The Week That Was: First FINA World Cup Cluster Comes To A Close

Photo Courtesy: David Farr

This week the 2016 FINA World Cup traveled to Berlin and Moscow to close the first cluster, where the series saw a few more records and the first cluster winners. Read below to see the full recaps from those events in addition to all of the biggest stories from The Week That Was!

The Week That Was #5 – Last Minute Coaching Changes in NCAA

competitor-lane-lines-usa-swimming-nationals-2014-2

Photo Courtesy: Competitor

This week saw a multitude of coaching additions across several programs in the NCAA. This week saw Dave Rollins introduced as the new head coach of Florida Gulf Coast, Jesse Moore move from Duke to Northwestern, Kristy Brager join Michigan, Andrew Hodgson join Virginia Tech, and Margo Geer volunteer with Ohio State. But the most awaited coaching announcement had to be out of the University of Texas, where long-time Associate Head Coach Kris Kubik retired earlier this year. That was after arguably one of the Longhorns most successful years ever and marked Kubik’s 34th year working with Head Coach Eddie Reese. This week saw Wyatt Collins, a volunteer assistant with the Longhorns the past three years and 2013 graduate, appointed as the program’s new assistant coach, a hire that marks him as a coach to watch in the coming years.

The Week That Was #4 – Russia Issues Claim That IPC Ban Will Extend Into 2018

surface-tension-world-championships-2015-russia-2015

Photo Courtesy: R-Sport / MIA Rossiya Segodnya

The Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC) this week announced that in addition to being banned from this month’s Paralympic Games in Rio they also have been banned from the 2018 Winter Paralympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea. As a refresher, following Russia’s original ban from the Rio Paralympic Games, the RPC submitted an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport which was ultimately denied, leaving the ban in place. The announcement that they were banned through 2018 was made on their website and included part of the International Paralympic Committee’s (IPC) press release that originally banned them from Rio. However, the IPC dismissed Russia’s claim that they were banned from Pyeongchang, stating “By rule, the Russian Paralympic Committee’s suspension will be lifted immediately following the Governing Board’s determination that the member is once again able to meet its membership obligations in full.” So while the Russian Paralympic contingent is in theory currently banned from the 2018 Winter Games, they may be allowed to compete pending a ruling from the IPC.

The Week That Was #3 – California Senate Passes Resolution Urging To Address 1976 Wrongs

Shirley Babashoff, Jill Sterkel,Wendy Boglioli

Photo Courtesy: Brent Rutemiller

This week, the California Senate passed Senate Resolution 88, which urges the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to acknowledge and address the East German doping scandal that rocked the swimming world and earned the East Germans countless medals in the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Included in the stipulations of the resolution are recognizing the competitors who competed clean during those Games by awarding them their rightful medals and places in official Olympic history. While allegations of doping were dismissed at the time of the Games, it became clear following the fall of the Berlin Wall that systematic doping had been in place that aided the East Germans performance. Senator John Moorlach, who presented the resolution, said, “My hope is that this measure sparks real change. Now that we know the truth, how could we ignore the facts any longer? The International Olympic Committee has the power to give justice to the dozens of Olympic women swimmers who played by the rules. I want to see the IOC give these swimmers, including Shirley Babashoff, their rightful medals and places in the record books.” Babashoff herself sat down with Swimming World this week, expressing her frustration with the IOC and hope that this will help bring about real change.

The Week That Was #2 – Morozov Re-Breaks World Record, Meili Breaks Two American Records In Berlin

Photo Courtesy: David Farr

The second stop along the first cluster of the 216 FINA World Cup took place in Berlin, Germany and once again saw many short course records fall. Vlad Morozov followed up with his world record performance in Paris with another world mark in the 100 IM, dropping another 3-tenths off of the record. Morozov had initially broken the record, which was held by Germany’s Marckus Diebler, by just 6-one-hundredths of a second in France when he touched in 50.60. But he was able to fly by the record in Berlin just four days later, taking the record down to an impressive 50.30 that leaves him knocking on the door of being the first man under 50 seconds in the short IM. That also gives Morozov another $10,000 prize for the world record swim and launched him well ahead of the competition for the World Cup leaderboard. American Katie Meili also had her fair share of records in Berlin, stopping the clock on two American records. The first was in the 100 breaststroke, where she stopped the clock in 1:02.92 to claim the win. While not the fastest time ever clocked by an American (that honor belongs to Rebecca Soni who went 1:02.70 in 2009), because of supersuit rules it will stand as the official American Record. Meili’s second record came in the 100 IM, where she broke the legendary Natalie Coughlin’s American record when she touched in 58.02. See the links below for the full recaps from the Berlin stop of the World Cup tour.

Day One Finals Recap

Day Two Finals Recap

The Week That Was #1 – First World Cup Cluster Comes To A Close In Moscow

2016-hosszu-tounge-celebrate-final-200im

Photo Courtesy: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

The first cluster of stops along the 2016 FINA World Cup Tour came to a close in Moscow this weekend, where Vlad Morozov and Katinka Hosszu came out on top of the leaderboard by the end of the meet. The top six men and top six women all earned bonuses at the end of the first cluster based on their rankings on the leaderboard, with Hosszu and Morozov picking up nice bumps courtesy of their leads. Hosszu worked for her prize, entering all seventeen events contested in Moscow to continue her traditional Iron Lady lineup of events. While she left Moscow with an impressive 7 golds and 11 total medals, she ultimately didn’t need it. The Hungarian Olympic Champion had an astounding almost 200-point lead coming into the meet over Alia Atkinson, who wasn’t even competing in Moscow. Meanwhile Morozov only entered in four events for the Moscow stop, but he had a healthy lead courtesy of his two world records in the 100 IM from the Paris and Berlin stops of the circuit. For a full recaps of the Moscow World Cup stop, click on the links below.

Day One Finals Recap

Day Two Finals Recap

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use