Katinka Hosszu’s 200 IM World Record Keys Amazing First Night of FINA World Cup in Doha

Photo Courtesy: Qatar Swimming

DOHA, Qatar, August 27. THE Iron Lady Katinka Hosszu kicked off the 2014 FINA World Cup in a big way with a world record and four victories this evening in Doha.

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HEAT SHEETS

Women’s 800 free

Photo Courtesy: USA Today Sports

Spain’s Mireia Belmonte Garcia cashed the first check of the 2014 FINA World Cup circuit with an 8:14.99 for first-place honors in the distance freestyle today. Liechtenstein’s Julia Hassler placed second in 8:18.37, while Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu warmed up for a long night with a third-place effort of 8:29.48.

Belmonte Garcia’s Splits:

8:14.99 908
50m  29.69
31.64
100m  1:01.33
31.58
150m  1:32.91
31.56
200m  2:04.47
31.35
250m  2:35.82
31.32
300m  3:07.14
31.19
350m  3:38.33
31.14
400m  4:09.47
30.79
450m  4:40.26
30.73
500m  5:10.99
30.92
550m  5:41.91
31.07
600m  6:12.98
30.77
650m  6:43.75
30.82
700m  7:14.57
30.69
750m  7:45.26
29.73

Germany’s Franziska Hentke (8:38.87) and South Africa’s Michee Van Rooyen (8:54.30) also competed in the finale.

Men’s 400 IM

Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr

Australia’s Thomas Fraser-Holmes chased down the title in the distance medley with a 4:00.39 to kick off the men’s races. That’s not far off his fifth-ranked 3:59.92 from the Tokyo stop of last year’s FINA World Cup.

Fraser-Holmes’ Splits:

4:00.39 940
50m  25.61
29.20
100m  54.81
31.07
150m  1:25.88
30.20
200m  1:56.08
33.88
250m  2:29.96
34.71
300m  3:04.67
28.60
350m  3:33.27
27.12

Hungary’s David Verraszto (4:02.53) and Tunisia’s Ous Mellouli (4:07.99) finished second and third to cash the podium checks tonight.

Austria’s Jakub Maly just missed the podium with a fourth-place 4:08.00, while South Africa’s Ayrton Sweeney finished fifth in 4:11.17. Switzerland’s Jeremy Desplanches (4:12.27), Liechtenstein’s Christoph Meier (4:12.29) and Tunisia’s Taki Mrabet (4:14.11) rounded out the top eight in the timed final event.

Men’s 100 free

Photo Courtesy: Qatar Swimming

Chad le Clos, the defending 2014 FINA World Cup circuit champion, started things off on the right foot with a 46.29 to 46.52 victory against Poland’s Konrad Czerniak this evening. That’s faster than le Clos went last year when he ranked 10th in the world with a 46.60 from the Beijing stop of the World Cup, so he’s definitely on point here. Czerniak is also faster than the 46.73 he clocked at the Tokyo stop a year ago.

Splits:

Le Clos:

(2) 22.21 46.29 915
24.08

Czerniak:

(1) 21.96 46.52 901
24.56

Germany’s Steffen Deibler finished third with a 47.22 for the third-place paycheck.

USA’s Josh Schneider (47.81), South Africa’s Leith Shankland (47.84), Japan’s Kenta Ito (47.93), Finland’s Ari-Pekka Liukkonen (48.21) and Serbia’s Boris Stojanovic (48.66) also performed in the finale.

Women’s 200 free

Photo Courtesy: Qatar Swimming

The Iron Lady Katinka Hosszu made another run at the world record, but fell short as she settled for lowering her World Cup mark with a 1:51.41. That swim downed her 1:51.84 from this morning, and came up just shy of Federica Pellegrini’s 2009 world record of 1:51.17 from Istanbul. Hosszu was out under world-record pace at the 150-meter mark, but could not overcome the techsuit-fueled final 50 of Pellegrini (28.08).

Comparative Splits:

Pellegrini:

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

Hosszu:

26.01, 54.20 (28.78), 1:22.98 (28.78), 1:51.41 (28.43)

Hungary’s Evelyn Verrastzo checked in with a distant second-place time of 1:55.81, while Switzerland’s Danielle Villars took third in 1:57.90.

Liechtenstein’s Julia Hassler (1:58.57), Switzerland’s Martina van Berkel (1:59.69), South Africa’s Michee Van Rooyen (2:06.47), South Africa’s Taneal Baptiste (2:06.70) and South Africa’s Lizanne Viljoen (2:10.49) also competed in the finale.

