SWIMMING Preview: FINA World Cup moves to Eindhoven

Swedish swimming sprint superstar Sarah Sjostrom

The third meet – and start of the second cluster – of the FINA Swimming World Cup starts in Eindhoven (NED) with the events now being held in 25 m (Short Course) instead of the Olympic-sized 50 m tanks.

A full program is set for Friday through Sunday, with the swimmers starting over on points, trying to win the Cluster prizes of $50,000 down to $3,000 for the top eight places. The second Cluster is also just two meets: Eindhoven this weekend and Budapest (HUN) on 4-6 October.

However, the first Cluster (Kazan and Doha) does count for the overall World Cup prizes, with $150,000-100,000-50,000 to the top three. So, the current standings:

Men:
1. 90 Anton Chupkov (RUS)
2. 87 Michael Andrew (USA)
3. 84 Vladimir Morozov (RUS)
4. 72 Mitch Larkin (AUS)
5. 57 Blake Pieroni (USA)

Women:
1. 120 Sarah Sjostrom (SWE; pictured)
2. 90 Katinka Hosszu (HUN)
3. 78 Yulia Efimova (RUS)
4. 66 Kira Toussaint (NED)
5. 63 Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED)

The stars of the show so far have been Sjostrom and Hosszu. The Swede has won five events in each of the first two events, namely the 50-100-200 m Freestyles and the 50-100 m Butterfly events.

Hosszu has been amazing, swimming 12 events in Kazan and 15 in Doha and winning a total of 21 medals so far:

Kazan: She won the 400 m Freestyle, 200 m Backstroke, 200 m Butterfly, and the 200-400 m Medleys, finished second in the 800 m Free and 50-100 Backs, third in the 200 m Free and eighth in the 50 m Fly plus legs on both of the Mixed relays.

Doha: She won seven events, including the 400-800 m Frees, 200-400 m Medleys, 100-200 m Backs and 200 m Fly; was second in the Mixed 4×100 m Free, third four times in the 200 m Free, 50 m Back, 50 m Breast and Mixed 4×100 m Medley, plus a fifth in the 100 m Breast, sixth in the 200 m Breast and eighth in the 50 m Free.

Both Sjostrom and Hosszu are entered in Eindhoven and all of the top five point scorers in the men’s and women’s divisions are shown as competing.

There are more American swimmers in this meet than in Kazan or Doha. U.S. women’s stars such as world-record holder Kathleen Baker and World and Olympic relay gold medalists Kelsi Dahlia, Melanie Margalis and Leah Smith are all entered.

Prize money in this meet is $1,500-1,000-500-400-300-200 for the top six places. Look for results here.