2015 FINA World Cup Hong Kong: Day 2 Finals Live Recap

Photo Courtesy: Todd Schmitz

Everything you need to follow along with finals live during the 2015 FINA World Cup Hong Kong. Hit refresh for the latest coverage.

Women’s 100 free

Without her sister by her side, Cate Campbell still made it to the wall first in the first event of the evening. She finished the 100 free in 53.60, giving her the double sprint win in Hong Kong. Campbell was the only swimmer out under 26 seconds (25.93), driving her the finish.

Campbell was followed by Katinka Hosszu (54.42), Madison Kennedy (55.14), and Missy Franklin (55.52). Cate and her sister Bronte Campbell are the only swimmers in the meet so far to beat Hosszu.

Hosszu nearly matched her time from last month’s World Cup stop in Chartres. Franklin was a full second over her time.

Men’s 200 free

After last night’s 400 free victory, Australia’s Dan Smith kept it going by winning the 200 free on Day two. His time of 1:48.81 was enough to out-swim Velimir Stjepanovic (1:48.90).

Smith now has back-to-back 200 freestyle World Cup titles. He won the event in Chartres with a time of 1:46.50. He was slightly off that here, but a strong middle 100 still got him the win.

Jacob Hansford (1:49.07), David Brandl (1:49.90), Zhang Jie (1:52.13), Aleksandr Kudashev (1:52.55), Chan Tsz Ho (1:55.70) and Xiao Hao Jonathan Liao (1:56.77) rounded out the top heat.

Women’s 50 breast

Alia Atkinson stole the show once again in this event. Her time of 30.90 was just off her stellar morning swim of 30.76. She was almost a full second ahead of her closest competitior Liu Xiaoyu (31.72). This was Atkinson’s 27th breaststroke gold medal in the World Cup circuit, more than any other breaststroker in this century.

Hui Yan Cheyenne Cheung (33.11), Lisa Zaiser (33.43), Aisling Bridget Haughey (34.06), Jessica Lai (34.27), Kristen Sun (34.48) and Ka Hei Chan (34.68) placed third through eighth.

Men’s 100 breast

Cameron Van Der Burgh took the men’s 100 breast in 1:00.23. He was out first at the 50 and held his speed to carry him to victory. Akihiro Yamaguchi got the silver (1:01.62) after a solid day of competition yesterday. Tommy Sucipto of Australia got the bronze (1:01.96).

This was the first stop in World Cup circuit this year that Van Der Burgh was not under 1:00 in this event. This was his sixth gold World Cup medal this year.

Matthew Treloar (1:02.01), Chun Yan Wong (1:03.41), Sean Mahoney (1:03.57), Ippei Watanabe (1:04.04) and Hoi Tung Ronald Tsui (1:04.56) rounded out the heat.

Men’s 100 fly

After last night’s win in the 50 fly, Hong Kong’s Geoffrey Cheah looked strong going into the 100 fly tonight in front of a home crowd. But the excitement in this race came from Russia’s Viacheslav Prudnikov and Australia’s Nic Brown who tied for gold with a time of 53.64.

Prudnikov had almost a full second lead at the 50 (24.73 to 25.81). But the roles reversed in the back half of the race as Brown out-split him 27.83 to 28.91. Hu Yiyong of China was also in the mix finishing right behind them in 53.69. He was also ahead of Brown at the 50.

Cheah the finished in 54.03, followed by Nans Roch (54.83), Chun Nam Ng (55.66), Chun Leung Johnny Lau (56.563) and Ching Yin Jimmy Wong (57.41).

Women’s 100 back

Australia’s Emily Seebohm cruised to victory in this event. Her time of 58.88 was more than two seconds faster than Missy Franklin who finished second in 1:01.18. This gives Seebohm the double win in the backstroke events so far in Hong Kong, as well as her fifth gold medal in World Cup stops so far this year.

This race also proves Seebohm’s consistency in this event. She went the same exact time she did in Moscow, and was only .03 slower in Chartres. So her World Cup 100 back swims are currently 58.88, 58.91, 58.88.

Belinda Hocking put Australia on the podium again finishing in 1:01.87.

Men’s 50 back

In last night’s women’s 50 back, Australia claimed the top two spots on the podium. The men did the same on night two in this event. Ash Delaney continued his 50 backstroke streak winning the event in 25.55. He has never won consecutive titles, but he has won this event at least once in a World Cup meet every year.

Teammate Josh Beaver was not far behind in 25.74. He just out-touched Japan’s Yuki Shirai who claimed bronze (25.77).

Marco Antonio Lou Ghran (25.98), Shiu Yue Lau (26.26), Oleg Garasymovytch (26.64), Omar Pinzon (26.65) and Lai Yeung placed fourth through eighth.

Women’s 200 fly

Hungary got their moment in the spotlight in the women’s 200 fly. Katinka Hosszu won her first event of the night (2:09.09) but was followed closely by teammate Zsuzsanna Jakabos (2:09.21). 24 one-hundredths of a second is the most time that separated these swimmers from start to finish. Hosszu pulled it out in the second hundred to get the win.

At the first two World Cup stops, it took a 2:06 to claim gold and silver, and a 2:07 for bronze. While the times were a bit off that in Hong Kong, Hosszu did enough to get the win in her first 200 fly of the 2015 World Cup circuit.