Men’s 50 breast

Photo Courtesy: Qatar Swimming

South Africa’s Roland Schoeman, who led the world last year with a 25.65 at the Berlin stop of the FINA World Cup, topped the sprint breaststroke tonight in 26.35. Last year’s No. 2, Fabio Scozzoli of Italy (25.72), checked in tonight in second as well with a 26.54. Switzerland’s Martin Schweizer placed third in 26.80. That’s Schoeman’s ninth straight World Cup victory in the 50 breast.

South Africa’s Giulio Zorzi (26.94), Russia’s Andrei Nikolaev (27.01), USA’s Mike Alexandrov (27.06), Colombia’s Jorge Valdez (27.07) and Slovakia’s Tomas Klobucnik (27.40) comprised the rest of the championship final.

Women’s 100 breast

Photo Courtesy: Azaria Basile

Jamaica’s Alia Atkinson smoked the 100-meter breast finale with a time of 1:03.79. That swim is less than a second off her season best from a year ago of 1:02.91 from the Dubai stop. That was the second fastest time last year behind Ruta Meilutyte’s world record of 1:02.36 from Moscow.

Atkinson’s Splits:

(1) 30.18 1:03.79 934
33.61

USA’s Breeja Larson, in her first year as a pro, picked up a second-place check in 1:05.06 with Iceland’s Hilda Luthersdottir racing to third in 1:06.88.

Finland’s Jenna Laukkanen (1:07.04), USA’s Laura Sogar (1:07.33), Austria’s Lisa Zaiser (1:07.50), Austria’s Christina Nothdurfter (1:10.14) and South Africa’s Kira Baptiste (1:17.31) closed out the rest of the finale.

Women’s 100 fly

Photo Courtesy: Minas Tenis Clube

The Netherlands’ Inge Dekker dominated the 100-meter fly finale with a time of 56.05. That swim would have ranked her fourth a year ago, and is much better than her 12th-ranked season best of 57.14 from the European Short Course Championships.

Dekker’s Splits:

(1) 26.06 56.05 947
29.99

Australia’s Marieke D’Cruz checked in with a second-place time of 57.88, while Switzerland’s Danielle Villars made her second podium with a third-place 58.48.

Austria’s Lena Kreundl (59.30), Germany’s Franziska Hentke (59.74), Austria’s Claudia Hufnagl (1:00.14), China’s Zhou Xinyi (1:01.61) and South Africa’s Lizanne Viljoen (1:06.36) placed fourth through eighth.

Men’s 100 back

Photo Courtesy: PSV Cottbus

Germany’s Christian Diener clipped USA’s Eugene Godsoe for the title, 50.49 to 50.57, this evening. Godsoe has the ability to go much faster, ranking second a year ago with a 49.87, while Diener’s time would have put him 12th in the world last year. Australia’s Bobby Hurley, a grizzled veteran of the World Cup scene, finished third in 51.42.

Splits:

Diener:

(2) 24.30 50.49 910
26.19

Godsoe:

(1) 24.08 50.57 906
26.49

Japan’s Hayate Matusbara (52.05), Spain’s Miguel Ortiz (52.19), Hong Kong’s Henry Hong (54.89), South Africa’s Rudo Loock (57.95) and South Africa’s Janco Saaiman (58.88) also swam in the championship finale.

Women’s 50 back

Photo Courtesy:

The Iron Lady Katinka Hosszu powered to her second win and third podium of the night with a blistering 26.18 in the sprint backstroke finale. That swim would have ranked her third in the world last year behind only Aya Terakawa (26.06) and Aleksandra Urbanczyk (26.12). Tonight’s performance also smashed Hosszu’s top time from last year, an 18th-ranked 27.04 from the Eindhoven stop of the FINA World Cup.

Urbanczyk, meanwhile, took second tonight in 26.44 with Ukraine’s Daryna Zevina placing third in 26.66.

Croatia’s Sanja Jovanovic (27.20), Finland’s Anni Alitalo (27.60), Colombia’s Carolina Colorado (27.68), Austria’s Jordis Steinegger (28.62) and South Africa’s Lehesta Kemp (28.69) comprised the rest of the top eight finishers.

