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The third cluster of the 2018 FINA Swimming World Cup series kicked off in Beijing, China with twelve individual events on the first day of competition. The stop is the first of three in this cluster as swimmers may also travel to Tokyo and Singapore in the upcoming weeks.
Katinka Hosszu led the way individually with two top seeds and four finals spots total. Usual World Cup stars Sarah Sjostrom, Michael Andrew, Blake Pieroni and Vladimir Morozov each claimed one as well, while the Chinese team took five out of the remaining six top seeds for finals.
Women’s 400 Freestyle
Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu took the first top seed of the meet by getting to the wall first in the women’s 400 Free in 4:05.76. She was followed by the Netherlands’ Femke Heemskerk in 4:08.14. The two have set up a challenging battle for the final, as Heemskerk currently holds the fourth-best time in the world this year (4:00.03) and Hosszu holds the seventh (4:02.50).
Photo Courtesy: SIPA USA
They will be joined by three Chinese swimmers in the final. Li Bingjie (4:08.22), Liu Yaxin (4:09.06) and Liu Xiaohan (4:10.25) finished third, fourth and sixth, respectively. Caiping Yang (4:10.23), Lijie Liu (4:14.30) and Ruohan Chen (4:15.74) will round out the heat.
Men’s 400 Freestyle
American Blake Pieroni claimed top honors in the men’s prelims, cruising in at 3:48.21 over Egypt’s Marwan El Kamash (3:48.77). Ukraine’s Sergii Frolov was also in the mix at 3:48.80.
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
The trio was followed by Chinese swimmers Liu Ziao (3:50.31) and Hong Jinlong (3:50.88). Filip Zelic (3:56.10), Yu Zhou (3:56.29) and Erasmus Ang (3:59.19) placed sixth through eighth.
Women’s 100 IM
Hosszu did not waste any time in these prelims by grabbing another top seed, this time in the 100 IM. Her time of 58.43 gave her the edge over China’s Ye Shiwen who took second in 59.42. Hosszu is the World Record holder in this event and currently holds the year’s top time of 57.44 from the Eindhoven stop of this World Cup series.
Photo Courtesy: SIPA USA
Chang Yang took the third seed in 1:00.64 and was followed by Jamaica’s Alia Atkinson in 1:00.72. Germany’s Franziska Weidner (1:01.18), China’s Zhou Min (1:01.19), Australia’s Emily Seebohm (1:01.21) and Russia’s Yulia Efimova (1:01.25) will also compete in the final. Of note, World Cup superstar Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden took ninth, narrowly missing out on the final.
Men’s 100 IM
The American men went two-for-two in top seeds as Michael Andrew touched the wall first in the men’s event. His swim of 51.91 was just tenths off his best from Budapest, and gave him the win by over a full second.
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
China, Australia and Japan will all have two representatives in the final. Mitchell Larkin (53.29) and Matthew Wilson (53.63) took fourth and fifth for the Aussies while Wang Shun (52.99) and Qian Zhiyong (54.55) were second and eighth for China. Hiromasa Fujimori (53.64) and Keita Sunama (54.26) finished sixth and seventh. Russia’s Vladimir Morozov took the third spot in 53.08 and will be Andrew’s biggest challenger after winning in Eindhoven in a World Record time of 50.26.
Women’s 50 Backstroke
China’s Fu Yuanhui reached the wall first in the 50 Backstroke in 26.27. The time led four women under the 27-second mark including Kira Toussaint (26.47), Emily Seebohm (26.90) and Minna Atherton (26.93).
Photo Courtesy: Swimming Australia LtdThe Chinese then had four swimmers edge out Hosszu and Ranomi Kromowidjojo for spots in the final. Chen Jie (27.15), Liu Xiang (27.20), Zhu Menghui (27.32) and Peng Xuwei (27.56) placed fifth through eighth.
Men’s 200 Backstroke
China’s Xu Jiayu is the top seed in the men’s 200 Back with a 1:54.33. Close behind were Mikita Tsmyh (1:54.49) and Mitch Larkin (1:54.88). Larkin is the current World Record holder in this event and holds the top time this year – a 1:49.07 from the Australian Championships.
Photo Courtesy: SIPA USA
Aussie Teammates Bradley Woodward and Jared Gilliland took fourth and fifth in 1:55.43 and 1:55.79, respectively. Ivan Gajsek (1:56.34), Mu-Lun Chuang (1:57.12) and Yutian Wang (1:57.15) will round out the final.
Women’s 200 Butterfly
Zhang Yufei led three swimmers under 2:10 in the women’s 200 Butterfly. Her time of 2:08.01 gave her the edge over Hosszu (2:08.44) and Yu Liyan (2:08.60).
Photo Courtesy: Xinhua/Youth Olympic Games
Also competing in the final will be Jing Liu (2:10.33), Zhang Yuhan (2:10.48), Lin Xintong (2:12.87), Yunguan Ie (2:12.96) and Gemma Cooney (2:14.22).
Men’s 100 Butterfly
China doubled up on top seeds in the fly events after Li Zhuhao led a tight field in the 100 distance for the men. His time of 51.13 out-touched Japan’s Masayuki Umemoto (51.28), China’s Shen Jiahao (51.52) and Japan’s Keita Sunama (51.67).
Photo Courtesy: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports
Rui Yu (52.03), Yauhen Tsurkin (52.08), Riku Poytakivi (52.27) and Zheng Xiaojing (52.35) will race in the fifth through eighth positions.
Women’s 200 Breaststroke
Shiwen and Hosszu hit the pool once again for the 200 Breaststroke. The two raced to the top two seeds in 2:22.71 and 2:22.96. Both swims were season bests, although this year’s world leader Efimova was third in 2:24.31. The Russian cruised to her finals spot after going 2:15.62 in Eindhoven.
Photo Courtesy: SIPA USA
Teammate Vitalina Simonova was next in 2:24.69, followed by Atkinson in 2:25.51. Yun He (2:26.25), Quanxin Yin (2:30.15) and Weidner (2:30.41) will round out the heat.
Men’s 100 Breaststroke
Russia’s Kirill Prigoda (57.37) won a close preliminary battle between Ilya Shymanovich (57.46) and Yan Zibei (57.56) in the men’s 100 Breaststroke. Andrew was also under 58 seconds in 57.92.
Photo Courtesy: R-Sport / MIA Rossiya Segodnya
The remainder of the heat will be just as competitive including Anton Chupkov (58.01), Wilson (58.27), Peter Stevens (58.74) and Fujimori (58.81).
Women’s 50 Freestyle
To no surprise, Sjostrom (23.74), Heemskerk (23.99), Kromowidjojo (24.01) and Pernille Blume (24.23) were the top finishers in the 50 Freestyle. Kromowidjojo has the top time so far this year and also holds the World Record mark in this event.
Photo Courtesy: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports
Also racing in the final will be Wu Yue (24.35), Zhu Menghui (24.40), Toussaint (24.45) and Yuhan Liu (24.58).
Men’s 50 Freestyle
Morozov (21.42) jumped to the lead over Americans Andrew (21.51) and Pieroni (21.92) in the men’s race. All were off their season bests from earlier World Cup stops this year.
Photo Courtesy: Gian Mattia Dalberto/Lapresse
China’s Yu Hein (22.02), He Junyi (22.06) and Hou Yujie (22.15) will all compete in the final as will William Yang (22.07) and Bradley Vincent (22.13).
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