Katinka Hosszu Reigns Over FINA World Cup Stockholm Stop With Six Golds

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, October 14. SHE might have had a bit of a hiccup with a loss in the 200 fly to FINA World Cup wingwoman Zsuzsanna Jakabos, but Hungary's Katinka Hosszu still managed to replicate her $11,000 paydays from Dubai and Doha to run her tally to $33,000 on the final night of the Stockholm, Sweden stop.

Amazingly, Hosszu and Jakabos have won $47,000 out of the total of $152,500 awarded to the women so far over the course of the first three stops of the circuit.

Meanwhile, plenty of other swimmers had strong outings this evening, including a scorching men's 50 free that featured George Bovell and Anthony Ervin cracking 21 seconds for the first time. Additionally, Darian Townsend tracked down a double.

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 next month 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 and Daryna Zevina are tied for the women's overall lead, while Kenneth To tops the men's overall standings after the second stop in Doha, Qatar.

Men's 1500 free
A trio of World Cup newcomers, who took off the Middle East portion of the circuit, claimed podium checks to start off night two. Brazil's Lucas Kanieski won in 14:46.68, while compatriot Marcos Oliveira touched second in 14:51.66. Italy's Gregorio Paltrinieri rounded out the top three in 14:54.32. Wang Kechang had a faster time in Doha last week, however, with a winning 14:43.83.

Women's 100 free
Germany's Britta Steffen followed up her 50 free win yesterday with a 100 free win this evening in 52.46. USA's Jessica Hardy picked up silver with a 53.38, while Australia's Jessica Morrison earned her first paycheck with a third-place 53.58. Steffen blasted her Doha-winning time of 53.40, and increased her winnings to $9,000 for the circuit. Her time this evening would nearly have ranked her in the top 10 last season. She ranked second a season ago with a 51.94 from the Euro Short Course Championships. Hardy, meanwhile, has a lot more in the tank with a 52.55 from the Duel in the Pool in December.

Men's 200 free
South Africa's Darian Townsend touched out Australia's Robert Hurley, 1:43.45 to 1:43.67, in the 200 freestyle event. Australia's Tomasso D'Orsogna wound up third in 1:44.89. Townsend moved his circuit winnings to $8,000, while Hurley ranks second amongst the men with a healthy $11,500 in winnings. Both top two times cleared the 1:43.84 D'Orsogna used to win the event in Doha, and would have ranked in the top 10 a year ago. Townsend ranked seventh last year with a 1:43.38 from the Salnikov Cup in December.

Women's 50 breast
Lithuania's Ruta Meilutyte picked up a quick $3,000 this weekend with a pair of breaststroke victories after turning in a 29.96 to win the sprint breast. Meilutyte now has a target on her back after her surprise win in the 100 breast at the 2012 London Olympics, knocking off heavy favorite Rebecca Soni in the process. Tonight, she easily cleared the 30.69 Sweden's Jennie Johansson used to win the event in Doha. Only one swimmer cleared 30 seconds last season with Leisel Jones leading the way with a 29.92 at the Aussie Short Course Championships. Meilutyte jumped to 12th all time in the event with her swim.

Johansson, who had been owning most of the breaststroke events the first two stops, wound up second in 30.24 for $8,000 overall. Meanwhile, Jessica Hardy of the U.S. earned her second podium of the night with a 30.48.

That is Hardy's last swim of the night, even though she'd planned on swimming the 100 IM. Unfortunately, Hardy had a ready room mishap according to her Twitter account.

Men's 100 breast
New Zealand's Glenn Snyders snatched a first-place paycheck with a swift time of 57.87 to win the event. With a pair of wins this weekend, he's already matched his winnings from the previous two stops with a total of $6,000 now in the bank. South Africa's Neil Versfeld earned his second podium of the weekend with a 58.51, while Italy's Fabio Scozzoli raced to third in 58.55. Cameron van der Burgh had a faster time to win in Doha, with a 57.22, but has returned home to train missing this stop of the World Cup. Snyders nearly matched his season best from a year ago of 57.82 from the Berlin stop of the World Cup.