Men’s 200 fly

Photo Courtesy: Qatar Swimming

Out under world record pace at the 150-meter mark, USA’s Tom Shields still managed to down his American record in the 200-meter fly by about half-a-second as he hit the wall in 1:50.08. That time lowered his 1:50.61 from the Duel in the Pool that had stood as the American record, while he came up a bit short of Chad le Clos’ world record 1:48.56 from the Singapore stop of the FINA World Cup. Shields just did not have the same level of closing speed that le Clos had last year as can be seen in the splits below.

Comparative Splits:

Le Clos (2013):

24.68, 52.96 (28.28), 1:20.81 (27.85), 1:48.56 (27.75)

Shields (2014):

24.12, 51.58 (27.46), 1:19.97 (28.39), 1:50.08 (30.11)

Poland’s Pawel Korzeniowski took second in 1:51.18, while Russia’s Nikolay Skvortsov finished third in 1:52.23.

Russia’s Aleksandr Kudashev (1:53.53), Japan’s Ko Fukaya (1:54.42), Hungary’s David Verraszto (1:58.50), Colombia’s Julio Galofre (1:58.59) and Qatar’s Abdulrahman Alishaq (2:13.36) also competed in the finale.

Women’s 200 IM

Photo Courtesy: Qatar Swimming

For her third title of the night, the Iron Lady Katinka Hosszu went big as she downed her world record in the women’s 200-meter IM with a 2:02.61. That time cleared her previous mark of 2:03.20 by nearly a second as she clocked that time in Eindhoven a year ago. That’s her fourth medal of the night, also having picked up a bronze with three victories as Hosszu is well on her way to a third-straight FINA World Cup crown.

Comparative Splits:

Hosszu (Eindhoven):

26.69, 57.58 (30.89), 1:33.81 (36.23), 2:03.20 (29.39)

Hosszu (Doha):

26.94, 57.21 (30.27), 1:33.54 (36.33), 2:02.61 (29.07)

Incredibly, this swim came after Hosszu already competed in the 800 free, 200 free and 50 back with wins in the 200 free and 50 back as well as a bronze in the 800 free.

No one else was even close in the event as USA’s Caitlin Leverenz still managed to pick up a silver paycheck with a second-place time of 2:07.11, while Austria’s Lisa Zaiser finished third in 2:08.32.

Spain’s Mireia Belmonte Garcia (2:10.85), Hungary’s Evelyn Verraszto (2:11.32), USA’s Laura Sogar (2:15.61) and South Africa’s Michee van Rooyen (2:27.51) were also part of the historic swim.

Men’s 400 free

Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr

Australia’s Thomas Fraser-Holmes, who has picked up the nickname of Tommy Gun Down Under, gunned down his second title of the night with a 3:39.30 in the middle distance event. That’s just off his fourth-ranked season best from a year ago of 3:38.39 that took place at the Tokyo stop of the FINA World Cup.

Fraser-Holmes’ Splits:

3:39.30 906
50m  ﴾2﴿ 24.95
27.34
100m  ﴾2﴿ 52.29
27.88
150m  ﴾2﴿ 1:20.17
28.18
200m  ﴾2﴿ 1:48.35
28.26
250m  ﴾2﴿ 2:16.61
28.17
300m  ﴾1﴿ 2:44.78
28.04
350m  ﴾1﴿ 3:12.82
26.48

Serbia’s Velimir Stjepanovic, who is coming off a successful meet at the European Championships, took second in 3:40.46, while Tunisia’s Ahmed Mathlouthi finished third in 3:41.05.

Russia’s Aleksandr Krasnykh (3:41.45), Serbia’s Stefan Sorak (3:43.74), Austria’s David Brandl (3:44.28), Switzerland’s Alexandre Haldemann (3:49.20) and Hungary’s Gergo Kis (3:50.33) also put up times in the finale.

Women’s 50 free

Photo Courtesy: Speedo

The Netherlands’ Inge Dekker earned herself another first-place prize with a 24.04 in the women’s splash-and-dash. Meanwhile, Poland’s Aleksandra Urbanczyk finished second in 24.29 with Australia’s Marieke D’Cruz posting a third-place 24.52.

South Africa’s Lehesta Kemp (25.15), Austria’s Lena Kreundl (25.32), China’s Bao Ying (25.77), USA’s Breeja Larson (26.02) and Singapore’s Mylene Ong (26.06) comprised the rest of the championship heat.

Men’s 200 breast

Photo Courtesy: Qatar Swimming

In a seesaw battle that witnessed Hungary’s Daniel Gyurta and Germany’s Marco Koch trade the lead back-and-forth, Gyurta managed to get his hand to the wall first in 2:01.06. That clipped his World Cup record of 2:01.30 set at the Tokyo stop a year ago. Meanwhile, Koch took second tonight in 2:01.71.

