FINA World Cup, Stockholm: Flash! Felicity Galvez, Zhao Jing, Kaio Almeida Set World Records During Day One Finals

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STOCKHOLM, Sweden, November 10. THE first day of finals at the FINA World Cup stop hosted in Stockholm featured three more world records added to the World Cup circuit tally.

Felicity Galvez, Zhao Jing and Kaio Almeida each threw down new global marks for the worldwide audience.

Women's 800 free
Denmark's Lotte Friis smoked the World Cup record in the distance event with a time of 8:07.94. Her performance crushed the 8:12.19 set by Kate Ziegler back in 2006. Chile's Kristel Kobrich finished second in 8:09.25, also under the previous record, while Amber McDermott of the U.S. completed the podium in 8:24.83.

Notably, Friis broke her national record of 8:09.91 set in December 2008, while Kobrich smashed her national standard of 8:16.36 set at the 2008 Berlin stop of the World Cup.

Men's 100 free
It was definitely an exciting finale in the sprint free event with Sweden's Stefan Nystrand coming out on top of a trio of 45-second swims with a winning time of 45.54. He lowered his World Cup record of 45.83 set at the 2007 Berlin stop. That time also stood as the Swedish record.

Canada's Brent Hayden clocked a 45.75 for second to become the first sub-46 Canadian. He dropped his national mark of 46.14 set at the Moscow stop last weekend. Meanwhile, Russia's Danila Izotov finished third in 45.87 to tie Sergey Fesikov's Russian record also set at the Moscow stop.

Women's 200 free
France's Coralie Balmy cruised to a one-second victory in the 200 free with a winning time of 1:53.71. Finland's Hanna-Maria Seppala touched exactly a second later with a second-place time of 1:54.71 to lower her national mark of 1:55.33 set in February of this year. Canada's Alexandra Gabor completed the podium with a third-place time of 1:55.06.

Men's 50 breast
In another exciting finish, South Africa's Cameron van der Burgh edged the field to win the sprint breast in 25.68. Brazil's Felipe Silva claimed second overall with a 25.87 to beat his national mark of 26.61 set at the Moscow stop. Roland Schoeman of South Africa continued to demonstrate his sprint breast ability with a third-place time of 25.88.

Women's 100 breast
Leisel Jones' world record of 1:03.72 from April 2008 dodged a solid attempt for the second meet in a row. Just days after Jessica Hardy gave it a run with a 1:03.75 in Moscow, Jones lowered that World Cup record with a swift 1:03.74. Unfortunately, a sterling showdown will have to wait for another day as Hardy missed finals with a surprising ninth-place finish in prelims.

Denmark's Rikke-Moller Pedersen checked in with a second-place time of 1:04.52, just missing her national mark of 1:04.43 set in Moscow. Japan's Nanaka Tamura clocked a 1:05.18 for third place, also just missing a national record, this time held by Asami Kitagawa with a 1:05.17 from February of this year.

Men's 400 IM
Great Britain's Joseph Roebuck claimed the distance medley title with a time of 4:03.29. South Africa's Chad Le Clos grabbed second with a time of 4:04.19. He lowered his national mark of 4:05.04 set at the Durban stop. Meanwhile, Kyle Whitaker of the U.S. earned an international medal with a bronze-winning time of 4:08.15.

Women's 100 fly
Australia's Felicity Galvez smoked Jessicah Schipper's world record with a sterling time of 55.46. That time wiped out Schipper's previous standard of 55.68 set in August this year.

Here are the comparative splits:
Galvez: 26.05, 55.46 (29.41)
Schipper: 26.33, 55.68 (29.35)

Incidentally, Galvez also lowered her World Cup time of 55.82 set during the Moscow stop.

France's Diane Bui Duyet posted a swift 55.83 to lower her national mark of 56.50 set last year, while Brazil's Daynara De Paula took third in 56.52.

Men's 100 back
It took a sub-50 just to medal with Peter Marshall of the U.S. rattling the world record of 49.20 set by Aschwin Wildeboer with a World Cup and American record time of 49.29 for the victory.

