Katinka Hosszu Closes Out World Cup Win With Two Triumphs on Night Two from Singapore

SINGAPORE, November 11. THE second, and final, night of competition came to a close with Hungary's Katinka Hosszu putting an exclamation point on her remarkable 2012 FINA World Cup tour.

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 clinched the overall title among the women, while Kenneth To leads among the men.

Men's 1500 free
Australia's Mack Horton picked up the metric mile victory in 14:54.25, holding off a hard-charging Mark Randall of South Africa. Randall turned in a 27.87 final split, but had too much ground to make up, settling for second with a 14:55.80. China's Zhang Yun Xiang placed third in 15:07.19. USA's Michael Klueh ended the circuit with the top time a 14:38.64 to win in Tokyo.

Women's 100 free
Germany's Britta Steffen has dominated the sprint freestyle events on the tour, and tonight was no different with a blistering time of 52.38. Australia's Angie Bainbridge took second in 53.26, while Denmark's Jeanette Ottesen Gray placed third in 53.62. Steffen's win pushed her winnings tally to $22,500 so far, while Ottesen Gray is now up to $7,500 after winning a medal of every color here in Singapore. Steffen's time is the best on the tour, clipping her 52.42 from the Tokyo stop.

Men's 200 free
Australia's Cameron McEvoy touched out South Africa's Darian Townsend, 1:43.40 to 1:43.50, while Australia's Tommaso D'Orsogna picked up third-place honors in 1:44.24. McEvoy hasn't swum much on the circuit, with just $3,000 in earnings. Townsend, meanwhile, has won a strong $25,250 tally, while D'Orsogna now has $15,500. McEvoy and Townsend had some of the swifter times on the tour, but Yannick Agnel had the undisputed best effort in the event with a sizzling 1:42.10 from the Berlin stop.

Women's 50 breast
USA's Jessica Hardy closed out her 2012 FINA World Cup tour victoriously with a time of 29.96 in the sprint breaststroke. The swim gave her a total of $18,500 in race earnings with $3,500 coming in Singapore. She just missed her textile best time of 29.92 from the Tokyo stop in her win. Sweden's Rebecca Ejdervik touched second with a 30.52, while Australia's Sarah Katsoulis earned third in 30.59.

Men's 100 breast
Australia's Christian Sprenger blitzed the finale with a winning time of 57.46, while New Zealand's Glenn Snyders took second in 58.18. USA's Sean Mahoney picked up third in 58.53. Sprenger increased his earnings to $7,500, while Snyders has now won $15,000 overall. Mahoney pushed his tally to $7,500 as well. Sprenger bettered the 57.98 Snyders used to win in Tokyo, but missed the top time of the year, a 57.52 from Cameron van der Burgh during the Doha stop.

Women's 400 IM
Hungary's Katinka Hosszu is putting the cherry on top of a remarkable eight-meet tour, this time clearing teammate Zsuzsanna Jakabos, 4:27.96 to 4:28.31, in the distance medley. Japan's Miyu Otsuka earned third in 4:33.55. The win is Hosszu's 38th individual gold medal on the tour, pushing her race earnings with $67,250, added to her overall grand prize check of $100,000 for a strong tally. Jakabos, meanwhile, now has $32,750 in race earnings, while Otsuka is a podium newcomer. Hosszu nearly cleared her best time of the year of 4:27.80, but finished well off the top time of 4:26.93 from Ye Shiwen in Beijing.

Men's 100 fly
China's Zhang Qibin surfaced from a tight finale with a winning time of 50.58. Australia's Kenneth To took second in 50.76, while Japan's Kazuya Kaneda (50.85) and Kenya's Jason Dunford (51.03) all finished within half-a-second of each other. Zhang's second win of the meet pushed his earnings to $7,500, while To is up to $20,500. Kaneda also has $8,500 thus far. Chad Le Clos finished the circuit with the best time in this event with a 49.60 from the Doha stop.

Women's 100 back
Australia's Rachel Goh kept on dominating the backstroke on the tour so far, other than a bout with food poisoning prior to the Tokyo meet. Goh ripped through the 100 back with a 57.34 for the win, while Australia's Grace Loh earned second in 57.75. China's Xio Tianlongzi turned in a third-place time of 58.96. Goh now has won $21,000 on the tour, while Loh is up to $4,000 with a much sparser circuit schedule. Goh's had a much faster run of times earlier in the circuit, with a 57.02 in Berlin and a 57.07 in Beijing. She didn't need much faster tonight though, as she easily captured the title.

Men's 50 back
Not many people have been able to contend with Stanislav Donets' dominance in the backstroke on the circuit this year, and tonight was no different. Donets ripped off a 23.22 for the win, while Australia's Ashley Delaney (23.51) and Robert Hurley (23.67) placed second and third. Donets now has $24,000 in earnings, while Delaney ($11,000) and Hurley ($23,750) have both amassed some significant winnings on the tour so far. Donets' best time this year was a 23.14 from Beijing. He also had a swift 23.25 during the Tokyo stop.

