FINA World Cup, Singapore: Chad Le Clos Wins Another Three; Breaks $30k in Winnings

SINGAPORE, November 5. THE second day of finals competition at the Singapore stop of the FINA World Cup circuit came to a close with another title trifecta for South Africa's Chad Le Clos.

Le Clos finished the fifth meet of the 2011 FINA World Cup circuit with $30,500 in total winnings thus far, with two more meets to go. Sweden's Therese Alshammar, meanwhile, pushed her overall winnings to $18,500 with another strong evening of competition.

Men's 1500 free
Australia's David McKeon won his second title of the meet with a 14:56.90 in the metric mile. That swim pushed him to 10th in the world rankings for the event. Japan's Yuma Kosaka placed a distant second in 15:12.04, while Singapore's Sheng Jun Pang took third in 15:42.13.

Singapore's Brandon Boon (15:55.39), Benedict Boon (17:02.45), Kevin Ong (17:26.62), Melvin Lee (17:43.33) and Raphael Chau (17:43.34) rounded out the final heat.

Financials: McKeon pushed his Singapore tally to $3,000 with his second first-place prize. Kosaka, meanwhile, now has $4,000 during his time on the circuit, while Sheng snared his first check with $500.

Women's 100 free
Australian youngster Emma McKeon upset short course superstar Therese Alshammar, 52.41 to 53.01, in the sprint event. McKeon moved to third in the world behind Missy Franklin (52.09) and Daniela Schreiber (52.37), while Alshammar improved to 10th in the world in the event. Australia's Cate Campbell rounded out the podium with a 53.47 to lead a third-through-sixth sweep for the Aussies.

Merinda Dingjan took fourth in 53.75, while Libby Trickett placed fifth in 54.61 as she continued her comeback from retirement. Kylie Palmer wound up sixth in 54.86.

Singapore's Mylene Ong (55.27) and Russia's Mariya Baklakova (56.01) earned seventh and eighth in the finale.

Financials: Alshammar moved closer to the $20,000 mark with $1,000 for her runner-up effort. She now has $17,000 overall during the circuit. McKeon pushed her earned winnings to $2,000 for this weekend, while Campbell moved to $1,500.

Men's 200 free
South Africa's Chad Le Clos turned in his 14th gold-medal performance of the 2011 FINA World Cup circuit with a 1:43.80 in the event. That's his fourth title of the meet, and nearly bettered his third-ranked season best of 1:43.64 from the Berlin stop. Australia's Cameron McEvoy finished second in 1:44.45 for eighth in the rankings, while Japan's Kosuke Hagino earned third in 1:44.58 for ninth.

Australia's Kyle Richardson (1:45.16), France's Ben Stasiulis (1:47.09), China's Hu Yue (1:47.09), France's Jeremy Stravius (1:47.91) and Australia's David McKeon (1:50.92) claimed fourth through eighth.

Financials: The steamroller that is Le Clos pulled in another $1,500 check to raise his overall circuit tally to $27,500, including $6,000 thus far in Singapore. McEvoy increased his winnings to $2,500, while Hagino now has $1,500 in earnings.

Women's 50 breast
Australia's Leiston Pickett touched in 30.29 to win the sprint breast, coming up short of her fifth-ranked season best of 30.26 from July. Teammate Olivia Halicek took second in 30.69, while Korea's Kim Hye Jin placed third in 31.01.

Sweden's Joline Hostman (31.57), France's Fanny Babou (31.89), Japan's Kanako Watanabe (31.89), Germany's Laura Simon (31.93) and Korea's Jeong Darae (31.95) completed the championship heat.

Financials: Hye Jin increased her overall circuit winnings to $5,500 with a third-place $500, while Pickette pushed her tally to $2,500. Halicek earned her first check with a $1,000 runner-up prize.