Women's 400 IM
Hungary's Katinka Hosszu returned to action after a jaw-dropping three gold, one silver performance on night one, and that return was in victorious fashion with a strong 4:28.10 to top the distance medley. Her compatriot Zsuzsanna Jakabos took home second-place honors with a 4:28.79, while Great Britain's Hannah Miley rounded out the podium with a 4:30.86. The win represented Hosszu's 18th individual gold of the circuit, and pushed her circuit winnings to $29,000. Her running-mate Jakabos, who has swam alongside of most of Hosszu's races, now has $12,500 in winnings. Both Hosszu and Jakabos bettered their 1-2 times from Doha of 4:30.0 and 4:30.44. Hosszu keeps rounding into form in the event. She led last season with a smoking 4:24.37 in the Duel in the Pool in December, which ranks her fifth all time in the event's history.

Men's 100 fly
Australia's Kenneth To, who leads the overall standings among the men, raced to victory with a 50.19, while Russia's Evgeny Korotyshkin touched second in 50.26. USA's Tom Shields wound up third in 50.55. To closed in on his top time of this year of 49.82 that he used to win the event during the Dubai stop, but still has time to make up to catch the 49.60 Chad Le Clos used to win in Doha. Le Clos, the 2011 FINA World Cup Champion, has returned home to train along with most of the South African contingent. To now has won $9,250, while Korotyshkin has $3,500. Shields will have to turn down the $2,500 he's earned thus far to maintain his NCAA eligibility.

Women's 100 back
While Katinka Hosszu, Zsuzsanna Jakabos and Therese Alshammar have earned the bulk of the spotlight on the circuit thus far, Australia's Rachel Goh has put in a workmanlike effort during her three stops. The backstroke specialist won the 100 back in 57.52 with more than a second margin of victory to push her circuit winnings to $8,000. The Netherlands' Kira Toussaint got on the board with a second-place 59.08, while veteran Fabiola Molina of Brazil completed the podium with a 59.50. Goh cleared the 57.90 Daryna Zevina used to win the event in Doha, as well as her own swift 57.67 from Dubai. She's closing in on her top time from last year of 56.99 set at the Berlin stop of the World Cup.

Men's 50 back
Russia's Stanislav Donets grabbed the sprint backstroke victory in 23.51, while Brazil's Guilherme Guido touched just behind with a 23.61. Australia's Robert Hurley kept cashing checks with a third-place time of 23.69, moving his second-ranked tally amongst the men to $12,000. He trails only Daiya Seto, who has earned $14,500 in circuit winnings thus far. That's the slowest time Donets has used in each of his three wins in this event on the circuit. He previously won in 23.47 and 23.49. Guido is a newcomer to the podium.

Women's 200 fly
Hungary's Zsuzsanna Jakabos derailed the freight train that had become Katinka Hosszu as she captured a .28 second triumph over Hosszu, 2:06.90 to 2:07.18, from out in lane eight. Hosszu had been vying for a 200 fly threepeat, and her 19th individual gold medal of the circuit. Sweden's Martina Granstrom earned third-place honors in 2:08.67. The times were much faster than the 2:09.31 to 2:10.61 finish of Hosszu and Jakabos in Doha, where they only had four swimmers in the finale. Jakabos, who ranked 11th last season with a 2:05.11 from the Euro Short Course Champs, made up some serious ground on that time. Even while settling for second place, Hosszu still pushed her winnings to a cool $30,000, while Jakabos now has $14,000.

Men's 200 IM
South Africa's Darian Townsend doubled off his 200 free victory with a touchout triumph over Hungary's Laszlo Cseh, 1:53.66 to 1:53.68, in the medley. Brazil's Henrique Rodrigues earned his first paycheck with a third-place 1:55.15. Townsend has now won all three 200 IMs on the circuit, taking the win in Dubai with a 1:53.25 and in Doha with a 1:53.75. He's been nothing if not consistent in his races so far, and nearly eclipsed the $10,000 mark in winning with $9,500. Cseh continued his usual close call second-place efforts, but has still managed to earn $5,000.

