FINA Preview of New York World Cup

By Greg Eggert

EAST MEADOW, New York, February 3. TWO hundred and fifty athletes from 47 nations will be competing in the seventh leg of the FINA World Cup held at the Nassau County Aquatic Center. Six time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps headlines the roster of more than 50 international Olympians who will be competing for the overall FINA world cup series title. The New York stop on the tour will be held today and tomorrow at the pool that was built for the 1998 Goodwill Games. This is the fifth consecutive year that this pool has played host to this event.

This is Phelps returning to the short course meters format for the first time since his brief appearance at the 2004 FINA Short Course World Championships at the Conseco Field house in Indianapolis. The Olympic swimming giant from Athens withdrew from the October 2004 event due to a back injury. Phelps last competed in the 2002 New York World Cup where he collected five medals, including two gold. This weekend Phelps is entered in the 200 freestyle and the 100, 200 and 400 IM events.

Therese Alshammar (SWE) is currently in the lead for the women's FINA World Cup Series title with 1019 points based on her 25.84 time in the 50 fly at the Stockholm event on January 18th. She is closely followed by Anna-Karin Kammerling (SWE) who posted a time only .01 slower in the same event at the Berlin edition on January 22. There is a $50,000 prize for both the men's and women's top performer so this event is expected to feature a showdown between the Swedish flyers.

Marleen Veldhuis (NED) stands in third place in the women's rankings after six World Cup events based on her 24.07 posting in the 50 free at the Durban, South Africa on November 11th. Kammerling holds both the world record (25.33) and the world cup meet record (25.36) for 50 fly events contested in 25 meter pools. Alshammar is the owner of the world record in the 50 meter freestyle (23.59). USA Olympian Tara Kirk will be competing in New York having just returned from the European series of the FINA World Cup where she collected seven gold medals including a sweep of the 50, 100 and 200 meter breaststroke events in Moscow.

South Africa's gold medalist and world record holder Ryk Neethling is leading the men's FINA World Cup series but is not competing in the New York edition. Neethling recorded a 51.81 time in the 100 IM in Sydney last November. He is required to compete in at least one of the two Americas world cup events. That means that Neethling must participate in the Rio de Janeiro event later this month in order to be eligible for the overall FINA world cup title to go with the one he earned last year.

Oleg Lisogor (RUS) is in second place in the men's overall standings based on his 26.17 time in the 50 breast in Berlin he swam on January 21st. The 50 breast should provide for interesting viewing as Lisogor will be challenged by Brendan Hansen (USA), the 2004 short course world champion in this event. Lisogor holds the world record (26.17) and the world cup meet record in this event. Hansen and Lisogor will also match up in the 100 breast. Hansen’s credentials also include three gold medals at the 2005 FINA World Championships in Montreal and three medals at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. USA Olympic Silver Medalist (2000) Ed Moses and 2004 Olympian (USA) Scott Usher will push Lisogor and Hansen in the 50 and the 100 breaststroke events. Moses still holds the world records and world cup meet records in the 100 and 200 breaststroke events but is expected to focus on the shorter events.

Returning to New York will be Frederick Bousquet (FRA) who owns the world record in the 50 freestyle. Bousquet set the record at this pool on March 25, 2004 during the NCAA Championships which are held in the short course format in the year of the Olympic Games. USA's Nicholas Brunelli and Filippo Magnini (ITA) are expected to provide a strong challenge. The men's backstroke event will feature current world record holder Peter Marshall (USA) battling his Stanford University teammate Randall Bal (USA). Marshall established his world record at this pool during the 2004 NCAA Championships. Bal has already collected nine FINA World Cup medals in backstroke events during the 2005-2006 more than doubling Marshall's tally of four medals. Bal is in fourth place on the overall men's ranking due to his 23.61 time in the 50 backstroke event in Berlin while Marshall remains one notch back having posted a 23.66 time in the same event in Stockholm.

There are 68 athletes from the USA competing in the New York FINA World Cup as well as 25 swimmers from Canada, 22 from Mexico and 16 from China. Missing from the competition will be the athletes from Australia who are competing in the trials for the Commonwealth Games to be held in Melbourne in March.

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