China’s Li Shuang was not far behind in 2:11.99, and she was followed by Chinese teammate Wang Shijia (2:15.86).

Men’s’ 200 IM

Tomas Elliot (2:01.82) and Kazmir Boscovic (2:02.01) kept the ball rolling for the Aussies in the men’s 200 IM. They finished first and second, respectively. Boscovic had the lead at the 100, but a strong breaststroke leg from Elliot put him back in the mix. Elliot then had one of the fastest free splits (29.48) to get his hand on the wall first.

Hungary’s David Verraszto got the bronze in 2:02.10. He held the fastest free split (29.17), but did not have enough left in the tank to run down the Australian men.

Kenneth To just missed the podium coming in fourth in 2:03.02. He had the best fly (26.34) and back splits (30.52), but did not stack up in the breaststroke leg.

Ippei Watanabe (2:07.01), Sean Mahoney (2:07.66), Sebastian Steffan (2:07.74) and Ho Lun Raymond Mak (2:09.97) were the next four finishers.

Women’s 400 free

After placing third in this event in Moscow and Chartres, Katinka Hosszu can finally find herself on the top of the podium in Hong Kong. In Moscow she swam a 4:08.28, followed by a 4:09.31 in Chartres. She swam a 4:13.93 tonight to claim her seventh gold medal of the meet.

Hou Yawen of China got silver with a time of 4:16.46, followed by Hungary’s Zsusanna Jakabos in 4:25.30. Both Hungarian women swam the 200 fly right before this event. The race between Hosszu and Yawen was even until after the 300, where Hosszu split 1:02.37 opposed to Yawen’s (1:04.65).

Chi Kiu Cheung (4:31.23), Hoi Man Lok (4:31.87), Ho Ching Leung (4:33.60), Cho Ying Wong (4:34.64) and Nicole Jiyang Evans (4:37.59) finished out the heat.

Men’s 50 free

Katsumi Nakamura of Japan completed the men’s sprint double on night two by winning the 50 free in 22.15. Hong Kong’s Geoffrey Cheah took the silver in 22.54, followed by Australia’s Maxwell Te Haumi (22.68).

USA’s Josh Schneider won this event at the first two World Cup stops in 21.80 and 22.11. Nakamura’s time puts him right in the mix of the previous gold medal swims.

Erik Van Dooren (22.97), Kin Tat Kent Cheung (23.20), William Benson (23.40), Chen Ho Jeremy Wong (23.40) and Lai Yeung Chung (23.72) rounded out the top eight finishers.

Women’s 200 breast

Vitalina Simonova of Russia continued her 200 breast winning streak by taking the event in Hong Kong with a time of 2:28.36. She has won all three 200 breaststrokes so far this World Cup season. She was 2:22.94 in Moscow and 2:25.26 in Chartres.

Lisa Zaiser improved on her eighth place finish and 2:33.26 from Chartres by finishing second in Hong Kong and swimming a 2:30.36. Alia Atkinson claimed the bronze with a time of 2:31.78.

Katinka Hosszu just missed the podium in this stacked event, going 2:33.14. She was in the lead pack at the 100, but could not hold on in the back stretch to make the top three.

Men’s 200 back

The Australian duo of Josh Beaver and Ash Delany made the backstroke podium once again. But this time, there was a slight difference. Beaver (1:59.29) got to the wall ahead of Delaney (2:00.83), but neither could beat Japan’s Yuki Shirai (1:58.68).

This win puts Japan’s medal total gold medal count at six, the most in their country’s history in this century for a meet outside of their country.

It has taken around a 1:59 to make the podium in this event so far this year, and Hong Kong did not prove to be any different.

Omar Pinzon (2:01.44) and Oleg Garasymovytch (2:03.96) were also in the mix throughout the heat.

Women’s 50 fly

Jeanette Ottesen took home the gold in 25.82, while Holly Barratt placed second in 26.53. Alia Atkinson claimed another podium with a third-place time of 26.67.

Men’s 1500 free

The Japanese men claimed another event win the men’s 1500. Masato Saki took the title with a time of 15:28.04. Velimir Stjepanovic (15:47.14) and David Brandl (15:47.50) had a close battle for second and third, although Stjepanovic swam his time in the morning heats. No other swimmers were under 16 minutes.

The results in this event have varied so far this World Cup circuit. Saki would not have made the podium in Chartres, but would have gotten bronze in Moscow. Saki had control of the race from start to finish.

Brandl was out much faster than Stjepanovic, but Stjepanovic had the back end speed to get the silver. At the 800, Brandl was 8:23.63 compared to 8:33.15. With 300 meters to go, Stjepanovic started to make his move and ended up having the second fastest time out of heat one of the morning swims.

Women’s 400 IM

Katinka Hosszu captured another gold with a 4:42.27 in the distance medley. Zsuzsanna Jakabos earned second-place honors in 4:47.41 with Jordis Steinegger taking third in 4:53.00.

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Niles Keeran

8 years ago

Looking like Rio 2016 is going to be wide open to a variety of international contestants other than the USA-Australia-China-Japan-Russia regulars for each event.