FINA World Cup, Singapore: Chad Le Clos, Aussies Break World Records

SINGAPORE, November 4. THE first night of the Asian cluster of the FINA World Cup featured some major fireworks with a pair of world records on offer in Singapore.

Women’s 800 free
New Zealand’s Lauren Boyle put on a show to start the night with an 8:10.80 to capture the distance freestyle event of the evening. She’s been much faster this year with a second-ranked 8:01.22 from the Eindhoven stop of the FINA World Cup circuit, but had enough in the tank to take down a stacked field that included world-record holder Mireia Belmonte of Spain.

Belmonte wound up taking second-place honors with an 8:11.78, while compatriot Melani Costa snared third in 8:20.95 as the top three all finished in the money.

Great Britain’s Hannah Miley (8:22.21), Germany’s Sarah Kohler (8:25.64), Germany’s Franziska Hentke (8:40.15), Malaysia’s Cai Lin Khoo (8:42.73) and Singapore’s Rachel Marjorie Tseng (8:45.17) all cleared 9:00 to round out the top eight in the timed final event.

Men’s 400 IM
Australia’s Thomas Fraser-Holmes scorched the field in the men’s distance medley with a time of 4:01.98 for the win. That swim vaulted him to fourth in the world rankings with just Daiya Seto (3:58.84), Conor Dwyer (3:59.90) and David Verraszto (4:01.25) ahead of him this year — all from the Berlin stop of the FINA World Cup tour shortly after the World Championships this summer.

Poland’s Pawel Korzeniowski, swimming out of the earlier heats, managed to pick up a second-place 4:06.78to move to ninth in the world. That’s definitely a surprising swim as he was seeded nowhere near the top of the heats by swimming during the first heat this morning. Japan’s Takeharu Fujimori earned third-place honors in 4:07.05 to move to 10th in the world.

Australia’s Travis Mahoney (4:07.27), Hungary’s Gergely Gyurta (4:10.44), Great Britain’s Roberto Pavoni (4:11.86), Hungary’s David Foldhazi (4:15.38) and Singapore’s Sheng Jun Pan (4:19.96) made up the rest of the top eight.

Men’s 100 free
The Sizzling Siberian Vlad Morozov nearly beat his season best again, this time with a smoking-fast 45.67 for the win in a stacked finale. That performance just missed his second-ranked 45.64 from the Eindhoven stop, which is just off James Magnussen’s top-ranked 45.60, but still managed to push Morozov into some strong territory in terms of cluster points for the big money at the end of the circuit.

USA’s Anthony Ervin had a strong swim of his own with a second-place 46.48. That lifetime best bettered his fifth-ranked season best of 46.64 and moved him to fourth in the world rankings behind Steffen Deibler’s 46.20 from the Berlin stop. He’s now just a bit off Ian Crocker’s official American record of 46.25 from 2004.

Australia’s Tommaso D’Orsogna raced his way to third with a time of 47.06 to jump to seventh in the world rankings in what proved to be one of the faster finales of the season thus far.

Brazil’s Nicholas Santos (47.38), Australia’s Regan Leong (48.04), Brazil’s Fernando Silva (48.25), Australia’s Ashley Delaney (48.28) and The Netherlands’ Sebastiaan Verschuren (48.42) also vied for the sprint title.

Women’s 200 free
In a scintillating finale, Australia’s Emma McKeon clipped the Iron Lady Katinka Hosszu by a slim margin, 1:52.40 to 1:52.63, to throw a bit of a wrench into Hosszu’s march to the overall FINA World Cup tour title.

The winning swim jumped McKeon to fourth in the world rankings, while Hosszu came up just a bit short of her third-ranked season best of 1:52.32 from the Berlin stop. McKeon’s effort broke the Commonwealth record of 1:52.96 previously held by Kylie Palmer since the 2010 World Short Course Championships.

Hosszu is going to face some stepped up competition during the Asian cluster with the likes of the big Aussie contingent as well as the U.S. Junior National Team heading into the final two legs.

Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom, who stands second in the rankings with a 1:52.26, placed third in 1:53.51.

Spain’s Melani Costa (1:56.45), Australia’s Brittany Elmslie (1:57.27), Great Britain’s Siobhan Maria O’Connor (1:57.61), China’s Shao Yiwen (1:57.68) and New Zealand’s Lauren Boyle (1:57.80) rounded out the finale.

