With the release of the start lists for the 2014 FINA World Cup Stop in Doha, Qatar, which begins on Wednesday, 8 Americans are entered in the meet, including four members of the recent Pan Pacs team that just finished competition in Australia on Sunday.
- Josh Schneider (50 free, 100 free, 50 fly)
- Mike Alexandrov (50 breast, 100 breast, 200 breast, 100 IM)
- Eugene Godsoe (50 back, 100 back, 200 back, 50 fly)
- Tom Shields (200 back, 50 fly, 100 fly, 200 fly)
- Breeja Larson (50 free, 50 breast, 100 IM)
- Laura Sogar (50 breast, 100 IM)
- Cody Miller (100 breast, 200 breast, 200 IM)
- Caitlin Leverenz (200 fly, 100 IM)
(Note: some events, including the women’s 100 and 200 breaststrokes, don’t have prelims listed. It’s a safe bet that Sogar, Larson, and Leverenz will be entered in some of these events).
For Miller and Larson, this year is the beginning of their professional careers, and with a lightly attended meet, there’s a chance for big money.
See the full start lists here in one PDF.
There will be some big stars at the meet, including Chad le Clos, Steffen Deibler, Roland Schoeman, Inge Dekker, Katinka Hosszu, Marieke D’Cruz, and Daryna Zevina, but there simply won’t be that many entries period. A significant number of events will only have 10 entries, meaning one heat in prelims. Only the men’s 50 free will have more than one heat in prelims, and some events won’t be swum in prelims at all. That explains why, above, neither Larson or Sogar is entered in the 100 or 200 breaststrokes.
The prize money will see $1,500 given to each event winner, $1,000 to each event runner-up, and $500 given to each 3rd-place finisher, making for a total of $102,000 awarded.
In addition, the first cluster, that includes Doha and Dubai later this week, will award $300,000 in overall prize money. That money will be distributed among the 6 highest-scoring men and 6 highest-scoring women in each cluster, presuming they participated in each meet in that cluster.
- $50,000
- $35,000
- $30,000
- $20,000
- $10,000
- $5,000
The scoring will be kept as follows:
- In each individual event, 1st place gets 12 points, 2nd place gets 9 points, 3rd place gets 6 points.
- The three best performances, by FINA Points Table, receive 24, 18, and 12 point bonuses, respectively.
- Each World Record swim gets 20 bonus points.
@ Billabong excellent points
In a recent interview with Shields he told the media that Dave was training him for the 200 fly. I believe Durden is setting up Shields for a spot on the Olympic team. The 100fly is deep and Shields has def sure shot at the 200fly.
@EFTW
Shields had a fantastic summer no doubt.
Phelps had about a year of training and Shields barely squeezed by. With Lochte finally getting healthy I see Shields having a better chance at the 200 fly. Bro
King Chad should be in his prime come Rio. If Tom shields continues his improvement in LCM, he will probably also feature heavily in both the 100 fly and 200 fly. Phelps is currently looking good for at least a qualification spot on Team USA in the 100fly providing he doesn’t get injured or lose motivation in the interim. However the depth the US has in the 100fly could mean that he misses out. Not a particularly controversial view given his age.
@ Billabong
Rio? Don’t get ahead of yourself
In Rio , shields might well contend for the Gold ! and than ? is it far prediction ? not really …. get ahead of yourself bro .
Why so few swimmers? Is it not worth going that far if you don’t have a real chance of being on the podium? Would have thought more Europeans and Russians as well as Asian swimmers would show.
The European championships were pretty late in the summer this year, I think a lot of Europeans are ready for a bit of a break after their major meet.
I do think FINA need to look at the timing and locations if it results in so few entries, although I guess the timing of LEN events is not something they can control.
Professional swimmers should be swimming in the meets that offer the biggest prize money, outside of the big championship meets (Olympics, Worlds, ER/Comm/PanPac). Imagine the Tennis pro’s telling the ATP, that they couldn’t be bothered to go to the Masters series events. An amateurish approach to swimming will keep it primarily amateur. All of the worlds stars competing will drive prize money higher. At the moment the stars are relying on stipends and endorsement deals. Race for money like Katinka, and who knows, it might toughen you up, and fill your bank account.
Best of luck to Tom Shields! 😀
Good luck Tom Shields. Glad to see a few USA Stars competing. I want to see how Tom Shields squares up to King Chad. Who knows, this showdown could be a preview of the Worlds and Rio 2016.
First, great respect to any American that just spent the last three weeks in Australia and then flew on to Doha instead of coming back home. Not sure it’s advisable, but great respect none the same.
Second, is it possible that the 400IM heat referenced is part of a timed final with just the slowest of two heats swum in the morning session?, The reason I think this is that no 400IM for women appears at all in morning session – so I am guessing there are 8 or less entries that will just go straight to finals. Also, no women’s 100 or 200 Breast or 400 or 800 Free – so I’m guessing those go straight to finals too?… Read more »
The Grand Inquisitor – good observation. I’ll buy it until we learn differently…