FINA World Cup, Beijing: Mireia Belmonte, Eugene Godsoe Turn In Strong Nights

BEIJING, China, November 14. WHILE Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu and South Africa’s Chad Le Clos garnered the most attention in their overall standing victory lap, Spain’s Mireia Belmonte and USA’s Eugene Godsoe had some strong nights at the FINA World Cup.

Men’s 1500 free
South Africa’s Myles Brown, who stands second in the world rankings with a 14:30.54 at the Eindhoven stop of the circuit, clinched the men’s metric mile tonight in a hard-fought battle against China’s Hao Yun.

Brown clocked a winning time of 14:41.63, while Hao placed second in 14:42.38. Hao’s swim pushed him to ninth in the world rankings overall as he battled in front of a partisan crowd. Hungary’s Gergely Gyurta finished third in 14:45.53.

Brazil’s Luis Arapiraca (14:57.48), China’s Chen Ren (15:09.95), Japan’s Takeharu Fujimori (15:13.63), China’s Wu Zijun (15:25.08) and Taipei’s Wen Ren-Hau (15:38.40) comprised the rest of the top eight in the timed final event.

Women’s 400 IM
In a bit of an upset, Spain’s Mireia Belmonte charged to a season-best time in the distance medley to unseat world-record holder Katinka Hosszu from the top of the podium.

Belmonte blasted a 4:25.23 for the win, bettering her second-ranked 4:26.92 from the Tokyo stop of the tour. Hosszu, meanwhile, wound up dropping to third in 4:27.66 behind Great Britain’s Hannah Miley (4:27.66), nearly seven seconds behind her global mark of 4:20.85 from the Berlin stop. Miley crushed her season best of 4:28.75 from Singapore that ranked her third in the world.

Hosszu likely will be coasting through finals tonight, as she’s already secured more than $300,000 in winnings and doesn’t need to do much else to close out the most lucrative race-earning based professional tour in swimming history.

USA’s Ella Eastin (4:33.53), Becca Mann (4:34.01) finished fourth and fifth as both jumped into the top 10 in the world, while Japan’s Sakiko Shimizu (4;35.77), USA’s Brook Zeiger (4:40.27) and Taipei’s Ten Yu-Wen (4:51.53) rounded out the top eight in the timed final event.

Women’s 100 free
Australia’s Cate Campbell captured yet another sprint freestyle event on the FINA World Cup tour, posting a sizzling 51.59 (24.50 — 27.09) this evening for the win. In her few stops on the tour, Campbell has wrecked shop in the sprint freestyle category, and one could only imagine how much fun it would have been for Campbell and Ranomi Kromowidjojo to have battled on the tour at every stop, but both had other plans throughout the past few months.

Campbell has been faster this year with a second-ranked 51.31 from the Tokyo stop. Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom raced into second with a 52.41 tonight, while Australia’s Bronte Campbell picked up third-place honors in 52.57.

Great Britain’s Fran Halsall (52.60), Belarus’ Aliaksandra Herasimenia (52.78), The Netherlands’ Inge Dekker (53.37), Brazil’s Graciele Herrmann (53.76) and Brazil’s Larissa Oliveira (54.09) also vied for the sprint title tonight.

Men’s 200 free
Australia’s Thomas Fraser-Holmes continued what has been a strong meet thus far with another triumph as he rocketed to a 1:43.09 for the win in the event. The swim came up just half-a-second shy of his fourth-ranked 1:42.47 from the Singapore stop, but was half-a-second clear of compatriot Bobby Hurley’s second-place 1:43.67.

Hurley also nearly bettered his season best of 1:43.12 from the Tokyo stop that ranks him sixth in the world, but he had enough tonight to take silver ahead of Poland’s Pawel Korzeniowski. Korzeniowski raced his way to bronze in 1:43.69.

South Africa’s Myles Brown (1:45.06), Japan’s Yuki Kobora (1:45.48), The Netherlands’ Sebastiaan Verchuren (1:46.28), China’s Liu Zhaochen (1:46.41) and China’s Qiu Yinghua (1:49.69) also competed in the finale.

Women’s 50 breast
Jamaica’s Alia Atkinson collected her fourth sprint breaststroke title of the tour as she scorched the field in 29.20. That’s off her third-ranked 28.94 from the Singapore stop, but plenty enough to beat the rest of the field assembled in Beijing.

Germany’s Dorothea Brandt matched her seventh-ranked season best of 30.11 from Eindhoven with the same time to take second here in Beijing, while China’s Suo Ran wound up third in 30.27 to stand ninth in the world rankings.

China’s Liu Xiaoyu (30.28), Germany’s Theresa Michalak (30.53), Great Britain’s Sophie Allen (30.62), China’s He Yun (31.01) and Japan’s Mio Motegi (31.25) finished fourth through eighth in the championship heat.

Men’s 100 breast
Hungary’s Daniel Gyurta had a bit closer of a finish than he might have liked, but he still managed to touch out Russia’s Vlad Morozov for the 100 breast title, 57.34 to 57.39. The two met in the middle of their preferred distances in the event. Gyurta is a world-beater in the 200-meter distance, while Morozov can sprint just about anything.

