2018 FINA World Cup Doha Day 1 Finals: Pieroni, Andrew, Sjostrom, Hosszu Win

Blake Pieroni. Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

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The second stop of the FINA World Swimming Cup opened Thursday in Doha.

After an opening stop in Kazan that saw seven World Cup records fall, no records fell on Day 1 in Qatar, but many of the top swimmers in the world had some fast performances.

Here is a look at what happened.

Order of events

Women’s 400 Free
Men’s 400 Free
Women’s 50 Back
Men’s 200 Back
Women’s 200 Fly
Men’s 100 Fly
Women’s 200 Breast
Men’s 100 Breast
Women’s 50 Free
Men’s 50 Free

DAY 1 RESULTS

Women’s 400 Free

The World Cup finals in Doha began with a familiar site. Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu won the opening event, the 400 free in 4:10.02.

Hosszu entered nearly every event last weekend in Kazan and looks to continue to be a major factor in many events in Doha.

Femke Heemskerk of the Netherlands finished second in 4:12.56, followed by China’s Zhou Chanzhen (4:13.62)_ and Hungary’s Zsuzsanna Jakabos (4:16.04).

Photo Courtesy:

Men’s 400 Free

Blake Pieroni was off to a fast start to lead off the first night of finals for the men.

The U.S. freestyler won the men’s 400 free in 3:53.98, giving Pieroni his second World Cup win of the season.

Pieroni was fourth at the 200 mark, third at the 250, second at the 300 and swam a 29.25 at the 350 to take the lead and a stellar 27.71 in the final 50 to secure the victory. It was the only 27 split outside of the first 50 for any swimmer.

Belgium’s Lorenz Weiremans was second in 3:54.94, followed by China’s Wu Yuhang (3:55.57) and Hungary’s David Verraszto (3:56.26).

Photo Courtesy:

Women’s 50 Back

Kira Toussaint made it 2 for 2 in the 50 back. She also did it as a part of a 1-2 finish for the Netherlands.

Toussaint, who won the event in Kazan, cruised past the field to w in in 28.01. It was a half second off the World Cup record, but still a half second ahead of the rest of the field. It was 17 hundredths of a second faster than her winning time last week in Kazan.

Ranomi Kromowidjojo took seconding 28.49, followed by Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu (28.57), swimming in her second consecutive event.

Spain’s Tamara Frias Molina was fourth in 29.26.

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Men’s 200 Back

Australia’s Mitch Larkin again dominated in the 200 backstroke. Despite being four seconds off his World Cup record pace, he led start to finish and crushed the rest of the field by five seconds.

Larkin finished in 1:57.45 in an event that had just six competitors.

Spain’s Manuel Martos Bacarizo was second in 2:02.53, followed by Hungary’s David Verraszto (2:07.08).

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Women’s 200 Fly

With only four participants and one getting disqualified, it was a relatively easy 200 fly victory for Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu, despite swimming in her third event of the day.

Hosszu finished in 2:09.26, going 1-2 with compatriot Zsuzsanna Jakabos, who finished in 2:10.34.

South Africa’s Carina Brand was third in 2:35.58, while Laila Khaled Radi was disqualified.

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Men’s 100 Fly

Michael Andrew of the U.S. returned to the winner’s circle in the 100 fly, cruising to victory in 51.83.

Andrew was first at the turn in 23.93 and held on with a 27.90 split on the back half.

South Africa’s Ryan Coetzee finished second in 52.20, followed by Mathys Goosen of the Netherlands, who clocked a 52.99.

Belgium’s Dries VanGoetsenhoven was fourth in 54.13.

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Women’s 200 Breast

Russia’s Yulia Efimova used a strong finish to win the 200 breast, edging out a fellow Russian.

Efimova was second going into the final turn, but used a final split of 35.67 to take the victory in 2:23.55.

Compatriot Vitalina Simonova was second in 2:24.06.

Spain’s Alba Vazquez Ruiz was third in 2:30.33.

Katinka Hosszu again competed in another event and finished sixth in 2:41.60.

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Men’s 100 Breast

Brazil’s Felipe Lima again cruised to victory in the 100 breaststroke.

He was first at the turn in 27.74, then closed with a 31.87 to hang on for a victory in 59.61.

Arno Kamminga of the Netherlands was right behind, finishing in 59.74, just ahead of Russia’s Anton Chupkov and Kirill Prigoda (1:00.27).

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Women’s 50 Free

Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden finished off the day for the women with another victory int he 50 freestyle.

In an event with the biggest names of the meet, Sjostrom finished in 23.99 to finish ahead of a quartet of Dutch swimmers.

Femke Heemskerk was second in 24.54, followed by Ranomi Kromowidjojo (24.62), Kim Busch (25.01) and Kira Toussaint (25.45).

Belgium’s Kimberly Buys was sixth (25.83), followed by Switzerland’s Sasha Touretski (26.14) and Katinka Hosszu (26.41), who competed in every event of the day.

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Men’s 50 Free

Russia’s Vladimir Morozov closed the first day of competition in Doha with a victory in the 50 freestyle.

He finished in 21.80 to hold off U.S. swimmers Michael Andrew (21.95) and Blake Pieroni (22.17).

Andrei Govorov of the Ukraine was fourth in 22.29, followed by Belgium’s Pieter Timmers (22.45), Jesse Puts of the Netherlands (22.56), South Africa’s Ryan Coetzee (22.84) and Belgium’s Dries VanGoetsenhoven (23.01).

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