2021 FINA WORLD CUP – DOHA: DAY 3 FINALS LIVE RECAP

2021 FINA WORLD CUP STOP #3 – DOHA

• Thursday, October 21st – Saturday, October 23rd
• Hamad Aquatic Center, Doha, Qatar
• Prelims: 10 am local / 3 am ET
• Finals: 6 pm local / 11 am ET
• SCM (25m)
• SwimSwam Preview
• Entries
• Results
• Live Stream

The third and final day of the FINA World Cup stop in Doha includes timed finals for the men’s 400 IM and 800 free and finals for the women’s 100 fly, 200 back, 50 breast, 100 free and 200 IM, and the men’s 50 fly, 100 back, 200 breast, and 200 free.

In terms of sheer big-name matchups, the race of the evening may be the men’s 50 fly. Australia’s Kyle Chalmers, after a record-setting 100 free on Friday, led the way in prelims with a 22.83 — but he was closely trailed by Tom Shields (22.88), Jesse Puts (22.88), Szebastian Souza (23.16), and Vlad Morozov (23.67).

Chalmers went with the 50 fly over the 200 free, but the latter could still see some electric swims. World junior record holder Matt Sates is the top seed out of prelims with a 1:44.54. He was followed by Danys Rapsys (1:45.38), the 2018 world silver medalist in the event, and another teen sensation in South Korea’s Hwang Sunwoo (1:45.68). Hwang already broke the South Korean Record in the 100 free this week, but he’d need a 1:41.0 to match Park Tae-Hwan’s record in the 200.

On the women’s side, the 100 free is the race of the night. In prelims, seven-time Tokyo Olympics medalist Emma McKeon led all qualifiers in 51.82; she’s been as fast as 50.58 this season. She was followed by countrymate Madison Wilson (52.12), Sweden’s Michelle Coleman (53.49), and the Netherlands’ Ranomi Kromowidjojo (53.76), setting up what could be a much closer final.

Men’s 400 IM – Timed Final

• World Cup Record: 3:54.81 – Daiya Seto, 2019

1. Daiya Seto (JPN), 4:01.97
2. Kim Woomin (KOR), 4:15.99
3. Akos Kalmar (HUN), 4:22.71

Japan’s Daiya Seto unsurprisingly dominated this event, maintaining two seconds or more of a lead over the other competitors from 100 meter mark onwards. He split 53.92/1:02.15/1:08.22/57.68.

His swim follows his recent announcement that he would soon split his training time between the United States and Japan, and he has become the fourth Japanese swimmer to declare emancipation from the Japanese Swimming Federation (JASF), officially becoming a professional athlete. Earlier in the week, the JASF announced that it would be opting out of this year’s FINA Short Course World Championships.

South Korea’s Kim Woomin, who won the 1500 freestyle on Friday in Doha, placed second. Third-place winner Akos Kalmar swam a significant personal best, dropping from his 4:30.86 time at the 2021 Hungarian National Championships.

Women’s 800 Free – Timed Final

• World Cup Record: 7:59.34 – Mireia Belmonte, 2013

1. Simona Quadarella (ITA), 8:21.41
2. Han Dakyung (KOR), 8:24.06
3. Ryu Jiwon (KOR), 8:24.80

Simona Quadarella swam the fourth-fastest 800 freestyle this year. She was 2:03.32 at the 200 mark, 4:09.69 at the 400, and 6:16.30 at the 600. Still sitting at the number one spot for 2021 is Cavan Gormsen with 8:16.76, followed by Isabel Gose at 8:19.62 and Leah Neale with a time of 8:20.55.

Both South Korean swimmers demolished the national record, which was previously set by Jo Hyun-Ju at 8:35.98. Han Dakyung will ultimately claim the record, though she was in third for the majority of the last 400m, until she returned at the 100m mark to swim a 1:02.29 split over Ryu Jiwon‘s 1:03.36.

Women’s 100 fly – Final

• World Cup Record: 54.84 – Kelsi Dahlia, 2018

1. Emma McKeon (AUS), 55.83
2. Maria Ugolkova (SUI), 56.94
3. Holly Barratt (AUS), 57.78

Though she was a few tenths off her personal best of 55.39, Emma McKeon kept her number one spot from prelims with her time of 55.83. This is also a significant improvement from her performance earlier in the World Cup circuit at Budapest, where she swam the 100 fly in 57.39 during prelims. Her time from this meet more closely matches her 55.78 time secured at Match 9 of the International Swimming League’s regular season.