Men's 100 breast
Australia's Christian Sprenger (57.91) and Brenton Rickard (57.94) put together a strong duel for the gold medal, while both coming up short of the top two times in the world this year. Fabio Scozzoli (57.44) and Glenn Snyders (57.82) have been faster this year. Japan's Naoya Tomita checked in with a third-place 58.80, edging his eighth-ranked season best of 58.81 from Moscow.

Germany's Marco Koch (59.67), Korea's Choi Kyuwoong (59.72), China's Huang Yunkun (59.86), Singapore's Lionel Khoo (1:01.22) and USA's Egan Gans (1:01.62) rounded out the finale.

Financials: Tomita continued to close in on $10,000 in circuit winnings with $500 to raise his overall earnings to $8,500 during his time in the World Cup this year. Sprenger increased his tally to $3,500, while Rickard now has $2,000 for the meet and the circuit.

Women's 400 IM
Japan's Miyu Otuska won the distance medley in 4:31.35, while Australia's Ellen Fullerton touched just behind with a second-place 4:31.90. Otsuka moved to third in the world behind Zsuzsanna Jakabos (4:29.65) and Izumi Kato (4:31.27), while Fullerton bettered her fourth-ranked season best of 4:31.93 from July. South Africa's Jessica Pengelly took third in 4:34.24 to move to fifth in the world.

USA's Celina Li (4:34.41), USA's Jasmine Tosky (4:37.11), France's Lara Grangeon (4:38.65), Japan's Tomoyo Fukuda (4:40.45) and USA's Allison Brown (4:59.85) wound up fourth through eighth.

Financials: Pengelly raised her total to $2,500 for the weekend, while Fullerton moved up to $2,000. Otsuka won her first check of the circuit for $1,500 in winnings.

Men's 100 fly
South Africa's Chad Le Clos ticked off his 15th gold medal of the circuit, fifth of the meet and second of the evening, with a swift time of 50.63. That swim pushed him to third in the world rankings behind only Evgeny Korotyshkin (50.04) and Tyler McGill (50.47). Australia's Christopher Wright touched second in 51.01 for fifth in the rankings, while Kenya's Jason Dunford placed third in 51.06 for sixth overall.

Australia's Sam Ashby (52.09), Colombia's Omar Pinzon (52.13), Australia's Andrew Lauterstein (52.32), Papua New Guinea's Ryan Pini (52.84) and China's Chen Yin (52.85) made up the rest of the championship heat.

Financials: Le Clos inched ever closer to the remarkable $30,000 mark in circuit winnings with his second first-place check of the night. After his 15th win of the circuit, Le Clos has now amassed $29,000 in earnings. Wright, meanwhile, has $3,000 from this meet, while Dunford pushed his tally to $5,750 for the circuit.

Women's 100 back
Not many swimmers have been able to knock off Australia's Rachel Goh in her chosen backstroke events during the World Cup tour this year. Goh earned her second title of the meet with a 57.30, off her third-ranked personal best of 56.99 from the Berlin stop. Japan's Shiho Sakai touched second in 57.69 to move to fifth in the world rankings, while Australia's Grace Loh took third in 58.31.

France's Alexianne Castel (59.38), New Zealand's Melissa Ingram (59.43), China's Bai Anqi (59.61), USA's Ally Howe (1:00.39) and Australia's Mikkayla Maselli-Sheridan (1:01.89) posted the other championship finishes.

Financials: With the likes of Chad Le Clos, Missy Franklin and Therese Alshammar getting most of the attention, Goh became just the fifth person during the 2011 FINA World Cup to break five digits in winnings. Her second victory of the meet pushed her overall circuit earnings to $11,000. Sakai's third runner-up of the weekend earned her $3,000, while Loh has $1,000 after a pair of third-place finishes.

Men's 50 back
France's Jeremy Stravius won his third medal of the meet, including his second title, with a 23.76 in the sprint back. That time eclipsed the 23.79 set by Cheng Feiyi in Berlin as the top in the world this year. Teammate Ben Stasiulis took second in 24.28 to just miss the top 10, while Japan's Masafumi Yamaguchi earned third in 24.38.

