Five Weekend Storylines: FINA World Cup, Top 10 College Matchups On Horizon

Chad Le Clos Doha World Cup 2014

Photo Credit: FINA/Qatar Swimming/Alexandra Panagiotidou

BOULDER, Colorado, October 2. AS we roll into the first weekend of October, the fall racing schedule is heating up with more great World Cup action to come, and a couple of top college teams going head-to-head this weekend. Here are five meets to watch over the next four days.

1. FINA World Cup, Moscow

On Saturday, the FINA World Cup train rolls on to the fourth stop of the circuit in Moscow, six days following the conclusion of the Hong Kong meet. Following a record 10 gold medal haul in Hong Kong, Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu leads the women’s overall standings with 517 points, light years ahead of The Netherlands’ Inge Dekker (186 points) and Jamaica’s Alia Atkinson (159 points). Meanwhile, South Africa’s Chad Le Clos continues to lead the men’s race with 192 points, followed closely by American Tom Shields (168 points) and Hungary’s Daniel Gyurta (143 points). Hosszu has already lowered the world record in three different events over short course meters – in the 100 IM, 200 IM and 400 IM – and set a new World Cup meet record in the 200 free. She’s claimed more than $140,000 in winnings and will be hunting for more cash and victories this weekend.

2. All Florida Invite

The University of Florida will host the annual Pinch A Penny All Florida Invitational this Friday through Sunday in Gainesville in the team’s first meet of the season. A number of top Florida schools will be in attendance, including Florida State, Miami, Florida Gulf Coast and Nova Southeastern. It will be a great opportunity for all of the swimmers to see where they stack up and put up some fast early-season times against a quality field. Florida will be without the services of a few graduating seniors, most notably Olympic medalist and multiple-time NCAA All-American Elizabeth Beisel. National age group record-holder Caeleb Dressel will make his collegiate debut for the Florida men’s squad.

3. Wisconsin vs. Arizona

A couple of the top placing teams from last year’s NCAA Championships will meet on Saturday in Tucson in the first dual meet of the season for both schools. The Arizona women will be led by junior All-American and school record-holder Bonnie Brandon, one of the top mid-distance freestylers and backstrokers in the country, while American record-holder Kevin Cordes should pace the men’s team in his final season of collegiate swimming. The Wisconsin women will look to sprinter Ivy Martin for big points, as Martin is coming off a great summer in which she qualified for and competed at the Pan Pacific Championships. Drew Teduits, the 2013 NCAA champion in the men’s 200 back, is back for his final year of college swimming and should definitely give the Badgers a boost in the backstroke and IM events.

4. Minnesota vs. Arizona State

Minnesota and Arizona State will both kick off their seasons on Saturday in a head-to-head matchup in Tempe. Both Minnesota squads feature deep rosters loaded with talent, including several freshmen who should make a big impact right away. National Junior Team member Brooke Zeiger joins her older sister, Blake, on the team this year, and is a major threat in the individual medley events. Meanwhile, Brooke Lorentzen could contribute a lot of points in the distance freestyle events, with a solid amount of open water experience already in her career. Arizona State has a young team this year, with only one senior on the men’s roster, Zac Dalby. Both schools have traditionally had great diving programs, and it should be interesting to see how the diving events factor into what should be a pretty close meet.

5. Michigan vs. Iowa

Big Ten foes Michigan and Iowa will meet twice this weekend, in a relay meet on Friday afternoon and then in a dual meet on Saturday. Nebraska will join in the action on Saturday, as they face off against the Iowa and Michigan women’s teams. The four-time defending Big Ten champion Michigan men’s team picked up a couple of huge recruits in three-time Junior Pan Pacs gold medalist Paul Powers and National Junior Team member Aaron Whitaker, while the women’s team will feature Youth Olympic Games gold medalist Hannah Moore and national champion Gillian Ryan. Both teams will look for a fast start as they aim for Big Ten team titles in February.

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