Women's 200 fly
Hungary's Katinka Hosszu doubled up tonight with her 39th individual gold medal on the circuit as she reeled in China's Liu Lan down the stretch. Liu had made an early push with a 1:00 split, but died coming home as Hosszu won 2:05.85 to 2:06.61. Hungary's Zsuzsanna Jakabos placed third in 2:07.44. Hosszu moved her race earnings to a stunning $68,750, while Jakabos now has $33,250. That's the fourth time for Hosszu under 2:06 on the circuit. Her best times are a 2:05.77 and 2:05.78, while she also has a 2:05.90 to her credit.

Men's 200 IM
South Africa's Darian Townsend overtook Daiya Seto for the most race earnings after coming from behind to best Japan's Yuki Shirai, 1:54.16 to 1:54.95, in the 200 IM. Townsend now has $26,750 in winnings with Seto not competing this weekend and stalled at $26,000. Shirai increased his tally to $8,750. Australia's Justin James is a podium newcomer with a third-place 1:58.14. Seto, however, ended the tour with the best time in the event with a Japanese record time of 1:52.48 in Tokyo.

Women's 400 free
In an Oceanic battle, Australia's Angie Bainbridge touched out New Zealand's Melissa Ingram with a final surge, 4:04.01 to 4:04.14. South Africa's Jessica Pengelly wound up third in 4:06.08. Bainbridge made $3,500 just with her one stop in Singapore, while Ingram has been much more active with $17,000 overall. Pengelly cashed a quick $1,000 with a pair of third-place efforts this weekend. This event had the top time on the overall tour as Camille Muffat missed the world record by the slimmest of margins with a 3:54.93 early on.

Men's 50 free
USA's Anthony Ervin got the last laugh over Trinidad and Tobago's George Bovell with a 20.99 to 21.30 victory to close out his efforts on the tour. Australia's Cameron McEvoy placed third in 21.36. Ervin, who did not swim yesterday, has now won $15,250 on the tour, while Bovell increased his tally to $19,500. McEvoy has a medal of each color this weekend in Singapore. Ervin had been gunning for his American record of 20.85 set on the Berlin stop, but came up just short. Notably, Nathan Adrian still has the top swim by an American with an ungratified 20.71 from Manchester in 2009.

USA Swimming decided that American records set in techsuits after Oct. 1, 2009 — when USA Swimming implemented the techsuit ban domestically – would not be ratified. This is the case even for times swum legally in international events where ban was not in effect yet.

Women's 200 breast
Japan's Rie Kaneto dominated the distance breaststroke by nearly two seconds with a winning time of 2:20.18. Australia's Sally Foster took second in 2:22.15, while Japan's Miku Kanasashi placed third in 2:25.27. Kaneto pushed her tally to $12,000 with the victorious swim, but definitely missed having someone like Rikke Moller Pedersen push her as that duo both turned in 2:18s during the Tokyo stop. Kaneto won that race with a 2:18.38 for the top time on the tour this year.

Women's 100 IM
By the slimmest of margins, Hungary's Zsuzsanna Jakabos edged Australia's Kotuku Ngawati, 59.73 to 59.74, in the sprint medley. Meanwhile, Hungary's Katinka Hosszu earned yet another medal, but missed out on earning an astonishing 40th individual gold medal with a third-place time of 59.97. Hosszu completed the tour with an amazing $69,250 in race earnings, while Jakabos claimed $34,750. The trio of sub 1:00 times is the second straight meet with such an outcome. Sophie Allen had the top time of the tour with a 59.50 to win in Tokyo, while Hosszu (59.80) and Ngawati (59.90) each broke 1:00 as well.

Men's 200 back
Japan's Yuki Shirai had enough in the tank to top the distance dorsal with a 1:50.70, while Australia's Ashley Delaney (1:51.52) and Travis Mahoney (1:53.43) placed second and third. Shirai cracked $10K in winnings with $10,250, while Delaney ended with $12,000. Shirai had a Japanese record 1:49.69 to win in Tokyo for the top time in the world this year.

Women's 50 fly
Denmark's Jeanette Ottesen Gray clinched the final individual gold medal of the tour with a winning 25.42. Hometown favorite Li Tao of Singapore took second in 25.78, while The Netherlands' Inge Dekker placed third in 25.92. Ottesen Gray finished the circuit with $8,500, while Dekker closed out with $18,500 in earnings. Ottesen Gray's time tonight is the fastest on the tour this year, besting her 25.48 from the Tokyo stop.

Mixed 200 free relay
China's Liu Junwu (22.53), Liu Lan (25.26), Zheng Yanan (24.86) and Zhang Qibin (21.55) won the relay in 1:34.20. Australia's Kenneth To (21.60), Kotuku Ngawati (24.58), Cameron McEvoy (21.52) and Alanna Bowles (26.73) took second in 1:34.43. Singapore's Mylen Ong (25.65), Amanda Lim (24.89), Arren Quek (22.65) and Danny Yeo (22.36) earned third in 1:35.55.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x