The 2015 FINA World Cup Series is unique because the athletes will be competing in a 50 meter pool rather than the series’ traditional 25 meter pool.
Today marks the start of the second stop of cluster two, as swimmers have descended upon Beijing. In addition to the normal prize money available, there will also be an addition $300,000 split between the top 6 male and top 6 female finishers after the first two meets.
2015 FINA WORLD CUP: Beijing
- Tuesday, September 29th – Wednesday, September 30th
- Beijing National Aquatics Center – Beijing
- Prelims 9:30pm EST/Finals 7:30am EST
- Schedule/Live Results
- FINA Live Stream
Men’s 100 Freestyle – FINALS
Japanese sprinter Katsumi Nakamura claimed the first event of the day as the only swimmer under 49 seconds in the men’s 100 freestyle. He Jianbin claimed the silver medal in his home country, touching out club swimmer Cao Jiwen, 49.83 to 48.91.
Dan Smith (AUS) and Xu Qiheng (CHN) were the final two swimmers under 50 second with 49.9’s.
Women’s 200 Freestyle – FINALS
The first Chinese gold medal was won by Shen Duo with her time of 1:56.47 in the 100 free. She held off the busy Katinka Hosszu, who started off her medal hunt with a silver at 1:56.60. American star Missy Franklin rounded off the podium with a third place finish of 1:57.39.
The top six swimmers all finished under the two minute barrier.
Men’s 50 Breaststroke – FINALS
South African Cameron Van Der Burgh added another top finish with a swift 27.03 in the men’s 50 breaststroke. Australia’s Tommy Sucipto claimed the silver medal as the only other swimmer to finish under 28 seconds with a 27.79.
The Chinese swimmers continued their streak of putting at least one home grown swimmer on the podium. Shi Weijia finished third with a 28.00.
Women’s 100 Breaststroke – FINALS
Jamaican breaststroker Alia Atkinson claimed the women’s 100 breaststroke with a quick 1:07.39, winning the event by nearly a full second. Shi Jinglin of China finished in second at 1:08.25, just ahead of American national teamer Micah Lawrence at 1:08.81.
The top six swimmers all finished under 1:10.
Women’s 100 Butterfly – FINALS
Denmark’s Jeanette Ottesen dipped under 58 seconds to win the women’s 100 butterfly, touching with a final time of 57.97. China picked up another silver medal with a 58.63 from their young butterfly talent Zhang Yufei. Her fellow countrywoman Lu Ying was third with a 58.83.
Men’s 100 Backstroke – FINALS
The men’s 100 backstroke was the first event without a Chinese swimmer on the podium. Australia’s Ash Delaney earned the gold medal with a top time of 54.36, finishing ahead of Japan’s Yuki Shirai at 54.71 and Great Britain’s Marco Loughran at 55.96.
Chinese swimmer Zhang Jie just missed the podium with his fourth place time of 56.17.
Women’s 50 Backstroke – FINALS
Fu Yuanhui of China sprinted through the wall to win the women’s 50 backstroke, posting a time of 27.55. Australian superstar Emily Seebohm finished second with a 27.68, and China’s Chen Jie picked up third at 28.25.
Missy Franklin was a half second off of her time from Hong Kong, tying for seventh place with her time of 29.44.
Men’s 200 Butterfly – FINALS
Masato Sakai of Japan ran away with men’s 200 butterfly, winning by two second with a 1:57.44. Hungary’s David Verraszto was second with a 1:59.20 and Wang Yizhe finished third with a 2:00.34.
Women’s 200 IM – FINALS
The Iron Lady Katinka Hosszu smashed the women’s 200 IM, winning her first gold medal of the meet with a 2:10.44. Zsuzsanna Jakanos, also from Hungary, picked up second place with a 2:12.21 and Japans Rika Omoto finished third at 2:13.81.
Men’s 400 Freestyle – FINALS
Australian Dan Smith touched out Austrian swimmer David Brandl and Jacob Hansford of Australia to win the men’s 400 freestyle, the closest race of the day. Smith touched first with a 3:51.45, but he was followed closely by the other two. Brandl touched second with a 3:51.61 and Hansford finished third at 3:51.62.
Masato Sakai was also close, finished fourth with a 3:51.81.
Women’s 50 Freestyle – FINALS
The Campbell sisters… end of story.
But seriously, the Campbell sisters put a hurting on the rest of the field. Cate Campbell touched the wall in 24.30, just ahead of her sister Bronte Campbell, who finished second at 24.53. The Australian swimmers were the only two swimmers to break 25 seconds.
China’s Zhu Menhui earned the bronze with a 25.01.
Men’s 200 Breaststroke – FINALS
The Chinese breaststrokers nearly swept the podium in the men’s 200 breaststroke, but were interrupted by Cameron Van Der Burgh of South Africa.
Mao Feilien won with a 2:10.95 and Yan Zibei finished third with a 2:11.97, just behind Van Der Burgh with his time of 2:11.68.
Another Chinese swimmer, Huang Chaosheng, finished fourth at 2:12.50.
Women’s 200 Backstroke – FINALS
Emily Seebohm topped a loaded field in the women’s 200 backstroke, touching the wall ahead of Katinka Hosszu and Missy Franklin at 2:09.22. Hosszu added another silver medal to her collection with a 2:10.26 and Franklin finished third in 2:10.36.
Men’s 50 Butterfly – FINALS
Li Zhuhao won the men’s 200 butterfly with an impressive 23.39, missing the Junior World Record by .11 despite what the official results indicate. Zu Jiayu finished second at 23.66 and Ning Zetao completed the Chinese sweep with a third place time of 24.09.
Women’s 800 Freestyle – FINALS
China’s Guoyue Wang swam away with the win in a time of 8:37.38, but the real battle happened between two Hungarians for the silver medal. Katinka Hosszu had to throw down a split of 30.03 to try to hold off a charging Zsuzsanna Jakabos who crushed a final 50 of 29.23 of her own. The final times between the two were Hosszu at 8:40.58 for 2nd place, with Jakabos in 8:40.81 for bronze.
Men’s 400 IM – FINALS
Hungary’s David Verraszto claimed the comfortable win in the 400m IM event, taking the gold in a time of 4:16.36, over four seconds faster than the rest of the field. Silver and bronze went to 2 Australians, as Tomas Elliot and Kazimir Boskovic touchedc in 4:20.90 and 4:21.70, respectively.
For Verraszto, he holds a winning streak in this event, nabbing the gold in the first four meets of the World Cup series.
mens 50 fly and 200 breast are the races of the day.
Soporific
Interesting day 1. Some of the times posted were faster than in HK.
Dan Smith still impressive in the 400 Free. I wonder why Sun Yang was of no show there. Also Katinka winning only 1 event seemed weird, Seebohm still a strong finisher, the Campbell sisters still dominating the sprint events, Fu continues to shine in the 50 back and should be considered as an outsider for the Olympics in the 100, Atkinson is doing good here too, and Missy is showing some progress times wise, yet still has a problem with her start and endurance to finish.
Can’t wait to see what happens tomorrow.
200 is a fun race for me these days guys. I used to fear it big time but since getting over the fear it’s a lot of fun… I can’t wait to swim it prepared! Think Sinapore will be a great race with Kevin cordes!
Is VDB seriously considering the 200breast or is his swimming it in the World Cup more of a training thing
He said his goal is to win the world cup, so doing any event is a chance for more points. If he can consistently earn medals in the 200 it would bring his points up about 20%.
Also, quite impressive by Cate Campbell. 24.3 is medal worthy at any meet. Very good for a world cup performance.