FINA World Cup, Beijing: Chad Le Clos Sizzles With Four Medals

BEIJING, China, November 8. THE initial day of competition is complete at the FINA World Cup stop in Beijing, China, and South Africa's Chad Le Clos is on a mission.

Le Clos finished the day with three more gold medals (19 during the circuit), as well as a silver for good measure for his most productive session of the World Cup series. After winning $5,500 this evening, the consistent performer has now banked $36,000 in cash prizes.

Women's 800 free
China's Zhou Lili won the distance event for the day with an 8:18.79 to move to fourth in the world rankings. Kylie Palmer (8:16.55), Lauren Boyle (8:16.91) and Lotte Friis (8:16.99) are the only ones to have finished faster this year. China's Cao Shiyue (8:30.94) and Liu Jing (8:31.07) finished second and third.

China's Li Limeng (8:36.82), Wang Hefei (8:43.13), Zhang Xue (8:46.46), New Zealand's Jessica Marston (8:47.66) and Russia's Maria Baklakova (8:52.47) also swam in the final heat.

Financials: Liu's third-place tally of $500 pushed her overall winnings to $2,000. Zhou ($1,500) and Cao ($1,000) were first-time winners.

Men's 100 free
Australia's Kyle Richardson upended 2011 FINA World Cup overall standings leader Chad Le Clos, 47.38 to 47.39, by the slimmest of margins. That guaranteed that Le Clos would not have another gold-medal sweep after posting four other three-for-three nights on the circuit. The time moved Le Clos into the top 10 in the world, while Richardson already owned a fourth-ranked season best of 47.16 from July. China's Jiang Haiqi completed the podium with a third-place 48.00.

China's Jiang Yuhui (48.79), Australia's Andrew Lauterstein (48.91), China's Shi Tengfei (49.03), Papua New Guinea's Ryan Pini (49.11) and China's Liu Junwu (49.21) rounded out the championship heat. Notably, Ian Thorpe missed finals during prelims with a 15th-place 50.21

Financials: Le Clos' winnings improved to $31,500 thus far on the circuit, while Richardson has won $4,500 overall. Jiang ($500) claimed money for the first time.

Women's 200 free
Australia swept the podium in the event with Blair Evans winning in 1:54.81. That performance moved her to sixth in the world rankings, up from her eighth-ranked 1:55.48 from Singapore. Merindah Dingjan (1:55.03) and Kylie Palmer (1:55.75) finished second and third, with Dingjan improving to seventh in the rankings. Palmer's now eighth-ranked 1:55.07 from July remained her season best.

China's Tang Yi (1:55.94), Qiu Yuhan (1:57.11), Guo Junjun (1:57.30) and Ha Sinan (1:58.22) took fourth through seventh, while Australia's Ellen Fullerton (1:58.48) wound up eighth overall.

Financials: Evans pushed her circuit winnings to $4,500, while Palmer ($2,500) and Dingjan ($1,500) also have won a bit of money thus far on the Asian swing of the circuit.

Men's 50 breast
Australia's Christian Sprenger captured the sprint breast title in Beijing with a 26.64, bettering his second-ranked season best of 26.67 from the Singapore stop. Fabio Scozzoli still holds the top time with a 26.11 from August. China's Li Xiayin finished second in 26.75 to move to third in the rankings, while Australia's Brenton Rickard took third in 26.83. Rickard matched his fourth-ranked season best of 26.83 also from Singapore.

China's Chen Cheng (27.36), Japan's Naoya Tomita (27.41), China's Xie Zhi (27.92), Taipei's Chiang Hsin-Hung (28.08) and Korea's Choi Kyuwoong (28.27) also vied for the title.

Financials: Sprenger cracked the $5,000 mark with his $1,500 winning check, while Rickard improved to $2,500. Li increased his overall winnings to $3,500 with his $1,000 runner-up check.

