Katinka Hosszu Clinches $100,000 Grand Prize With Double in Singapore

SINGAPORE, November 10. IT didn't take much, as she's already had an outstanding seven stops, but Hungary's Katinka Hosszu clinched the $100,000 overall FINA World Cup grand prize for the women with a title double during night one of the Singapore stop. It would have taken a world record from compatriot Zsuzsanna Jakabos and no points from Hosszu, but one of her swims will be enough to earn some points this weekend.

For a quick refresher course, the FINA World Cup is a global circuit of two-day meets all swum in short course meters (25m) setups. Swimmers vie for cash earnings with first-place individual winners earning $1,500, while second place wins $1,000. Third place in each event also takes home $500. Relays are not money races.

The overall circuit winners for the men and women by the end of the eight-meet series will win $100,000 each. Chad Le Clos and Therese Alshammar both banked six-figure paydays last year with Le Clos topping out at $145,500, including nearly $50k in just race winnings alone. Thus far this year, Katinka Hosszu has basically clinched the overall title among the women, while Kenneth To leads among the men.

Women's 800 free
Hungary's Katinka Hosszu won the event for her 36th individual gold medal. Hosszu won in 8:21.94. Australia's Alanna Bowles (8:22.70) placed second, while South Africa's Jessica Pengelly (8:22.81) took third. That leaves U.S. Junior National Teamer Leah Smith with the best time in the world this year with an 8:16.58 from the Berlin stop.

Men's 100 free
Australia's Tommaso D'Orsogna cruised to victory in the sprint freestyle event with a time of 47.03, while Australia's Cameron McEvoy touched second in 47.20. South Africa's Darian Townsend turned in a third-place time of 47.53. D'Orsogna now has $14,500 in earnings, while McEvoy earned just his second podium on the circuit for $1,500 in total. Townsend increased his earnings to $21,750, the second most among the men. D'Orsogna just missed clearing 47 seconds. He broke the barrier with a 46.99 during the Berlin stop. USA's Anthony Ervin has the top time on the tour with a 46.71 from Berlin, but elected to scratch this event tonight.

Women's 200 free
Hungary's Katinka Hosszu accomplished her customary 800/200 free double with a winning time of 1:53.57 in the 200 free, collecting her 37th individual gold medal. Australia's Angie Bainbridge touched second in 1:54.28, while Hungary's Zsuzsanna Jakabos placed third in 1:54.34. Hosszu, who is basically a lock for the overall $100,000 grand prize, pushed her race earnings to $64,250 with the win. Bainbridge collected her first podium paycheck, while Jakabos cracked $30K with $30,250 in race earnings. Hosszu's time proved to be pretty swift compared to others this year, however Camille Muffat still owns the top time with a 1:52.28 on the Berlin stop.

Men's 50 breast
Australia's Christian Sprenger touched out New Zealand's Glenn Snyders, 26.69 to 26.74, for the sprint breast title. Russia's Igor Golovin earned third-place honors in 27.43. Sprenger has now won $5,000 in podium earnings, while Snyders is up to $14,000. Golovin is a podium newcomer. South Africa's Cameron van der Burgh completed the World Cup circuit with the best time of the year after winning in Doha with a 25.95 before taking the rest of the tour off.

Women's 100 breast
USA's Jessica Hardy went out fast and had enough in the tank to hold off Australia's Sarah Katsoulis, 1:05.58 to 1:05.77. Japan's Rie Kaneto wound up third in 1:06.21. Hardy has now earned $16,500 in race winnings, while Katsoulis is up to $2,500. Kaneto jumped her earnings to $10,500. Hardy had the fastest time of the tour with a 1:04.58 in Berlin.

Men's 400 IM
South Africa's Darian Townsend earned his second podium of the night, racing to 4:09.24 to win the distance medley. Australia's Travis Mahoney placed a close second with a 4:09.75, while New Zealand's Mitchell Donaldson finished third in 4:15.98. Townsend now has $23,250 in race earnings, while Mahoney now has $2,000. Donaldson is a newcomer to the World Cup podium. The times tonight paled in comparison to the sizzling efforts by Daiya Seto earlier in the tour. Seto set an Asian and World Cup record in Tokyo with a blistering 4:00.02.

Women's 100 fly
Denmark's Jeanette Ottesen Gray raced to victory in the event with a time of 57.75, while hometown favorite Li Tao of Singapore earned second in 58.33 for her first circuit podium. The Netherlands' Inge Dekker placed third in 58.66. Ottesen Gray is now up to $5,500 in earnings, while Dekker has $18,000 so far this circuit. The 100-percent humidity in the facility must be getting to the swimmers, as Ottesen Gray fell well off the top-time pace of 56.68 from Therese Alshammar at the Stockholm stop.

Men's 100 back
Russia's Stanislav Donets continued to dominate the backstroke events with a blistering time of 49.82. Australia's Robert Hurley took second in 50.31, while Australia's Ashley Delaney touched third in 50.69. Donets now has $22,500 in earnings, while Hurley pushed his winnings to $21,750. Delaney, with yet another third-place performance, now has $10,000. Donets nearly cleared his season-best effort of 49.49 from the Tokyo stop. He has made sub 50-second performances the norm so far.

