2021 FINA WORLD CUP – BERLIN

• October 1-3, 2021
• Europasportpark Pool (SSE), Berlin, Germany
• Short course meters (25m)
• 2021 FINA World Cup Schedule
• SwimSwam Preview
• Entries/Results
• Day 1 Live Recap

During day 2 prelims of the Berlin FINA World Cup, we got another chance to watch some of the world’s best swimmers battle it out.

In the women’s 100 backstroke, Louise Hansson was second overall in the prelims to Kira Toussaint. Hansson swam a 56.78, while Toussaint lead the pack in a 56.52. That’s a significant best time for Hansson, improving upon the 57.74 she hold from back in 2015. Notably, that swim for Hansson is the exact same as fellow Toronto Titan’s swimmer Lisa Bratton‘s lifetime best and is faster than her 57.05 season-best from Match 7.

While Hansson is usually busy with the butterfly events, she has revealed herself to be a formidable short course backstroker at this meet, having already broken the 50 backstroke Swedish record on day 1 with a 26.07. Hansson could certainly step in as a backstroker for the Titans in the upcoming ISL playoffs, joining either Bratton or teammate Kylie Masse.

Masse was also present in the 100 backstroke heats and delivered a 57.14 to trail her own lifetime best of 55.83 from earlier this season, while 54.89 world record holder Minna Atherton was a 58.09 for fourth.

Kyle Chalmers pulled off a leading time in the men’s 100 freestyle heats with a 47.12 but considering his 45.54 best time and recent swims of 45.65 and 45.69 earlier this month, can be expected to improve upon that in the final. The main question will be whether or not he’ll be able to hold off the field of men chasing him to the wall including Dutch duo Stan Pijnenburg and Jesse Puts who were second and third with their swims of 47.16 and 47.21. Both of those men threw down lifetime bests this year while swimming in the ISL, Pijnenburg a 46.85 and Puts a 46.94.

Along with Pijnenburg and Puts, Chalmers will be met in the final by an elite pack of sprinters including Blake Pieroni, Szebasztian Szabo, Chad le Clos, Luc Kroon, and Matt Temple.

3 of the world’s leading butterfly sprinters set themselves up for yet another battle in the women’s 50 butterfly final as Maggie MacNeil, Louise Hansson, and Emma McKeon went 1-3 in the heats. MacNeil was the quickest with her 25.41 swim which is a new PB by over a second, while Louise Hansson was just 0.04 seconds slower with a 25.41. Following the leading duo, McKeon swam a 25.54 but will likely be faster during finals, having swum a 25.24 just a few weeks ago at ISL Match 8.

Behind the top 3 women in the event, Australia’s Holly Barratt was a 25.57 and certainly can’t be counted out considering her massive PB of 24.80 from back in 2018. Maaike de Waard was 5th in the heats with a 25.57 while Michelle Coleman made it 6 women under 26 seconds with her 25.76.

In the women’s beaststroke, Eneli Jefimova hit her second Estonian national record of the meet with a 1:05.18 100 to take out her own previous mark of 1:05.62. Yesterday she broke the 200 breaststroke mark with a 2:22.20. Israel’s Anastasia Gorbenko was next in a 1:05.35 to just miss her own national record of 1:05.28 and Olympic gold medalist Lydia Jacoby followed with a 1:05.58 for third in the prelims.

South Africa’s Matt Sates and Lithuanian swimmer Danas Rapsys will lead the way in the men’s 200 IM final, having posted the only sub-1:57 swims of 1:55.09 and 1:55.47, respectively. Yakov Toumarkin of Israel was the next fastest but will need to improve upon his swim of 1:57.18 in order to catch the front 2 men. Toumarkin certainly has the potential to do so, considering his own PB and Israeli record in the event of 1:53.17 from just last year.

Another notable swim during day 2 heats came from Madi Wilson who swam the fastest 200 freestyle of the session in a 1:56.39. Unlike her day 1 50 freestyle in which she established a new PB, the Australian sprinter was just a few seconds over her PB in the 200 of 1:52.77 from back in 2020. As we’ve reported, Wilson is less than 2 weeks out from a COVID-19 diagnosis and hospitalization.

In the men’s 50 backstroke, Germany’s Christian Diener (23.57) and Ole Braunschweig (23.65), and Australia’s Zac Incerti (23.59) all got under 24 seconds while the 5 men joining them in the final swam between a 24.00 and 24.50, making for an exciting final. In the other men’s 50 Arno Kamminga hit a 26.25 to lead the way over Slovenia’s Peter Stevens and Germany’s Fabian Schwingenschlogl who notched a 26.39 and 26.47, respectively.

Finally, Belgian butterfly Louis Croenen managed to get into the wall with a 1:55.53 in the 200 fly which was a bit quicker than South Africa’s Chad le Clos (1:56.29), Hungary’s Hubert Kos (1:56.96), and the USA’s Tom Shields (1:57.53).

Follow along later for our live finals recap which will begin at 12 pm EDT, or 6 pm in Berlin.