Splits:

Gyurta:

(1) 27.59 (2) 58.58 (1) 1:29.87 2:01.06 990 WC
30.99 31.29 31.19

Koch:

(2) 27.99 (1) 58.52 (2) 1:30.09 2:01.71 974
30.53 31.57 31.62

Japan’s Yukihiro Takahashi took home third-place honors in 2:05.14, while USA’s Cody Miller finished fourth in 2:06.42.

Australia’s Lennard Bremer (2:07.94), Slovakia’s Tomas Klobucnik (2:08.94), Colombia’s Jorge Valdez (2:10.22) and USA’s Mike Alexandrov (2:10.73) placed fifth through eighth in the finale.

Men’s 100 IM

Photo Courtesy: Qatar Swimming

Trinidad and Tobago’s George Bovell showed some speed with a winning time of 52.80 in the sprint medley tonight. He’s been much faster with a 51.15 to rank third in the world out of the Eindhoven stop of the World Cup last year, but he had enough speed to top the podium tonight.

Bovell’s Splits:

(2) 24.55 52.80 885
28.25

South Africa’s Leith Shankland (53.77) and Austria’s Martin Spitzer (54.77) finished second and third to also make the podium.

Australia’s Bobby Hurley (55.13), Finland’s Ari-Pekka Liukkonen (56.03), Austria’s Sebastian Steffan (56.16), USA’s Mike Alexandrov (56.38) and Serbia’s Aron Sinkovic (58.17) also competed in the finale.

Women’s 200 back

Photo Courtesy: Mike Comer/ProSwimVisuals.com

The Iron Lady Katinka Hosszu collected her fourth gold medal of the night with a blistering 2:01.60 in the 200-meter backstroke. She actually went out under world-record pace at the 100 with a 58.75 split, before settling in to do what she had to do for the win.

Hosszu’s Splits:

(1) 28.42 (1) 58.75 (1) 1:30.25 2:01.60 961
30.33 31.50 31.35

Ukraine’s Daryna Zevina, the world leader last year with a 2:00.81 from the Berlin stop of the World Cup, took second tonight in 2:04.56, while Colombia’s Carolina Colorado finished third in 2:06.75.

Hungary’s Evelyn Verraszto (2:07.10), Austria’s Jordis Steinegger (2:08.18), Switzerland’s Martina Van Berkel (2:10.76), China’s Luo Yue (2:14.59), China’s Tian Yunjing (2:14.97) and South Africa’s Kira Baptiste (2:27.65) also vied for the title tonight.

Men’s 50 fly

Photo Courtesy: Qatar Swimming

South Africa’s Chad le Clos pocketed his second title of the night with a 22.17 in the sprint fly event. That’s better than his best last year of 22.24 from the Singapore stop of the World Cup, as he continues to show he’s in strong form here in Doha.

USA’s Tom Shields, fresh off his American record in the 200 fly, clipped South Africa’s Roland Schoeman for silver, 22.63 to 22.69.

Germany’s Steffen Deibler (22.84), Poland’s Konrad Czerniak (23.01), USA’s Eugene Godsoe (23.22), Finland’s Riku Poytakivi (23.40) and Spain’s Miguel Ortiz (23.43) rounded out the rest of the top eight.

Mixed 200 medley relay

Finland’s Anni Alitalo, Jenna Laukkanen, Riku Poytakivi and Ari-Pekka Liukkonen topped the mixed 200-meter medley relay with a 1:42.26 with just four total teams competing tonight.

Finland’s Splits:

ALITALO Anni (W) 0.63 27.42 (1) 27.42
LAUKKANEN Jenna (W) 0.03 30.63 (3) 58.05
POYTAKIVI Riku (M) 0.30 23.31 (2) 1:21.36
LIUKKONEN AriPekka (M) 0.17 20.90 (1) 1:42.26

Switzerland’s Martina van Berkel (29.38), Martin Schwiezer (26.55), Alexandre Haldemann (23.23) and Danielle Villars (25.79) took second in 1:44.95 with China’s Zhu Chaonan (28.71), Chen Yanzhuo (27.87), Zou Xinyi (28.79) and Shi Tengfei (22.07) placing third in 1:47.44. Singapore’s Mylene Ong (30.07), Wei Feng Chua (29.71), Natasha Ong (31.22) and Brandon Boon (24.46) finished fourth in 1:55.46.

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