Weekend Storylines: FINA World Cup Circuit Resumes Monday, College Duals Begin

Gian Mattia D'Alberto / lapresse 15-06-2014 Roma sport nuoto trofeo Settecolli nella foto: Katinka Hosszu HUN Gian Mattia D'Alberto / lapresse 15-06-2014 Rome in the photo: Katinka Hosszu HUN

Photo Courtesy: Gian Mattia Dalberto/Lapresse

BOULDER, Colorado, September 26. AFTER several record-breaking performances in the Doha and Dubai stops of the FINA World Cup a few weeks ago, the series gets back underway Monday to highlight the next few days of action in the pool. Besides the World Cup, swimming fans can also look forward to the conclusion of the Asian Games, and the start of the college dual meet season. Here are a few storylines from each of those events.

1. FINA World Cup Circuit Resumes Monday

After nearly a month off from competition, the 2014 FINA World Cup series resumes next week with the third stop of the seven-meet circuit in Hong Kong on Sept. 29-30. The first two stops of the series, in Doha and Dubai, got off to a rousing start as defending women’s series champion Katinka Hosszu of Hungary set several world records and jumped out to a huge lead, already amassing 355 points to nearly triple runner-up Inge Dekker’s 126 points. Hosszu is on pace to score more than 1,000 points in the series; she recorded 840 points last year, but with one additional meet in the series. Meanwhile, men’s defending series champion Chad Le Clos of South Africa also sits atop the standings after two meets with 120 points, only four ahead of Hungary’s Daniel Gyurta. Several multi-event winners emerged from the first two meets and will be looking for more wins and more points in order to edge closer to Hosszu and Le Clos in the standings.

2. College Dual Meets Get Underway

With a few weeks or more of practice under their belts, NCAA swimming and diving teams across the country are beginning the early dual meet portions of their schedules this weekend. There are already a couple of great early-season matchups on the schedule, with Stanford heading to Utah tomorrow, Florida taking on Arkansas on Saturday, and Tennessee heading to UNC-Wilmington for a dual meet on Friday and open water swim on Saturday. More and more meets will appear on the schedule as we move into October; as always, there are a lot of great meets and matchups to look forward to!

3. Asian Games Continue Through Friday

Friday marks the final day of competition at the Asian Games in Incheon, where several noteworthy swims have already been posted. Last night, China’s Ning Zetao became the first Asian swimmer to break 48 in the men’s 100 free with a 47.70, while Japan’s Ryosuke Irie lowered his world-leading time in the men’s 200 back with a 1:53.26. Kosuke Hagino of Japan has had a great meet so far with four gold medals, including a world-best 4:07.75 in the 400 IM, while China’s Shen Duo has also racked up four golds. As expected, China’s Sun Yang and South Korea’s Tae Hwan Park have also come away with hardware this week. Stay tuned for more fast swimming to come as the meet comes to a close.

 

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Jason Van Galder
9 years ago

Keeping an eye on Hong Kong!

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