Fellow countrymate Holly Barratt was also just off of her personal best, which is 57.48 and was set in Berlin earlier this month.

This race marks Maria Ugolkova‘s third second-place finish at this stop, behind the 400 IM and 200 fly. Though she finished the first 50 behind Barratt, she came back with a 29.82 split ahead of Barratt’s 31.10 to secure the silver.

Men’s 50 Fly – Final

• World Cup Record: 21.75 – Nicholas Santos, 2018

1. Tom Shields (USA), 22.22
2. Kyle Chalmers (AUS), 22.24
3. Szebasztian Szabo (HUN), 22.27

In a hair-splitting top-three finish, Tom Shields out-touched number one seed Kyle Chalmers to win the race. At the Budapest World Cup stop, Shields had posted an American record in the event with his time of 21.99. This is Shields’ slowest 50 fly time in the World Cup circuit, previously swimming both his record-breaking time and a 22.09 in the event in Berlin. But he does get to add this win to his first-place finish in the 100 fly on Thursday (49.46), and third-place 200 fly finish from Friday (1:53.11).

Chalmers, despite getting second, swam an Australian record and personal best in the event. The previous record was 22.28, held by Matt Jaukovic. This race is a departure from Chalmers’ normal slate of events, including his record-setting 100 freestyle set on Friday in Doha.

Szebasztian Szabo has been pretty consistent at the World Cup, though this was his slowest time. He previously swam 22.24 in Budapest and 22.19 in Berlin. He swam faster than his most recent ISL race, however, which was 22.41 during the regular season’s Match 10.

Women’s 200 Back – Final

• World Cup Record: 1:59.35 – Daryna Zevina, 2016

1. Kira Toussaint (NED), 2:02.12
2. Michelle Coleman (SWE), 2:06.43
3. Zsuzsanna Jakabos (HUN), 2:10.14

Kira Toussaint led the race the entire time and finished still as the number five performer in the event this year, but she was off her 2021 best time by .03. At the top of this year’s 200 backstroke performers remains American swimmer Beata Nelson, who swam the event in 2:00.55 at ISL Match 7. Her splits were 28.89/31.15/30.68/31.40.

Michelle Coleman, the Swedish national record holder in the event, was also off her best time of 2:03.26. It was, however, the first time she swam the event this year. She previously swam the event at the 2019 Swedish National Championships, where she went a 2:04.05.

Zsuzsanna Jakabos has had a high-impact meet in Doha, previously winning the 200 fly and 400 IM, but her time in this event was two seconds slower than the last time she swam it in Berlin, where she swam 2:08.93.

Men’s 100 Back – Final

• World Cup Record: 48.88 – Xu Jiayu, 2018

1. Pieter Coetze (RSA), 50.86
2. Tom Shields (USA), 51.12
3. Yakov Toumarkin (ISR), 51.54

Pieter Coetze won the 100 backstroke and swam his personal best. Coetze previously swam the event at the South African National Championships, when he went 50.98. He led the way over Shields with a 24.70/26.16 split, compared to Shields’ 24.84/26.28.

Third-place Yakov Toumarkin was .34 off his personal best, set at the 2018 FINA Swimming World Cup. He split the race 24.92/26.62.

Women’s 50 Breast – Final

• World Cup Record: 28.56 – Alia Atkinson, 28.56

1. Yuliya Efimova (RUS), 30.11
2. Fanny Lecluyse (BEL), 30.48
3. Back Suyeon (KOR), 31.01

Yuliya Efimova continued her win streak to sweep all three breaststroke events in Doha. Her winning 50 breast joins the 100 (1:06.08) and 200 (2:22.19), marking an impressive end to her first meet since the Olympic Games. Efimova also holds Russian national records in all three events.

Belgian national record holder in the event Fanny Lecluyse won second place, and South Korea’s Back Suyeon swam a personal best in the event after previously swimming the event mostly at long course meets.

Men’s 200 Breast – Final

• World Cup Record: 2:00.48 – Daniel Gyurta, 2014

1. Daiya Seto (JPN), 2:01.65
2. Arno Kamminga (NED), 2:02.05
3. Anton Chupkov (RUS), 2:03.08

Seto became the fastest swimmer in the 200 breast this year after beating number-one seed Arno Kamminga. Seto’s 2:01.65 also beats Kamminga’s 2:01.92 swim from the Berlin stop, which was the previous fastest swim of the year. The time is a few tenths off Seto’s best — 2:01.30 — which also happens to be the Japanese national record. Seto split the event at 28.04/31.00/31.38/31.23.

