FINA World Cup Kazan: Morozov 21.71, C1 24.08 To Wrap Up Day 1

FINA WORLD CUP SERIES – KAZAN

• Friday, November 1st – Sunday, November 3rd
• Kazan Aquatics Palace, Kazan, Russia
• LCM
• Entries
• Results

Swimmers wasted no time bringing the heat on day 1 of the FINA World Cup Series stop in Kazan, Russia, with powerhouse athletes such as Katinka Hosszu of Hungary and Anton Chupkov of Russia taking names in their respective events.

First, for the Iron Lady, 30-year-old Hosszu wrapped up her 300th elite international gold medal when she topped the women’s 200m fly podium tonight. Registering a time of 2:08.23, Hosszu beat out teammate Zsuzsanna Jakabos who touched just over half a second later in 2:08.76. Korean national record holder An Sehyeon produced a time of 2:10.69 for bronze.

For Hosszu, her 300th gold merely caps a prolific career, which has seen the Hungarian reap 3 Olympic gold medals, 1 Olympic silver and 15 long course World Championships medals. You can read more about her feat here.

As for 22-year-old Chupkov, the Olympic bronze medalist topped the men’s’ 100m breaststroke field here in his home nation, producing 1 of 2 sub-59 second times of the field in the process.

After casually clocking a morning swim of 59.71 in the heats to claim the 3rd seed behind the Netherlands’ Arno Kamminga (59.11) and Japan’s Yasuhiro Koseki (59.62), Chupkov unleashed a final effort of 58.94 to out-touch Kamminga by just .04. In doing so, Chupkov became Russia’s first-ever sub-59 second 100m breaststroker, beating out the previous Russian national record of 59.05 set by Kirill Prigoda en route to World Championships bronze in 2017.

Kamminga touched in 58.98 to wrangle up silver, while Koseki finished in a time of 59.23 for the bronze. You can read more about Kamminga’s swim here and Chupkov’s swim here.

On-fire Dutch backstroker Kira Toussaint didn’t log any new national records but still got her hand on the wall first in the women’s 50m back event nonetheless. The former Tennessee Vol posted a big-time swim of 27.49 at the Berlin stop of this World Cup for a new record and tonight was still under 28 in a solid 27.89 for gold.

Russia’s Mariia Kameneva was the only other swimmer of the final to join Toussaint in sub-28 second territory, clocking a time of 27.95 for silver.

The men’s 100m fly wasn’t short on speed either, as Russian Mikhail Vekovishchev fired off the fastest time of his career for gold. Splitting 23.95/27.61, the 21-year-old multi-World Championships relay medalist stopped the clock in a mighty 51.56, a time that shaved .06 off of his own PB of 51.62 produced earlier this year.

American Michael Andrew, who is the sole competitor from his nation racing this weekend in Kazan, also put up a solid effort, hitting the wall in 51.86 for silver. With splits of 23.78/28.08, Andrew’s time represents the 4th fastest of his career, one that includes a PB of 51.53 from the 2018 Pan Pacific Championships.

Hungarian Szebastian Szabo collected bronze in 51.97, off his PB of 51.28 from the Singapore stop of this FINA World Cup.

Finally, in the men’s and women’s 50m free events, Russia’s Vlad Morozov and Australia’s Cate Campbell reigned supreme as King and Queen once again. Morozov nailed the only sub-22 second effort of the field with a 21.71 scorcher, while C1 got it done in 24.08 for a whopping 949 FINA points.

First for Morozov, the next closest competitor tonight was Andrew, who touched in 22.03, while Maxim Lobanovski rounded out the top 3 in 22.06. Morozov holds the World Cup Record in the 21.27 he crushed at the Singapore stop, a time that also represents Russia’s national record.

C1 held off Sweden’s Michelle Coleman, the 26-year-old who beat the Aussie at an earlier World Cup stop this year. Tonight, Coleman settled for silver in 24.28, the 2nd best time of her career. Her lifetime fastest sits at the 24.26 she produced just last week in Berlin, while C1’s personal best is the Aussie national record of 23.78 set at last year’s Commonwealth Games.

Additional Winners:

• Mariia Temnikova took the women’s 200m breaststroke tonight in a time of 2:24.10. The 23-year-old held off a charging teammate in fellow Russian Daria Chikunova, who touched in 2:24.56. Of note, although she finished in 6th place overall, Australian teenager Kaylee McKeown established a huge new personal best in this off-event, hitting the wall in 2:31.42 to drop over 11 seconds from her 2:42.55 recorded 4 years ago.
• The women’s 400m free saw Russia’s Anna Egorova get it done for gold, posting a winning effort of 4:08.93. She and teammate Valeria Salamatina represented the only women to venture under 4:10 territory, with Salamatina touching in 4:09.32. The Russian national record holder in this 400m free event, Veronika Andrusenko, produced a mark of 4:12.77 for 5th tonight. She owns the fastest time ever by a Russian with the 4:06.01 she logged at April’s Nationals.
• Lithuanian maestro Danas Rapsys continued to dominate the men’s 400m free event, remaining undefeated across this World Cup circuit. Tonight he produced a winning effort of 3:44.60, not terribly far from his own World Cup Record of 3:43.91 put up in Jinan.
• The men’s 200 back saw Daniel Martin of Romania get the gold in a time of 1:58.42.