Women's 100 breast
Australia's Leiston Pickett snared the breaststroke title in 1:05.49 to move to fourth in the world rankings. Leisel Jones (1:04.02), Liu Xiaoyu (1:04.79) and Jennie Johansson (1:05.27) are the only swimmers to have gone faster this year. Korea's Kim Hye Jin placed second in 1:06.01 after clocking a seventh-ranked season best of 1:05.78 in Singapore. China's Ji Liping rounded out the podium tonight in 1:06.26.

Japan's Kanako Watanabe (1:06.40), China's Shi Jinglin (1:06.49), Korea's Jeong Darae (1:06.87), Korea's Back Su Yeon (1:07.10) and Sweden's Joline Hostman (1:07.15) finished fourth through eighth.

Financials: Hye Jin ran her circuit tally to $6,500 with a $1,000 runner-up check, while Pickett has now earned $4,000 overall. Ji ($500) was a first-time moneywinner.

Men's 400 IM
South Africa's Chad Le Clos returned to the top of the podium with his 17th gold medal of the circuit by clocking a 4:07.35. That time is more than four seconds back of his third-ranked time of 4:03.10 from Stockholm, but was plenty enough to earn him the winner's check. Austria's Markus Rogan finished second in 4:08.15 to crack the top 10, while China's Zhang Jie placed third in 4:10.16.

China's Sun Yunchao (4:11.92), Sun Jiahao (4:21.17), Wang Junfeng (4:28.95) and Wang Boyu (4:45.92) placed fourth through seventh in the sparse finale.

Financials: Le Clos' money-magnet ways continued as he got back into the winner's money with $1,500, taking his overall tally to a hefty $33,000. Rogan, meanwhile, increased his overall winnings to $2,500, while Zhang ($500) cashed his first check.

Women's 100 fly
While South Africa's Chad Le Clos has gained the lion's share of the coverage this year, defending FINA World Cup champion Therese Alshammar has been doing some significant work on the women's side. With a 55.76, Alshammar won her 12th gold medal of this year's circuit. She came up just short of her top-ranked 55.62 from the Berlin stop. China's Lu Ying (56.05) and Jiao Liuyang (56.60) finished second and third. Lu cut nearly half-a-second from her second-ranked 56.44 from Stockholm, while Jiao improved her third-ranked 56.89 from Singapore.

Sweden's Martina Granstrom (58.12), China's Liu Zige (58.12), Australia's Jessicah Schipper (58.58), Australia's Libby Trickett (58.59) and Japan's Tomoyo Fukuda (58.82) finished fourth through eighth in the finale.

Financials: Alshammar, the 2010 FINA World Cup winner, and current leader in the overall standings this year, pushed her overall winnings to $20,000. Lu improved to $5,500, while Jiao now has $3,500 to her name during the circuit.

Men's 100 back
China's Sui Xiaolei raced to victory in 50.99 to become just the second sub-51 second performer this year. Aschwin Wildeboer owns the top-ranked time with a 50.23 from the Berlin stop. Cheng Feiyi finished second for China in 51.66, bettering his third-ranked season best of 51.74 from Berlin. Tonight's time, however, was not fast enough to overtake Nick Thoman's 51.44 from Genova. Japan's Kosuke Hagino took third in 51.76 to move to fourth in the world rankings.

Colombia's Omar Pinzon (51.97), Japan's Masafumi Yamaguchi (52.01), China's Lin Yongqing (52.33), Japan's Kanako Watanabe (53.00) and Austria's Markus Rogan (55.10) also competed in the finale.

Financials: Cheng's consistency on the circuit, along with the $1,000 runner-up check, moved his winnings to $5,500. Hagino's total increased to $3,000, while Sui's first-place check of $1,500 is his first of the series.

Women's 50 back
Some of the top sprint backstrokers in history took part in this evening's finale with China's Zhao Jing touching out Australia's Rachel Goh, 26.52 to 26.60, for the victory. Zhao bested Goh's top-ranked 26.63 from the Stockholm stop, while Goh improved her time but fell to second. Zhao is the second –fastest performer all time with a 25.82, while the third-fastest with a 25.92, Gao Chang took third tonight in 26.71. That swim moved her to third in the world rankings this year as well. China's Xu Tianlongzi placed fourth in 26.85 to earn fourth in the world rankings.