Kamminga led the first half of the race, splitting the first 100 at 27.72/31.03. He was ahead by two-tenths of a second at the 150m mark, but his last 100 split of 31.46/31.84 wasn’t enough to keep Seto from taking over the lead. This is the only breaststroke event in Doha that Kamminga hasn’t one, though he did tie with Peter Stevens for first in the 50 breaststroke.

Anton Chupkov, who opted to race in Doha after previously suggesting his retirement post-Olympics, earned his second third-place finish of the meet, after his 57.56 100 breast.

Germany’s Fabian Schwingenschlogl, who won second place in the 100 breast, was overtaken by Chupkov near the 100-meter mark, and couldn’t come back for a podium finish. He placed fourth, with a time of 2:04.21.

Hisham El-Halafawy, who placed eighth in the event with a time of 2:23.10, also broke Qatar’s national record previously set by Abdelrahman Mohamed at 2:29.76.

Women’s 100 Free – Final

• World Cup Record: 50.58 – Sarah Sjostrom/Emma McKeon, 2017/2021

1. Emma McKeon (AUS), 51.15
2. Madison Wilson (AUS), 51.95
3. Michelle Coleman (SWE), 52.17

McKeon continued her World Cup trend of winning the 100 freestyle, having won it previously at both Berlin and Budapest. This swim, however, was only her fourth-fastest this year. She swam her fastest time of 50.58 at the Budapest stop of the World Cup circuit, her second-fastest time of 50.96 at the Berlin stop, and her third-fastest time of 51.05 at ISL Match 8. This year was also the first time McKeon swam sub-51 in the SCM 100 freestyle.

Madi Wilson, who has dominated the mid-distance freestyle events at this meet, came in second behind countrymate McKeon. This was Wilson’s best 100 free performance within the World Cup circuit, .03 better than her 100 free time in Berlin, which had also earned her second place behind McKeon.

Wilson and Coleman traded spots at this event from their previous competition in Budapest. There, Coleman swam 52.07 to beat Wilson’s 52.16. On Saturday, however, Coleman’s 25.53/24.64 split wasn’t enough to take over Wilson’s 25.23/26.72 swim.

Jeong Soeun, who placed sixth, also broke the South Korean national record with her time of 54.06. The previous record was 54.85, set by Ryu Yoon-ji in 2004.

Men’s 200 Free – Final

• World Cup Record: 1:39.37 – Paul Biedermann, 2009

1. Hwang Sunwoo (KOR), 1:41.17
2. Matt Sates (RSA), 1:41.33
3. Danas Rapsys (LTU), 1:42.26

Hwang Sunwoo denied Matt Sates his third-straight gold in the 200 freestyle at the FINA World Cup. The South Korean swimmer just narrowly missed setting a national record (currently held by Park Tae-hwan at 1:41.03), but did set a personal best in the event. He currently has a national record in the 100 freestyle, set earlier in the meet on Friday.

Sates, the South African breakout star who holds the World Junior record in this event at 1:40.65, was unable to maintain his first place start. His splits were 23.53/25.96/25.78/26.06, compared with Hwang Sunwoo‘s 23.76/25.91/25.97/25.53.

Lithuanian swimmer Danas Rapsys placed third, and even though his last 50 was faster than Sates’ last 50, he wasn’t able to catch up to second place. He did, though, swim faster than his 1:42.80 performance in Budapest, which had knocked him off of the podium into fourth. His best time of the circuit is still 1:41.17, from the Berlin stop.

Women’s 200 IM – Final

• World Cup Record: 2:02.13 – Katinka Hosszu, 2014

1. Maria Ugolkova (SUI), 2:07.21
2. Zsuzsanna Jakabos (HUN), 2:09.37
3. Katja Fain (SLO), 2:10.58

Ugolkova secured her third-straight win in the 200 IM at the World Cup circuit. Her fastest performance was in Budapest, where she swam 2:06.99. After placing second to Jakabos on the butterfly leg of the race, Ugolkova returned to build her lead for the rest of the event, splitting 27.93/31.39/37.02/30.87.

Jakabos had her best performance in the event during her entire time at the World Cup. After placing fifth in Berlin, Jakabos did not swim the event in Budapest, but in Doha earned a silver behind the event’s top performer.

Katja Fain finished just a second behind the Slovenian national record, which is 2:09.32 and was set by Alenka Kejzar back in 2003. She finished just off her personal best of 2:10.16, set in Berlin at the World Cup stop. This is Fain’s first time on the podium at the World Cup in this event, having placed fourth in Berlin.