Women's 400 free
Hungary's Katinka Hosszu returned to the top of the podium after a hiccup in the 200 fly with a 400 free victory. She clocked a 4:03.83, blowing away the field down the final 100 meters, to earn her fifth gold of the meet and 19th gold medal of the circuit thus far. New Zealand's Melissa Ingram claimed second in 4:05.37, overtaking Denmark's Lotte Friis (4:05.86) down the stretch. Hosszu ran her circuit winnings to an astounding $31,500 with the win, doubling off her 400 IM triumph from earlier in the evening. Just a reminder, Chad Le Clos blew away the swimming community with $45,500 in TOTAL race winnings last year, and Hosszu has nearly caught that mark in just three stops.

Men's 50 free
Trinidad and Tobago's George Bovell held off a game Anthony Ervin of the United States, 20.82 to 20.99, for the splash-and-dash victory. Meanwhile, Australia's Matthew Targett touched third in 21.15. That is the first sub-21 second swim for both Bovell and Ervin. Doha had the best times for both with Ervin winning 21.02 to 21.06. Bovell moved to 11th in the world with his swim, while Ervin jumped to 20th. Ervin's next target is the American record of 20.71 set by Nathan Adrian at the Duel in the Pool.

Women's 200 breast
Japan's Rie Kaneto picked up where compatriot Fumiko Kawanabe left off, as she topped the distance breaststroke event in 2:21.09. Kawanabe had won the first two stops with times of 2:23.01 and 2:22.59. Kaneto dropped the first sub 2:22 of the circuit and nearly cracked into the 2:20s. Kaneto's best time a year ago was a 2:19.72 from the Tokyo stop that ranked her tied for fifth with Amanda Beard. Sweden's Joline Hostman earned second-place honors in 2:24.72, while Japan's Miku Kanasashi placed third in 2:26.43.

Women's 100 IM
Katinka Hosszu won her third straight 100 IM of the circuit, with her second sub-1:00 effort in the sprint medley. She clocked a 59.71 to win tonight, clipping the 59.74 she used to win on the last stop in Doha. Her time tonight would have ranked her ninth in the world a year ago with Natalie Coughlin topping the world last season with a 58.72. Germany's Theresa Michalak cashed her first check with a second-place 1:00.04, while Lithuania's Ruta Meilutyte turned in a 1:00.65 to win third-place honors. Hosszu now has an amazing 20 individual gold medals on the tour, along with $33,000 in race winnings, as she posted another $11,000 outing this weekend.

Men's 200 back
Two World Cup newcomers went 1-3 for Japan as Yuki Shirai won in 1:50.70 and Hayate Matsubara took home a third-place check with a 1:52.42. Australia's Ashley Delaney, meanwhile, finished second in 1:52.20. Shirai's time is the fastest on the tour thus far, bettering the 1:50.89 Poland's Radoslaw Kawecki used to win the distance dorsal on the last stop in Doha. Shirai's time would have ranked him sixth in the world a year ago, and the top in Japan as Kazuki Watanabe posted the best time for Japan last year with a 1:51.51 at the Tokyo stop of the World Cup.

Women's 50 fly
Sweden's Therese Alshammar, the reigning 2011 FINA World Cup Champion, sent the hometown fans happy with a winning 25.64 in the women's 50 fly. That swim pushed her circuit winnings to $13,000, third behind Katinka Hosszu ($33,000) and Zsuzsanna Jakabos ($14,000) among the women. The Netherlands' Inge Dekker touched second in 25.85, while Norway's Ingvild Snildal wound up thirdin 26.06. Alshammar just missed her winning time of 25.62 from the Doha stop, but had more than enough for the win this evening.

Mixed 200 freestyle relay
Finland's Laura Kurki (25.22), Hanna-Maria Seppala (24.95), Toni Kurkinen (22.01) and Ari-Pekka Liukkonen (20.57) won the mixed gender event in 1:32.75. The Netherlands' Jasper Van Mierlo (21.97), Inge Dekker (24.47), Geert Lantink (22.70) and Maud Van Der Meer (24.58) finished second in 1:33.72, while Sweden's Petter Stymne (22.41), Robin Andreasson (21.98), Louise Hansson (24.85) and Wanda Dollmayer (24.86) completed the podium with a third-place 1:34.10.

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