Katinka Hosszu Opens FINA World Cup Title Defense With Circuit Record in 200 Free Prelims

Photo Courtesy: Mike Comer/ProSwimVisuals.com

DOHA, Qatar, August 27. THE 2014 FINA World Cup kicked off with a bang as the Iron Lady Katinka Hosszu took down a circuit record in the 200 free this morning.

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Men’s 400 IM Slower Heat

Liechtenstein’s Christoph Meier led the way in the slower heat of the timed final event with a 4:12.29, while Austria’s Steffan Sebastian claimed second in 4:22.36. China’s Wang Yida also swam with a 4:37.67.

Men’s 100 free

Photo Courtesy: Joao Marc Bosch

With plenty of rest after taking off the bulk of the major summer events, South Africa’s Chad le Clos, the defending 2014 World Cup champion, kicked off a strong day with a 47.53 for the top seed in the 100 free. Steffen Deibler took second in 47.91, while USA’s Josh Schneider finished third in 48.14.

Poland’s Konrad Czerniak (48.17), Japan’s Kenta Ito (48.21), Finland’s Ari-Pekka Liukkonen (48.29), Serbia’s Boris Stojanovic (48.39) and South Africa’s Leith Shankland (48.45) also made the finale.

Women’s 200 free

Photo Courtesy: Mike Comer/ProSwimVisuals.com

The Iron Lady Katinka Katinka Hosszu opened up her 2014 World Cup title defense with a 1:51.84 in the women’s 200-meter freestyle to break the World Cup record in the event. That swim downed Allison Schmitt’s 1:52.08 set on the Berlin stop of the 2011 FINA World Cup tour.

Hosszu was actually under world record pace through 150 meters.

Comparative Splits:

Federica Pellegrini (2009):

26.58, 54.84 (28.26), 1:23.09 (28.25), 1:51.17 (28.08)

Katinka Hosszu (2014):

26.08, 54.26 (28.18), 1:23.04 (28.78), 1:51.85 (28.80)

Switzerland’s Danielle Villars finished second in 1:58.81 with Hungary’s Evelyn Verraszto placing third in 1:59.76.

Liechtenstein’s Julia Hassler (2:01.09), Switzerland’s Martina Van Berkel (2:01.36), South Africa’s Michee Van Rooyen (2:05.96), South Africa’s Taneal Baptiste (2:06.46) and South Africa’s Lizanne Viljoen (2:09.15) also will swim in the finale.

Men’s 50 breast

Photo Courtesy: USA Today Sports

Italy’s Fabio Scozzoli took the top seed in the finale for the sprint breast with a 26.60, while South Africa’s Roland Schoeman touched second in 26.72. Switzerland’s Martin Schweizer also cleared 27 with a third-place 26.97.

USA’s Mike Alexandrov (27.10), South Africa’s Giulio Zorzi (27.20), Russia’s Andrei Nikolaev (27.21), Slovakia’s Tomas Klobucnik (27.25) and Colombia’s Jorge Valdez (27.34) also earned spots in the finale.

Women’s 100 fly

Photo Courtesy: Speedo

The Netherlands’ Inge Dekker cruised to the top seed in 57.66 with Australia’s Marieke D’Cruz posting a second-seeded 58.15. Switzerland’s Danielle Villars finished third in 58.75, while Katinka Hosszu made her second finale with a fourth-place 59.44.

Austria’s Lena Kreundl (1:00.01), Germany’s Franziska Hentke (1:00.18), Austria’s Claudia Hufnagl (1:00.75) and China’s Zhou Xinyi (1:01.98) also will compete in the finale.

Men’s 100 back

With Joshua Pascoe scratching this morning, all eight swimmers made the finale. Japan’s Hayate Matsubara led the way with a 52.81, while USA’s Eugene Godsoe finished second in 53.06. Australia’s Bobby Hurley took third in 53.12.

Germany’s Christian Diener (53.67), Spain’s Miguel Ortiz (54.28), Hong Kong’s Henry Hong (55.97), South Africa’s Janco Saaiman (58.95) and South Africa’s Rudo Loock (59.56) also competed.