China's Zhou Yanxin (27.03), Australia's Grace Loh (27.46), Japan's Shiho Sakai (27.60) and China's Jiang Yiwen (27.62) claimed fifth through eighth.

Financials: Goh continued to amass plenty of cash as her series total is now $12,000 after winning the $1,000 runner-up check. Zhao ($1,500) and Gao ($500) won their first cash prizes of the circuit.

Men's 200 fly
South Africa's Chad Le Clos snatched his 18th gold medal of the circuit, closing in on the 21-for-21 effort posted by Randall Bal a few years ago. While Le Clos can't beat Bal's winning percentage, his overall volume of wins looks to be in range. Le Clos dominated the race this evening with a 1:51.74, well shy of his top-ranked season best of 1:50.15 from Berlin. Australia's Christopher Wright took second in 1:53.32, while China's Chen Weiwu placed third in 1:53.58.

China's Chen Yin (1:53.72), Taipei's Hsu Chi-Chieh (1:55.96), China's Zuo Ziqiao (1:57.97), China's Fu Yanqing (1:58.67) and Australia's Travis Nederpelt (1:59.42) wrapped up the championship finishes.

Financials: Le Clos' moneymaking prowess continued to be demonstrated, as he nearly broke the $35,000 barrier with $1,500 for $34,500 overall. Along with the nearly clinched $100,000 overall series winning total, Le Clos stands to be nearly $150,000 richer when all is said and done. Wright, meanwhile, has earned $4,000 on the circuit, while Chen picked up his first paycheck with $500 for third.

Women's 200 IM
Korea's Choi Hye Ra cruised to victory in the medley event with a 2:07.72 for the win. That swim pushed her to second in the world rankings, up from her third-ranked 2:08.40. She trails only Erica Morningstar's top-ranked 2:06.97 from Berlin. China's Li Jiaxing (2:09.34) and Zhou Min (2:09.65) broke into the top 10 with second and third-place finishes.

Japan's Tomoyo Fukuda (2:10.69), China's Zhang Sishi (2:11.00), Australia's Ellen Fullerton (2:11.11), Korea's Kim Hye Jin (2:14.98) and Russia's Julia Larina (2:16.11) also competed in the finale.

Financials: Hye Ra became just the sixth swimmer this year to claim $10,000 or more during the circuit. Her $1,500 winner's check increased her total to $10,000 overall, putting her behind Therese Alshammar ($20,000) and Rachel Goh ($12,000) among the women. Missy Franklin has the top earnings with $21,500 including a world-record bonus, but will forgo her winnings to maintain NCAA eligibility. Li ($1,000) and Zhou ($500) were first-time moneywinners.

Men's 400 free
Australia's Robert Hurley posted a 3:41.93 to win the middle distance event, and improve on his second-ranked 3:42.15 from July. He stands behind only Paul Biedermann's 3:40.40 from Moscow for the top of the rankings this year. China's Hao Yun finished second in 3:42.13 to earn third in the rankings, while China's Dai Jun touched third in 3:44.60 for eighth in the rankings.

China's Zhang Zhongchao (3:46.30), Jiang Yuhui (3:47.75), Ren Chen (3:50.48), Jiang Haiqi (3:51.76) and Qiu Yinghua (3:52.12) earned the rest of the championship finishes.

Financials: Hurley ($1,500), Hao ($1,000) and Dai ($500) all won money for the first time on the circuit.

Women's 50 free
Australian youngster Emma McKeon touched out short course superstar Therese Alshammar, 24.15 to 24.16, by the slimmest of margins in the splash-and-dash. McKeon improved to fifth in the world rankings, while Alshammar's top-ranked time of 23.67 from Berlin is still the bellwether mark this year. Australia's Cate Campbell earned third-place honors with a 24.26, short of her second-ranked 24.04 from Singapore.