Men’s 50 breast
The Evergreen Sprinter Roland Schoeman, who continues to age well as the three-time Olympian just keeps on rolling in sprint stroke events on the FINA World Cup, snared yet another sprint breaststroke title with a 25.68 this evening. That swim just missed his top-ranked time of 25.65 from the Berlin stop of the circuit as it is obvious from just the early samples that swimmers are rounding into form after a bit of a slower Middle East cluster.

Australia’s Christian Sprenger finished second in 26.24 to move to third in the world rankings behind Fabio Scozzoli’s 25.72 also from the Berlin stop. Meanwhile, Brazil’s Felipe Lima touched third in 26.84 to grab 10th in the world rankings.

Trinidad and Tobago’s George Bovell (26.86), Brazil’s Raphael Rodrigues (26.96), Hungary’s Daniel Gyurta (27.03), Feldwehr (27.11) and Japan’s Kazuki Kohinata (28.01) also competed in the finale.

Women’s 100 breast
With Russia’s Yuliya Efimova missing out on the finale due to a preliminary disqualification, Jamaica’s Alia Atkinson cruised home with a gold-winning time of 1:03.48. She’s been much faster this year with a Jamaican-record, second-ranked time of 1:02.91 from the Dubai stop of the tour, but didn’t need to expend that much energy against a sparse field.

Japan’s Mio Motegi finished well behind with a 1:05.29 to move to seventh in the world rankings, while Great Britain’s Sophie Allen placed third in 1:06.73.

Japan’s Miho Teramura (1:06.86), Malaysia’s Christina Loh (1:08.94), Great Britain’s Hannah Miley (1:09.20), Taipei’s Chen I-Chuan (1:09.41) and Sweden’s Nadja Salomonsson (1:09.53) comprised the rest of the championship heat this evening.

Women’s 100 fly
The Energizer Bunny of the swimming world, Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu bounced back from a surprise loss in the 200 free with a strong 100 fly as she won in 56.58. That swim bettered her fourth-ranked season-best 56.87 from the Dubai stop, and moved her just outside the top three anchored by Ellen Gandy’s 56.56 from Berlin.

Notably, the time is a Hungarian record for Hosszu, beating Eszter Dara’s 56.86 from the 2009 European Short Course Championships. She now holds seven of Hungary’s short course records.

Australia’s Alicia Coutts touched just behind Hosszu with a 56.67. That swim vaulted her to fifth in the world rankings, well up from her ninth-ranked season best of 57.50. Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom touched in 57.52, half-a-second off her sixth-ranked season best of 57.04, as she settled for third.

Canada’s Katerine Savard (57.82), Australia’s Emma McKeon (57.84), The Netherlands’ Inge Dekker (57.88), Great Britain’s Fran Halsall (58.26) and Great Britain’s Siobhan Marie O’Connor (59.13) earned fourth through eighth.

Men’s 100 back
Just one of two Americans at the Singapore stop, USA’s Eugene Godsoe raced his way to victory ahead of some more veteran World Cup stars in the dorsal event this evening. Godsoe managed to get his hand to the wall in 50.21 for the win. That effort jumped him to third in the world behind Bobby Hurley (50.01) and Tom Shields (50.15) this year in the rankings with the U.S. now owning four of the top 10 spots in the sprint backstroke event with Nick Thoman and David Plummer also getting into the action.

Hurley, meanwhile, continued to pile up points for the FINA World Cup standings with a second-place 50.30, while compatriot Mitch Larkin took third in 50.82.

Brazil’s Guilherme Guido (51.20), Australia’s Ashley Delaney (51.28), Japan’s Yuki Shirai (52.98), Brazil’s Henrique Rodrigues (53.22) and Brazil’s Nelson Silva Jr. (53.40) placed fourth through eighth to close out the finale.

Women’s 50 back
Australia’s Emily Seebohm, who stands fourth in the world with a 26.63 from the Berlin stop, picked up the sprint backstroke title in 26.70 this evening. Great Britain’s Elizabeth Simmonds finished just behind with a 26.85 to move into a fifth-place tie with Daryna Zevina of Ukraine. Australia’s Madison Wilson earned third-place honors in 27.02 to jump to eighth in the world rankings.