Germany's Jan-Philip Glania (24.53), Australia's Cameron McEvoy (24.74), Papua New Guinea's Ryan Pini (24.89), Japan's Kazuki Watanabe (25.15) and Brazil's Nelson Silva Jr. (25.30) finished fourth through eighth.

Financials: Singapore has been pretty profitable for Stravius, as he pushed his earning total to $3,500 – all won in the last two days. Yamaguchi picked up $500 to push his circuit tally to $3,500 as well, while Stasiulis now has $2,000 after a pair of runner-up checks.

Women's 200 fly
Korea's Choi Hye Ra won her second title of the weekend with a 2:04.11 in the distance fly event. That swim clipped her second-ranked season best of 2:04.24 from Stockholm, but was not enough to catch Gong Jie's top-ranked 2:03.91 – also in Stockholm. China's Jiao Liuyang earned second in 2:04.49 for third in the rankings, while Sweden's Martina Granstrom touched third in 2:05.63. Granstrom just missed her fourth-ranked season best of 2:05.59 from Stockholm.

Australia's Jessicah Schipper (2:05.87), USA's Jasmine Tosky (2:09.13), China's Ha Sinan (2:09.59), France's Lara Grangeon (2:10.00) and France's Lea Giraudon (2:11.41) wrapped up the championship finale.

Financials: Hye Ra's second title of the meet gave her $8,000 for the circuit thus far. Jiao tallied $2,000 for the meet, and the circuit, while Granstrom earned $500 for $1,000 so far.

Men's 200 IM
While he won't be able to match Randall Bal's circuit record 21-for-21 outing a few years back, South Africa's Chad Le Clos is certainly making a name for himself. With his 1:54.06 in the medley, Le Clos won his 16th gold medal of the circuit. Additionally, that is his fourth title trifecta with three-for-three effort on both nights in Dubai and Singapore. His time tonight moved him to third in the world rankings behind Michael Phelps (1:51.89) and James Goddard (1:52.57).

Japan's Kosuke Hagino finished second in 1:54.24 for fourth in the rankings, while Austria's Markus Rogan placed third in 1:56.02 to crack the top 10. Australia's Travis Nederpelt (1:59.83), Brazil's Phillip Morrison (2:00.58), Japan's Yuma Kosaka (2:01.49), Hong Kong's David Wong (2:02.98) and Singapore's Kenneth Lim (2:05.83) also competed in the finale.

Financials: Le Clos completed his second max-winnings meet with $9,000 in two days here in Singapore, bringing his overall total to an amazing $30,500. He began the FINA World Cup circuit in Dubai with a similar outing, winning all six events he entered. Hagino, meanwhile, pushed his tally to $2,500 with Rogan finishing with $1,000 overall.

Women's 400 free
Australia went 1-2 in the middle distance event with Blair Evans winning in 4:01.15, and Kylie Palmer placing second in 4:03.14. Evans moved to sixth in the world rankings, while Palmer fell well short of her now eighth-ranked season best of 4:01.43 from July. France's Ophelie-Cyrielle Etienne claimed third in 4:05.01.

South Africa's Jessica Pengelly (4:07.64), New Zealand's Melissa Ingram (4:11.04), Australia's Mikkayla Maselli-Sheridan (4:13.09), New Zealand's Jessica Marston (4:14.68) and USA's Allison Brown (4:20.00) turned in the rest of the finale finishes.

Financials: Evans picked up $3,000 overall after her second win of the weekend, while Palmer improved to $2,000 with a second runner-up finish. Etienne earned her first paycheck of the circuit with $500 for third place.

Men's 50 free
China's Lu Zhiwu clipped Australia's Kyle Richardson, 21.56 to 21.66, for the splash-and-dash triumph. Lu improved to a seventh-ranked tie with Matthew Abood, while Richardson equaled his 10th-ranked season best. Abood completed the podium tonight in 21.70.

