performances will count in the points standings for prizes.
Music to the ears of five-time winner Katinka Hosszu (HUN) and defending champion Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), who both had busy weekends at the Kazan Aquatic Palace (50 m pool) in Russia:
∙ Befitting her nickname as “The Iron Lady,” Hosszu competed in 10 individual events (!), winning the 400 m Freestyle, 200 m Backstroke, 200 m Butterfly, and the 200-400 m Medleys and finishing second in the 800 m Free and 50-100 Backs, third in the 200 m Free and eighth in the 50 m Fly plus swimming legs on both of the Mixed relays.
∙ Sjostrom was more selective, entering and winning the 50-100-200 m Frees and the 50-100 Flys for her five wins.
The FINA World Cup regulations do not cap the prize money at three events, so with $1,500-1,000-500-400-300-200 in individual events and $3,000-2,000-1,000 for relays, Hosszu won $11,500 to $7,500 for Sjostrom. But in the points standings, both received a maximum of 36 points for three wins, but Sjostrom got a bonus of 24 points for having the swim that earned the highest number of FINA points, her 23.83 World Cup record in the 50 m Free (Sjostrom had the top three point-scoring swims and four of the top six!). So, by our calculations, Sjostrom has a 60-36 points lead over Hosszu after one meet.
In the men’s events, both Russian Vladimir Morozov and Australian Mitch Larkin won three events:
∙ Morozov, the 2016 World Cup champion, took the 50-100 Frees and the 50 m Back and had the no. 2-ranked swim for his win in the 50 m Back in 24.43, for 54 points for the meet.
∙ Larkin won the 100-200 Backstrokes and the 200 m Medley for 36 points.
Only two U.S. swimmers competed, but Michael Andrew was everywhere, winning six medals, including a win in the 100 m Fly, seconds in the 50 m Free, 50-100 Backs and 50 m Fly, plus a third in the 50 m Breaststroke. That earned him 30 points and he got 12 bonus points for his third-ranked 24.49 in the 50 m Back, chasing Larkin home.
The other American in the meet was Blake Pieroni, the 2018 U.S. 100 m Free champ, who won the 200 m Free, was second to Morozov in the 100 m Free and fourth in the 50 m Free.
The World Cup circuit continues next week – 13-15 September – in Doha (QAT), the last of the World Cups in 50 m pools; the remaining five events will be in 25 m tanks. Summaries:
FINA World Cup no. 1
Kazan (RUS) ~ 7-9 September 2018
(Full results here)
Men
50 m Freestyle: 1. Vladimir Morozov (RUS), 21.49; 2. Michael Andrew (USA), 21.99; 3. Andrii Govonov (RUS), 22.03. Also: 4. Blake Pieroni (USA), 22.29.
100 m Free: 1. Morozov (RUS), 48.26; 2. Pieroni (USA), 48.30; 3. Pieter Timmers (BEL), 49.22.
200 m Free: 1. Pieroni (USA), 1:47.32; 2. Chad le Clos (RSA), 1:48.10; 3. Kyle Stolk (NED), 1:49.67.
400 m Free: 1. Iaroslav Potapov (RUS), 3:54.78; 2. Yuhang Wu (CHN), 3:55.13; 3. Daniel Dudas (HUN), 3:55.38.
1,500 m Free: 1. Potapov (RUS), 15:27.92; 2. Ilia Druzhinin (RUS), 15:34.53; 3. Dudas (HUN), 15:36.37.
50 m Backstroke: 1. Morozov (RUS), 24.43; 2. Andrew (USA), 24.49; 3. Mitch Larkin (AUS), 25.35.
100 m Back: 1. Larkin (AUS), 53.99; 2. Andrew (USA), 54.36; 3. Morozov (RUS), 55.08.
200 m Back: 1. Larkin (AUS), 1:57.23; 2. Dmitrii Maltcev (RUS), 2:00.78; 3. Maxim Tretyakov (RUS), 2:02.47.
50 m Breaststroke: 1. Felipe Lima (BRA), 26.90; 2. Kirill Prigoda (RUS), 27.24; 3. Andrew (USA), 27.30.
100 m Breast: 1. Anton Chupkov (RUS), 59.53; 2. Lima (BRA), 59.73; 3. Arno Kamminga (NED), 59.99.