Australia's Olivia Halicek (24.64), Merindah Dingjan (24.75) and Libby Trickett (24.96) placed fourth through sixth, while China's Xu Wen (25.18) and Zhu Wenrui (25.46) earned seventh and eighth.

Financials: Alshammar's $1,000 for second increased her overall tally to a stout $21,000, while McKeon is entitled to $4,000 in overall winnings thus far. Campbell has won $2,000 during the circuit.

Men's 200 breast
Germany's Marco Koch returned to the top of the podium with a 2:04.72 in the distance breast event. That swim just missed his top-ranked season best of 2:04.61 from the Berlin stop. Japan's Naoya Tomita, meanwhile, finished a close second in 2:04.74 to better his second-ranked season best of 2:04.93 from Singapore. Australia's Brenton Rickard finished third in 2:06.17, lowering his fifth-ranked season best of 2:06.33 also from Singapore.

China's Chen Cheng (2:08.08), Liu Weijia (2:08.34), Xie Zhi (2:09.58) and Hu Yichao (2:15.97) placed fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth, while Korea's Choi Kyuwoong earned seventh in 2:10.35.

Financials: Koch became the seventh swimmer to break into five digits in winnings, as he tied Michael Phelps for second on the men's side with $10,500 in overall winnings. Tomita, meanwhile, nearly became the eighth five-digit winner with $9,500 overall, while Rickard's second third-place check tonight pushed him to $3,000 overall.

Men's 100 IM
South Africa's Chad Le Clos put a ribbon on what proved to be his most impressive outing of the series. With three golds and a silver, he earned his first four-medal performance of the circuit. The victory gave him his 19th gold medal of the World Cup, as he clocked a 52.89 to stand on top of the podium. That swim bettered his fifth-ranked season best of 53.06 from Singapore. Australia's Kyle Richardson (53.09) and China's Sui Xiaolei (53.31) finished second and third. Richardson improved to sixth from his seventh-ranked season best of 53.40 from Singapore, while Sui moved to eighth.

Colombia's Omar Pinzon (53.34), Japan's Masafumi Yamaguchi (53.92), Japan's Yuma Kosaka (54.42), Austria's Markus Rogan (54.64) and China's Liu Junwu (56.03) made up the rest of the final.

Financials: Le Clos finished his most profitable day of the entire circuit, with $5,500 in winnings in a single session after cashing in three times for first-place $1,500 checks as well as a runner-up $1,000. That impressive performance increased his overall winnings to $36,000 thus far. Richardson moved to $5,500 overall, while Sui claimed $2,500 in just one night on the circuit so far.

Women's 200 back
New Zealand's Melissa Ingram picked up the distance dorsal title in 2:03.00, while China's Zhou Yanxin finished just behind in 2:03.01 for second place. The pair moved to fifth and sixth in the world rankings with their swims. China's Yao Yige rounded out the top three with a 2:05.78 to break into the top 10.

Japan's Shiho Sakai (2:05.93), Japan's Miyu Otsuka (2:06.84), China's Rao Shengxue (2:07.12), Australia's Mikkayla Sheridan (2:08.31) and Russia's Julia Larina (2:11.01) also competed in the finale.

Financials: Ingram's $1,500 moved her to $2,000 overall, while Zhou ($1,000) and Yao ($500) won money for the first time on the circuit.

Men's 50 fly
China's Shi Feng captured the sprint fly event in 23.47, while Australia's Sam Ashby took second in 23.51. China's Chen Weiwu earned third in 23.56.

Australia's Andrew Lauterstein (23.79), Korea's Chang Gyu Cheol (23.90), Colombia's Omar Pinzon (23.95), China's Hu Chao (24.04) and Australia's Timothy Antalfy (24.08) finished fourth through eighth to end the evening.

Financials: Shi ($1,500) and Ashby ($1,000) were first-time moneywinners, while Chen collected his second third-place check of the night for $1,000 overall.

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