China’s Gao Chang (27.11), Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu (27.20), Zevina (27.25), Belarus’ Aliaksandra Herasimenia (27.29) and China’s Xu Tianglongzi (27.30) also competed in the finale.

Men’s 200 fly
After South Africa’s Chad Le Clos obviously took it easy this morning to do just enough to get into the finale, he blasted right through the 1:49 barrier to clinch another $10,000 with a world record in the distance fly event.

Le Clos dominated the swim from start-to-finish, opening up nearly half-a-second under his world record pace from the Eindhoven stop, and he never stopped as he closed out the swim with a blazing 1:48.56 for the new global standard.

Comparative splits:
Singapore: 24.68, 52.96 (28.28), 1:20.81 (27.85), 1:48.56 (27.75)
Eindhoven: 24.88, 53.45 (28.57), 1:21.31 (27.86), 1:49.04 (27.73)

Le Clos sacrificed a bigger schedule to make sure he took care of the 1:49 barrier here in Singapore as he continues to battle for overall FINA World Cup points. Tonight’s world record definitely helped him along in that capacity.

Le Clos was swimming in lonely water with Poland’s Pawel Korzeniowski a distant second in 1:53.59. Japan’s Yuki Kobori took third-place in the finale with a 1:55.39.

Japan’s Ko Fukaya (1:56.20), Australia’s Mitchell Pratt (1:56.60), Brazil’s Lucas Salatta (1:56.61), Great Britain’s Roberto Pavoni (1:57.01) and Brazil’s Luiz Ribeiro Pereira (1:58.99) also competed in the history championship heat.

Women’s 200 IM
It wasn’t close to her world-record speed from Eindhoven, where she clocked a sizzling 2:03.20 to the delight of The Netherlands’ fans, but Katinka Hosszu really didn’t need that type of speed in this finale tonight as she won by more than a second in 2:05.33. That’s her second gold of the night, and third podium so far this session.

Australia’s Emily Seebohm pocketed silver with a time of 2:07.10, off her third-ranked time of 2:06.24 from Eindhoven as well. Australia’s Alicia Coutts rounded out the podium with a third-place time of 2:07.32 to move to sixth in the world rankings in the event.

Great Britain’s Sophie Allen (2:08.23), Japan’s Mio Motegi (2:08.93), Jamaica’s Alia Atkinson (2:09.44), Spain’s Mireia Belmonte (2:10.69) and Great Britain’s Siobhan Marie O’Connor (2:10.81) finished fourth through eighth to make up the rest of the finale.

Men’s 400 free
Australia’s Bobby Hurley clipped compatriot Thomas Fraser-Holmes in the middle distance event with a 3:38.68 to 3:38.92 triumph.

The swim bettered Hurley’s fourth-ranked season-best of 3:39.59 from Doha, but did not move him past Myles Brown (3:37.91) for third in the world. Fraser-Holmes moved up to fifth in the rankings just behind Hurley with his performance as he continues his strong meet thus far.

Brown, meanwhile, checked in with an easy speed third-place time of 3:41.02, enough to score him a third-place paycheck.

Great Britain’s James Guy (3:43.15), China’s Shang Keyuan (3:49.77), Malaysia’s Daniel Bego (3:50.87), Hungary’s Gergely Gyurta (3:50.96) and Hungary’s David Foldhazi (3:58.59) also swam in the finale.

Women’s 50 free
The Campbell sisters swept the top two spots of the sprint freestyle finale as Cate Campbell blasted a 23.85 for the win. She’s already thrown down a second-ranked 23.73 during prelims to move just behind Ranomi Kromowidjojo’s epic 23.24 from the Eindhoven stop, and could make some more noise the rest of the tour.

Bronte, meanwhile, grabbed second-place honors with a 24.30 that had her standing just outside the top 10 in the world currently anchored by Megan Romano’s 24.38 from the Berlin stop. Great Britain’s Fran Halsall snared third tonight in 24.37.

Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom (24.42), Germany’s Dorothea Brandt (24.57), Australia’s Emma McKeon (24.67), Belarus’ Aliaksandra Herasimenia (24.74) and The Netherlands’ Inge Dekker (24.76) comprised the rest of the championship heat heading into the final intermission of the night.