Women's 50 back
Shaking off food poisoning from the Tokyo stop, Australia's Rachel Goh had enough in the tank to touch out China's Xiu Tianlongzi, 27.06 to 27.08, in the sprint backstroke. Australia's Grace Loh earned third in 27.71. Goh increased her earning tally to $19,500 with yet another backstroke victory, while Xiu is a podium newcomer. Loh has won a quick $3,000 in two tour stops. Goh's best time this year is a season-best 26.66 from the Beijing stop.

Men's 200 fly
With nearly no competition with just seven swimmers entered, Japan's Kazuya Kaneda decided to take a run at the world record. He wound up under world record pace with a sizzling 53.00 at the 100-meter mark, but died coming home. He still captured the title in 1:52.23. Australia's Chris Wright took second in 1:57.03, while Singapore's Jerryl Yong touched third in 2:02.96. Kaneda has now earned $8,000, and wound up well off his top time of 1:51.08 from the Tokyo stop.

Women's 200 IM
Hungary's Zsuzsanna Jakabos upended her compatriot Katinka Hosszu, 2:06.41 to 2:06.78, to earn her first gold medal in Singapore and hold Hosszu from earning a triple. Australia's Kotuku Ngawati placed third in 2:09.17. Jakabos now has $31,750 in earnings, while Hosszu is up to a stunning $65,250. Jakabos and Hosszu's 2:06 efforts are the second and third best on the tour behind the blistering 2:06.10 set by Ye Shiwen in Beijing with both times standing as lifetime bests for the Hungarians. Jakabos jumped to 10th all time in the event, while Hosszu raced to 12th, besting her previous top time of 2:06.88.

Men's 400 free
Australia's Robert Hurley captured a one-second triumph over favored Matthew Stanley of New Zealand, 3:41.01 to 3:42.17, while Australia's Jarrod Killey placed third in 3:43.92. Hurley has been an ATM machine on the circuit this year, pushing his earnings to $23,250 with the win. Stanley is up to $3,500, while Killey is a podium newcomer. Stanley had held the best time on the tour with a 3:40.74 from Beijing before USA's Michael Klueh won in Tokyo with a 3:40.23.

Women's 50 free
Germany's Britta Steffen, the top female sprinter on the circuit this year, dominated the splash-and-dash with a time of 24.10. Denmark's Jeanette Ottesen Gray finished second in 24.59, while USA's Jessica Hardy touched third in 24.77. Steffen ran her race earnings to $21,000 with the victory, while Ottesen Gray now has $6,500. Hardy, meanwhile, is up to $17,000. Steffen has the top time on the tour this year with a 24.01 in Tokyo, and also has a 24.08 from Stockholm to her credit.

Men's 200 breast
USA's Sean Mahoney cruised to victory in the distance breaststroke with a time of 2:06.17, holding off Australia's Christian Sprenger. Sprenger wound up taking second in 2:06.98, while Australia's Jeremy Meyer earned third-place honors in 2:08.72. Mahoney now has $7,000 in race earnings, while Sprenger is up to $6,000. Meyer is a podium newcomer. Mahoney has been much faster this year with a top time of 2:04.55, but did not need that type of speed to cash the $1,500 first-place check.

Men's 100 IM
Australia's Kenneth To touched out Trinidad and Tobago's George Bovell, 51.50 to 51.69, to claim the sprint medley title. South Africa's Darian Townsend finished third in 53.32. To now has $19,500 in earnings, while Bovell is up to $18,500. Townsend checked in with $23,750 so far in race earnings. To and Bovell both have been in the 51s already this season with Bovell leading the way with a 51.20 and To having a 51.43 to his credit. Times like these for To can only help him to salt away the overall $100,000 grand prize among the men.

Women's 200 back
New Zealand's Melissa Ingram used her distance dorsal prowess to win the event going away in 2:04.93. She pushed her overall winnings to $16,000, almost exclusively due to her 200 backstroke efforts on the circuit. Germany's Jenny Mensing finished second in 2:05.74, while Hungary's Katinka Hosszu increased her race winning tally to $65,750 with a third-place 2:07.80. Ingram posted the top time on the tour during the Berlin stop with a 2:04.28.

Men's 50 fly
China's Zhang Qibin won the sprint fly in 23.09, while Kenya's Jason Dunford took second in 23.16. Australia's Tommaso D'Orsogna earned third in 23.31. Zhang ran his tally to $6,000 with the win, while Dunford now has $10,000. D'Orsogna cracked $15,000 with his third-place effort. Matt Targett finished the circuit with the best time of the year with a 22.30 on the Berlin stop.

Mixed 200 medley relay
Australia's Angie Bainbridge, Christian Sprenger, Christopher Wright and Melanie Schlanger won the event in 1:42.10. China's Xiu Tianlongzi, Zhang Ying, Zhang Qibin and Liu Junwu took second in 1:43.29, while Australia's Rachel Goh, Jeremy Meyer, Justin James and Sally Foster placed third in 1:43.90.

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