Russians Stanislav Donets (49.81) and Arkady Vyatchanin (49.95) both cleared 50 seconds to claim second and third in the event.

Women's 50 back
China's Zhao Jing and Australia's Marieke Guehrer became the first women to break 26 seconds in the event, as Zhao finished the race with her second world record progression of the day. After setting the global mark with a 26.08 during prelims, Zhao had enough left in the tank to drop the standard to 25.82. Guehrer joined her under 26 with a swift 25.98 of her own. China's Gao Chang gave her country a 1-3 finish with a strong 26.10 as well.

Men's 200 fly
Brazil's Kaio Almeida became the first man under 1:50, and nearly cleared 1:49 as well, with a sizzling time of 1:49.11. That effort beat Nikolay Skvortsov's global standard of 1:50.53 set in February in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Here are the comparative splits:
Almeida: 24.80, 53.43 (28.63), 1:20.24 (26.81), 1:49.11 (28.87)
Skvortsov: 25.30, 53.47 (28.17), 1:22.13 (28.66), 1:50.53 (28.40)

Meanwhile, Skvortsov placed second in the race with a 1:50.75, just off his previous best, while Great Britain's Michael Rock completed the podium in 1:51.32.

Women's 200 IM
Spain's Mireia Belmonte scared Evelyn Verraszto's world record of 2:06.01, but settled for the first-place cash prize with a 2:06.44 easily lowering her previous national record of 2:07.47 set at the 2008 World Short Course Championships.

Missy Franklin of the U.S. impressed with a second-place time of 2:07.16, not too far off the American record of 2:06.49 held by Julia Smit. Meanwhlie, South Africa's Kathryn Meaklim checked in with a third-place 2:07.54.

Men's 400 free
A 3:39 was not a guarantee to be on the podium in the men's middle distance race. Denmark's Mads Glaesner topped all comers with a 3:38.78 that downed his previous national mark of 3:39.77 heading into today.

Australia's Robert Hurley finished second overall with a 3:39.29, while Italy's Federico Colbertaldo snagged third in 3:39.50. Germany's Christian Kubusch was the hard-luck fourth-place finish with a 3:39.95.

Women's 50 free
In another exciting finish, five swimmers all touched in the 23-high range with Sweden's Therese Alshammar winning in 23.75. The Netherlands' Hinkelien Schreuder placed second in 23.80, while Australia's Marieke Guehrer took third in 23.84.

Jessica Hardy of the U.S. wound up fourth in 23.96, just off Dara Torres' American record of 23.82, while Great Britain's Fran Halsall clocked a fifth-place 23.97.

Men's 200 breast
South Africa's Neil Versfeld broke Ed Moses' World Cup record of 2:02.92 with a winning effort of 2:02.67. Moses' time had stood since the 2004 Berlin stop. Versfeld also lowered his national mark of 2:03.35 set at the Durban stop.

Ukraine's Igor Borysik placed second in 2:03.93, downing his national standard of 2:04.86 set in Moscow last weekend, while France's Hugues Duboscq took third in 2:04.50. That time clipped his national record of 2:04.59 set in December 2008.

Men's 100 IM
Swimming in his only final of the night, Michael Phelps settled for a bronze with a 52.14 while wearing his circa 2010 swim gear. South Africa's Gerhard Zandberg won the sprint medley in 51.77, while Russia's Sergey Fesikov wound up third in 51.86.

Women's 200 back
Great Britain's Elizabeth Simmonds cruised to victory in the 200 back with a time of 2:02.01 that smashed Natalie Coughlin's World Cup record of 2:03.62. Coughlin set the record back in 2001 at the New York stop.

Australia's Belinda Hocking took second in 2:03.07, while Japan's Shiho Sakai wound up third in 2:04.77.

Men's 50 fly
South Africa's Roland Schoeman came within a fingernail of taking down a world record in the final swim of the night. Schoeman clocked a 22.08, just missing Steffen Deibler's global standard of 22.06 set last month. Schoeman did, however, crush his World Cup record of 22.32 from Durban that also stood as his national record.

France's Fred Bousquet finished second in 22.29, while Brazil's Kaio Almeida rounded out the top three in 22.44.

Full Results

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