Women’s 50 back

Ukraine’s Daryna Zevina grabbed the top seed in the sprint back with a 27.18, while Katinka Hosszu snared a third finale with a 27.37 for the second seed. Poland’s Aleksandra Urbanczyk placed third in 27.52.

Colombia’s Carolina Colorado (27.61), Finland’s Anni Alitalo (27.72), Croatia’s Sanja Jovanovic (27.77), Austria’s Jordis Steinegger (28.72) and South Africa’s Lehesta Kemp (29.08) turned in the rest of the top eight swim.

Men’s 200 fly

Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr

USA’s Tom Shields powered his way to a 1:55.08 for the top seed out of the morning by far. Russia’s Aleksandr Kudashev (1:57.16) and Nikolay Skvortsov (1:57.29) finished second and third.

Japan’s Ko Fukaya (1:57.30), Serbia’s Velimir Stjepanovic (1:57.35), Poland’s Pawel Korzeniowski (1:57.53), Hungary’s David Verraszto (1:58.81) and Colombia’s Julio Galofre (1:59.94) made up the rest of the finale field.

Men’s 400 free

Photo Courtesy: David Farr

After missing the Pan Pacific Championships due to visa problems, Tunisia’s Ous Mellouli returned to competition with a 3:47.73 this morning in the middle distance event. Austria’s David Brandl took second in 3:47.93 with Tunisia’s Ahmed Mathlouthi posting a third-place 3:48.21.

Australia’s Thomas Fraser-Holmes (3:48.51), Serbia’s Stefan Sorak (3:48.84), Switzerland’s Alexandre Haldemann (3:59.69), Serbia’s Velimir Stjepanovic (3:51.54) and Hungary’s Gergo Kis (3:52.23) also picked up spots in the finale.

Women’s 50 free

Photo Courtesy: Minas Tenis Clube

The Netherlands’ Inge Dekker took a second top seed this morning with a 24.47 in the splash-and-dash, while Australia’s Marieke D’Cruz finished second in 24.71. Katinka Hosszu claimed her fourth swim tonight with a third-place 24.88.

Poland’s Aleksandra Urbanczyk (25.37), South Africa’s Lehesta Kemp (25.45), Austria’s Lena Kreundl (25.50), China’s Bao Ying (25.74) and USA’s Breeja Larson (25.77) will also swim in the championship heat.

Men’s 200 breast

Photo Courtesy: Joao Marc Bosch

Hungary’s Daniel Gyurta put up an easy speed time of 2:06.41 this morning with Germany’s Marco Koch placing second in 2:07.92. Japan’s Yukihiro Takahasi finished third in 2:08.12, while USA’s Cody Miller wound up fourth in 2:08.23.

USA’s Mike Alexandrov (2:08.65), Colombia’s Jorge Valdez (2:09.02), Austria’s Lennard Bremer (2:09.05) and Slovakia’s Tomas Klobucnik (2:09.68) also cleared 2:10 to make the finale.

Men’s 100 IM

Photo Courtesy: David Farr

Trinidad and Tobago’s George Bovell posted the top time in the morning with a 54.81, while South Africa’s Leith Shankland qualified second in 55.11. Austria’s Martin Spitzer finished third overall in 55.25.

USA’s Mike Alexandrov (55.65), Austria’s Bobby Hurley (56.33), Finland’s Ari-Pekka Liukkonen (56.42), Austria’s Sebastian Steffan (57.00) and Serbia’s Aron Sinkovic (58.43) rounded out the top eight.

Men’s 50 fly

Photo Courtesy: Azaria Basile

South Africa’s Roland Schoeman topped the sprint fly in 22.91 with USA’s Tom Shields taking second in 23.02. South Africa’s Chad le Clos picked up a third-place tie with Germany’s Steffen Deibler with matching 23.27s.

USA’s Eugene Godsoe (23.30), Poland’s Konrad Czerniak (23.42), Spain’s Miguel Ortiz (23.45) and Finland’s Riku Poytakivi (23.53) will also swim in the finale.

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