Gyurta has been faster this year with a second-ranked 56.79 from the Berlin stop, while Morozov cleared his season best of 57.53 to move up to fifth in the world rankings behind Marco Koch’s 57.38. Brazil’s Felipe Lima wound up third tonight in 58.15.

Japan’s Kazuki Kohinata (58.55), Germany’s Hendrik Feldwehr (58.68), China’s Wang Shuai (59.10), Brazil’s Joao Gomes Jr. (59.36) and Brazil’s Raphael Rodrigues (59.72) comprised the rest of the finale field.

Men’s 100 fly
South Africa’s Chad Le Clos surged to his sixth 100 fly win on the tour with a touchout triumph ahead of USA’s Tom Shields, as Le Clos won by just .04 with a 49.41 to 49.45 victory. Both swimmers were well off their top times this year, with Shields owning an American record 48.80 from the Doha stop, while Le Clos punched in with a second-ranked 49.01. But, both will still wind up with significant cash for their efforts.

Poland’s Konrad Czerniak hit the wall in 50.22 for third-place honors, off his fifth-ranked 50.09 from the Singapore stop, while Australia’s Tommaso D’Orsogna earned fourth in 50.80.

Russia’s Viacheslav Prudnikov (51.42), Japan’s Kenta Hirai (52.34), Japan’s Yuki Shirai (52.84) and Japan’s Ko Fukaya (52.86) picked up the rest of the finale finishes this evening.

Women’s 100 back
Australia’s Emily Seebohm turned up the heat in the 100 backstroke to capture the gold with a 57.22. She’s been faster this year with a second-ranked 56.59 from Berlin, but she had enough in the tank tonight to take the victory.

Ukraine’s Daryna Zevina, who swept her way through the 200 back events this year, picked up silver tonight in the shorter distance event with a 57.56. That’s off her third-ranked season best of 56.87 from Tokyo last stop. Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu, meanwhile, cruised to third with a 57.92.

China’s Cheng Haihua (58.08), Great Britain’s Elizabeth Simmonds (58.28), USA’s Hannah Weiss (58.83), USA’s Kylie Stewart (59.32) and Canada’s Hilary Caldwell (59.72) placed fourth through eighth in the finale.

Men’s 50 back
USA’s Eugene Godsoe has been hitting on all cylinders during his short stay on the tour. Tonight, he raced his way to another victory in the 50 back with a 23.07. That time matched his second-ranked season best from Tokyo, putting him second only to Jeremy Stravius’ 22.99 from the Doha stop this year.

Australia’s Bobby Hurley finished well behind with a 23.40, off his third-ranked season best of 23.08, while Brazil’s Guilherme Guido took home third in 23.79, off his fourth-ranked 23.31 from Tokyo.

Australia’s Ashley Delaney (23.97), Russia’s Vlad Morozov (24.09), Brazil’s Daniel Orzechowski (24.24), China’s Zhang Yu (24.41) and China’s Jiang Shihang (24.43) completed the rest of the championship heat.

Women’s 200 fly
Spain’s Mireia Belmonte is going out with a bang on the FINA World Cup tour as she downed Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu convincingly in the longer distance fly event for her second win of the night. She clocked a 2:04.20, shooting to fourth in the world rankings and well ahead of her season best of 2:05.01 from the Tokyo stop.

Hosszu, who holds the top time in the world this year with a sizzling 2:03.05 from Eindhoven, picked up second-place tonight in 2:05.35 as she is in the midst of a victory lap after dominating the overall tour this year. Germany’s Franziska Hentke placed third in 2:06.34, two seconds off her fifth-ranked season best of 2:04.33 from Berlin.

U.S. Junior National Teamer Katie McLaughlin had a strong swim with a 2:08.54 to finish fourth, while Canada’s Katerine Savard earned fifth in 2:09.13.

Great Britain’s Hannah Miley (2:10.78), China’s Zhou Yilin (2:12.82) and China’s Sun Lulu (2:13.55) also put times in during the finale.

Men’s 200 IM
For the fifth time this year, South Africa’s Chad Le Clos managed to walk away with the 200 IM title. Tonight, he did it with a little bit of showmanship as he produced some outside smoke with a lane 8 1:52.60 for the win.

China’s Wang Shun snared second with a time of 1:53.59, while compatriot Mao Feilian raced his way to third-place honors in 1:55.20.

Great Britain’s Roberto Pavoni (15:55.87) and China’s Hao Yun (1:56.30) finished fourth and fifth off the podium, while Brazil’s Fernando Silva (1:56.35), Japan’s Takaharu Fujimori (1:57.59) and Australia’s Travis Mahoney (2:00.31) completed the rest of the top eight in the finale.

Women’s 400 free
China’s Shao Yiwen gave the partisan crowd something to cheer for as she powered her way through the middle-distance event en route to a winning time of 3:58.92. The swim pushed her to fifth in the world this year as just the fifth swimmer to break 4:00 so far.