Kenya's Jason Dunford (21.78), Australia's Cameron McEvoy (21.85), Australia's Eamon Sullivan (22.03), China's Hu Yue (22.33) and China's Chen Zuo (22.53) also vied for the title.

Financials: Richardson's runner-up finish pushed him to $3,000 in overall winnings, while Abood now has $2,000. Lu earned his first check of the series with $1,500 for the win.

Women's 200 breast
Japan's Kanako Watanabe won the distance breaststroke event with a 2:20.32, just missing her top-ranked time of 2:20.03 from Berlin. Korea's Jeong Darae finished second in 2:20.97 to move to fourth in the world rankings, with Sally Foster (2:20.58) and Rikke Moller Pedersen (2:20.91) standing second and third. Russia's Maria Temnikova took third tonight in 2:22.45.

Korea's Back Su Yeon (2:22.48), Japan's Keiko Fukudome (2:22.52), Korea's Kim Hye Jin (2:24.16), Sweden's Joline Hostman (2:25.28) and France's Fanny Babou (2:29.57) touched fourth through eighth.

Financials: Watanabe cracked the $5,000 mark with $1,500 for her win, while Jeong grabbed $2,000 overall, after a $1,000 runner-up check. Temnikova became the 101st female swimmer this year to cash a check with $500 for third.

Women's 100 IM
Australia's Olivia Halicek raced to victory in the sprint medley with a 59.86 to stand seventh in the world. She became just the eighth person under 1:00 so far this year. China's Jiao Liuyang placed second in 1:00.84, while Korea's Choi Hye Ra wound up third in 1:01.17.

Japan's Tomoyo Fukuda (1:01.61), Australia's Ellen Fullerton (1:02.81), France's Ophelie-Cyrielle Etienne (1:02.84), France's Lea Giraudon (1:07.28) and Singapore's Rachel Tseng (1:09.72) also competed in the championship heat.

Financials: Choi pushed her ever-growing circuit total to $8,500 with her $500 third-place check, while Halicek finished the meet with $2,500 overall. Jiao placed second three times for $3,000 overall this meet.

Men's 200 back
Colombia's Omar Pinzon snatched the distance dorsal crown with a 1:52.27 to take fourth in the world rankings. Japan's Kazuki Watanabe touched second in 1:52.43 for fifth in the rankings, while Austria's Markus Rogan earned third tonight in 1:53.21 for eighth in the rankings.

France's Ben Stasiulis (1:55.42), Germany's Jan-Philip Glania (1:55.61), Brazil's Nelson Silva Jr. (1:59.82), Singapore's Rainer Ng (2:20.96) and USA's William Lee (2:05.77) finished fourth through eighth.

Financials: Pinzon collected $2,000 this weekend with a first and third-place check, while Rogan has $1,500 after a trio of third-place finishes. Watanabe became the 100th man to win money on the 2011 FINA World Cup circuit with $1,000 for second.

Women's 50 fly
Sweden's Therese Alshammar won her 11th gold medal of the 2011 FINA World Cup circuit with a strong time of 25.01. That effort cleared her previously top-ranked time of 25.06 from Moscow, and is the 14th-fastest of all time. Alshammar owns the world record with a 24.38, swam in Singapore.

Singapore's Li Tao placed second in 25.54 for fourth in the world rankings this year, while Australia's Emma McKeon earned her third medal of the meet (one gold, two bronze) with a third-place 26.15.

France's Melanie Henique (26.24), Australia's Libby Trickett (26.88), Australia's Jessicah Schipper (27.09), Russia's Valentina Kolotushkina (27.66) and Brazil's Julia Ama (28.20) completed the finale.

Financials: Alshammar increased her overall winnings to $18,500 on the circuit, including a haul of $5,500 for her time in Singapore. Li moved to $1,500, while McKeon won $2,500 overall this weekend.

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