Men’s 200 breast
Hungary’s Daniel Gyurta, who threw down a World Cup record and top-ranked time of 2:01.37 earlier this year in Berlin, returned with a vengeance tonight as he demolished the field with a 2:02.62. He won the finale by more than two seconds in the process as he churned through the water for the win.

Japan’s Kazuki Kohinata checked in with a second-place time of 2:05.08, while Great Britain’s Michael Jamieson wound up third in 2:05.52. Kohinata jumped to fifth in the world with that swim, while Jamieson has already clocked the third-best 2:03.04 at the Berlin stop.

Brazil’s Raphael Rodrigues (2:08.85), Taipei’s Cai Bing-Rong (2:09.35), Brazil’s Henrique Barbosa (2:10.73), Malaysia’s See Tuan Yap (2:14.53) and Sweden’s Robert Palosaari (2:15.55) also put up times in the championship heat.

Men’s 100 IM
Vlad Morozov continued his strong outing on the FINA World Cup tour as he doubled up this evening. After powering through a strong splash-and-dash earlier this evening Morozov clinched the sprint medley tonight with a 51.36 as he jumped out to a lead and never looked back.

Trinidad and Tobago’s George Bovell trailed him with a second-place 51.75 as the top two sprint medley stars in the world thus far this year put on a show. Morozov (51.13) and Bovell (51.15) have both been much faster earlier this year on the circuit, but still had enough to both clear 52 seconds yet again. China’s Wang Shun cracked the top 10 with a third-place 52.96. That moved him to ninth in the world rankings this year.

Australia’s Mitch Larkin (52.98), Australia’s Tommaso D’Orsogna (53.87), Brazil’s Henrique Rodrigues (54.71), China’s Ye Zhengchao (55.43) and Singapore’s Zheng Wen Quah (55.77) completed the top eight in the finale.

Women’s 200 back
Although she’s been much faster with a top-ranked 2:00.81 to her credit from the Berlin stop, Ukraine’s Daryna Zevina did what she’s been doing throughout the World Cup tour and that is win the 200 back (2:02.32). Her ability in the event has translated to big money as she’s won more than $50,000 on the circuit thus far, based largely on winning the 200 back with regularity.

Great Britain’s Elizabeth Simmonds raced her way to seventh in the world with a second-place time of 2:03.30, while Australia’s Emily Seebohm kept Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu off another podium, 2:03.44 to 2:03.97, in the race for third.

Australia’s Madison Wilson (2:04.42), Canada’s Hilary Caldwell (2:08.38), Canada’s Sydney Pickrem (2:10.50) and Great Britain’s Hannah Miley (2:11.98) rounded out the heat.

Men’s 50 fly
South Africa’s Chad Le Clos put icing on the cake for tonight with a double and a butterfly sweep. Following his epic barrier-busting world record in the 200 fly earlier in the evening, Le Clos blasted the field in the sprint fly with a 22.24. That swim jumped him to third in the world rankings behind Roland Schoeman (22.05) and Steffen Deibler (22.14) — both times from the Berlin stop.

Schoeman just missed yet another 50 breast/50 fly double, something he’s been doing with regularity on the FINA World Cup tour this year. He took second in 22.62, while Brazil’s Nicholas Santos took third in 22.63.

USA’s Eugene Godsoe (22.94), Poland’s Konrad Czerniak (23.10), Poland’s Pawel Korzeniowski (23.80), Japan’s Ko Fukaya (23.82) and Indonesia’s Glenn Sutanto (23.96) finished fourth through eighth.

Mixed 200 medley relay
The Australian quartet of Bobby Hurley, Christian Sprenger, Alicia Coutts and Cate Campbell not only blasted the world record the Aussies set this morning, but they also unified the World Best and the World Record in this event.

Hurley (23.47), Sprenger (25.97), Coutts (25.35) and Campbell (23.23) rocketed to a 1:38.02 in the finale. That swim edged their morning swim of 1:39.08 that stood briefly as the world record.

More importantly, the Aussies also crushed the previous world best of 1:38.74 posted by the French squad of Jeremy Stravius (23.13), Florent Manaudou (25.90), Melanie Henique (25.61) and Anna Santamans (24.10) last November in Chartres. That had been the fastest time legally swum in the event’s history, but occurred prior to FINA officially recognizing the event for a world record this past September.

That’s one controversial world record down, with one more to go in the mixed 200 freestyle relay.

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