New Zealand’s Lauren Boyle, who stands second in the world with a 3:55.16 from Eindhoven, claimed second in 3:59.25, while Spain’s Mireia Belmonte took third in 3:59.46 after setting the world record earlier this year with a 3:54.52 in Berlin.

Spain’s Melani Costa (4:00.61), China’s Xu Danlu (4:04.68), Great Britain’s Hannah Miley (4:07.00), China’s Hou Yawen (4:08.18) and USA’s Becca Mann (4:09.10) made up the rest of the top eight finishes.

Men’s 50 free
In what is typically the most-talked-about event on Twitter, the men’s 50 free, Russia’s Vlad Morozov checked off his seventh victory of the tour with a 20.91. That’s just half-a-second back of his top-ranked 20.59 from Moscow.

USA’s Anthony Ervin bettered his sixth-ranked season best of 21.10 with second-place 21.07, while South Africa’s Roland Schoeman touched in 21.11 for bronze after setting the second-fastest time this year with a 20.86 in Berlin.

Trinidad and Tobago’s George Bovell (21.19), Poland’s Konrad Czerniak (21.47), Brazil’s Nicholas Santos (21.48), Australia’s Tommaso D’Orsogna (21.51) and The Netherlands’ Jasper Van Mierlo (21.89) rounded out the championship field.

Women’s 200 breast
Japan’s Mio Motegi blasted the field in the 200 breast with a 2:20.23 for the win. That time might be well off her third-ranked season best of 2:18.63 from the Singapore stop, but it was more than enough to earn a $1,500 payday with the swim.

China’s He Yun took second overall in 2:23.80, while Japan’s Sakiko Shimizu grabbed third in 2:24.56.

Great Britain’s Sophie Allen (2:26.01), Chin’s Shi Jinglin (2:26.17), China’s Sun Minjie (2:27.24), China’s Wu Qinghua (2:29.23) and USA’s Brooke Zeiger (2:30.11) turned in the rest of the finishes.

Women’s 100 IM
Out under world-record pace at the 50-meter mark with a 26.35 split, Australia’s Alicia Coutts blazed her way to victory in the sprint medley with a top time of 58.08. That’s half-a-second back of her second-ranked 57.53 from Tokyo, but still managed to beat a loaded field.

Jamaica’s Alia Atkinson took second in 58.71, while Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu finished third with a 58.92. With Hosszu missing out on gold tonight, it’s obvious that the Iron Lady is cruising through the final night en route to her huge final paycheck.

Great Britain’s Siobhan Marie-O’Connor (59.01), Germany’s Theresa Michalak (59.45), Australia’s Emily Seebohm (59.77), China’s Suo Ran (59.80) and China’s Zhang Wenqing (1:00.42) also took a run at the title this evening.

Men’s 200 back
USA’s Eugene Godsoe has been on fire here in Beijing, closing out the night with another victory. The American smashed the field with a 1:51.29 for his second triumph of the night. Australia’s Ashley Delaney finished well back with a second-place 1:52.46. Delaney, however, did win a close battle with Japan’s Yuki Shirai placing third in 1:52.49.

China’s Jin Yan (1:53.89), China’s Zhang Yu (1:55.52), USA’s Corey Okubo (1:56.64), Japan’s Takeharu Fujimori (1:58.32) and Australia’s Travis Mahoney (1:58.46) also competed in the finale.

Women’s 50 fly
Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom topped the final individual race of the FINA World Cup tour with a time of 25.24 to capture the sprint fly finale. China’s Lu Ying earned second-place honors in 25.42, while The Netherlands’ Inge Dekker touched third in 25.68.

Great Britain’s Fran Halsall (25.75), Great Britain’s Siobhan-Marie O’Connor (26.37), Canada’s Katerine Savard (26.50), Australia’s Alicia Coutts (26.51) and Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu (27.03) rounded out the championship field.

Mixed 200 free relay
Team Australia’s Tommaso D’Orsogna (21.51), Travis Mahoney (21.88), Cate Campbell (23.27) and Bronte Campbell (23.86) took the mixed gender freestyle relay with a 1:30.52 for the win. China’s Ning Zetao (21.35), Shi yang (21.35), Qiu Yuhan (24.18) and Chen Xinyi (24.01) took second in 1:30.89 in what proved to be a close race.

Brazil’s Nicholas Santos (21.56), Fernando Silva (21.44), Graciele Herrmann (24.25) and Larissa Oliveira (24.20) finished third in 1:31.45, while an Anthony Ervin-fueled team from the U.S. broke the American record with a fourth-place 1:33.29.

Ervin (21.08), Paul Powers (22.41), Katie McLaughlin (24.87) and Kylie Stewart (24.93) clinched fourth with a 1:33.29, which bettered the initial American record of 1:41.16 clocked by Indiana University in late September as well as Michigan’s 1:36.78 from the Michigan Water Carnival a few days later.

Team USA B (1:37.28), Japan (1:38.47), China Clubs (1:43.22) and Singapore (1:43.50) closed out the 2013 FINA World Cup.

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