200 m Breast: 1. Chupkov (RUS), 2:07.59; 2. Kirill Prigoda (RUS), 2:09.75; 3. Mikhail Dorinov (RUS), 2:09.86.
50 m Butterfly: 1. Andrii Govorov (RUS), 22.87; 2. Andrew (USA), 23.19; 3. Morozov (RUS), 23.38.
100 m Fly: 1. Andrew (USA), 51.96; 2. Le Clos (RSA), 52.00; 3. Egor Kuimov (RUS), 52.00.
200 m Fly: 1. Le Clos (RSA), 1:56.58; 2. Daniil Pakhomov (RUS), 1:56.90; 3. David Verraszto (HUN), 1:59.03.
200 m Medley: 1. Larkin (AUS), 1:59.47; 2. Verraszto (HUN), 2:01.40; 3. Nikolay Solokov (RUS), 2:03.33.
400 m Medley: 1. Verraszto (HUN), 4:20.68; 2. Eduard Valiakhmetov (RUS), 4:24.57; 3. Nikolay Sokolov (RUS), 4:25.00.
Women
50 m Freestyle: 1. Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), 23.83; 2. Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED), 24.55; 3. Femke Heemskerk (NED), 24.64.
100 m Free: 1. Sjostrom (SWE), 52.99; 2. Heemskerk (NED), 53.63; 3. Kromowidjojo (NED), 53.71.
200 m Free: 1. Sjostrom (SWE), 1:55.98; 2. Heemskerk (NED), 1:56.89; 3. Hosszu (HUN), 2:00.27.
400 m Free: 1. Katinka Hosszu (HUN), 4:12.09; 2. Zsuzsanna Jakabos (HUN), 4:14.70; 3. Chanzhen Zhou (CHN), 4:16.11.
800 m Free: 1. Chanzhen Zhou (CHN), 8:35.03; 2. Hosszu (HUN), 8:46.48; 3. Jakabos (HUN), 8:59.53.
50 m Backstroke: 1. Kira Toussaint (NED), 28.18; 2. Hosszu (HUN), 28.37; 3. Mariia Kameneva (RUS), 28.38.
100 m Back: 1. Toussaint (NED), 59.80; 2. Hosszu (HUN), 1:00.77; 3. Tatiana Salcutan (MDA), 1:01.66.
200 m Back: 1. Hosszu (HUN), 2:10.13; 2. Irina Prikhodko (RUS), 2:11.00; 3. Salctuan (MDA), 2:11.42.
50 m Breaststroke: 1. Yuliya Efimova (RUS), 30.92; 2. Natalia Ivaneeva (RUS), 31.33; 3. Agne Seleikaite (LTU), 31.54.
100 m Breast: 1. Efimova (RUS), 1:05.94; 2. Simonova (RUS), 1:07.56; 3. Daria Chikunova (RUS), 1:07.68.
200 m Breast: 1. Simonova (RUS), 2:23.86; 2. Chikunova (RUS), 2:25.29; 3. Agne Seleikaite (LTU), 2:34.34.
50 m Butterfly: 1. Sjostrom (SWE), 25.39; 2. Kromowidjojo (NED), 26.09; 3. Kimberly Buys (BEL), 26.11. Also: 8. Hosszu (HUN), 27.95.
100 m Fly: 1. Sjostrom (SWE), 57.42; 2. Buys (BEL), 58.33; 3. Alexandra Touretski (SUI), 59.17.
200 m Fly: 1. Hosszu (HUN), 2:08.93; 2. Jakabos (HUN), 2:09.13; 3. Lada Bragina (RUS), 2:18.88.
200 m Medley: 1. Hosszu (HUN), 2:12.71; 2. Jakabos (HUN), 2:14.81; 3. Sishi Zhang (CHN), 2:14.87.
400 m Medley: 1. Hosszu (HUN), 4:37.82; 2. Jakabos (HUN), 4:47.93; 3. Irina Krivonogova (RUS), 4:51.73.
Mixed
4×100 m Freestyle: 1. Netherlands (Stolk, Puts, Heemskerk, Kromowidjojo), 3:27.42; 2. Russia, 3:30.94; 3. Hungary, 3:26.21.
4×100 m Medley: 1. Netherlands (Toussaint, Kamminga, Goosen, Heemskerk), 3:46.10; 2. Russia, 3:47.77; 3. Hungary, 3:57.88.