Hosszu Wins 25th-Straight World Cup Race in 200 IM

2016 FINA WORLD CUP – BEIJING

• Beijing, China – National Aquatics Center
• Friday, September 30 – Saturday, October 1, 2016
• Prelims 10AM / Finals 7 PM (Local Time)
• Point Standings After Cluster 1
• Money Lists After Cluster 1
• Live stream – FINAtv
• Live results

An overall lackluster start to the 4th stop of the 2016 FINA World Cup in Beijing China was highlighted by a World Junior Record from China’s Menghui Zhu.

Zhu tied Denmark’s Jeanette Ottesen, who had a very good day overall, for the win in the women’s 50 free in 24.00. FINA has recently begun recognizing short course meters Junior World Records, and have set “World Best Times” as a benchmark for setting the initial records. Zhu becomes one of the few swimmers to have successfully done so with her swim.

Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu, who has 21 event wins through the tour’s first 3 stops, picked up only 3 on Friday – a relatively light output by her lofty standards.

Early in the session, Hosszu won the 200 free easily in 1:53,89; the 50 back in 26.68; and the 200 IM in 2:07.37. That IM win was 6 seconds short of her own World Record in the event, but still two seconds better than a slow field in the final.

Hosszu has now won the 200 IM at each of the last 25 World Cup meets at which it’s been held – dating back to the final stop of the 2012 World Cup series in Singapore, where her countrymate Zsu Jakabos won. Jakabos took silver on Friday in Beijing.

Ukraine’s Daryna Zevina continued her excellent swimming this fall to date in the 200 back, winning the event for the 3rd time in 4 stops. She won in 2:01.61, which was more than three seconds better than the runner-up Hosszu who faded as the day wore on.

The two series leaders to date on the men’s side, Vlad Morozov of Russia and Chad le Clos of South Africa, each picked up a pair of wins on the day on Friday.

Morozov won the 100 free in 45.99, which was almost a second better than Japan’s second-place finisher Katsumi Nakamura (46.95). He then added a win in the 100 IM (51.06) – a race in which he broke the World Record multiple times in the World Cup’s first cluster a month ago.

The Russian also took 2nd in the 50 breaststroke behind Brazil’s Felipe Lima (26.77).

Le Clos’ victories came in the 200 fly (1:49.82), and the 50 fly (22.14). In both of those those races he’s perfect in so far in this year’s series, as he is in the 100 fly that he’ll race on Saturday.

Other winners:

• Alia Atkinson(1:03.42) out-raced American Katie Meili (1:04.00) and Russia’s Yulia Efimova (1:04.49) in the women’s 100 meter breaststroke.
• Denmark’s Jeanette Ottesen picked up her first of two wins (in addition to the aforementioned 50 free tie) with a 56.37 in the 100 fly. She beat out China’s Lu Ying (56.48) and Katinka Hosszu, who took 3rd.
• Jiayu Xu won the men’s 100 back in 50.22 after a dead-locked race at the 50 meter mark.
• Myles Brown won the 400 free in 3:40.38, beating out Bobby Hurley – who was also 3rd in the 100 back.
• The German team swam very well in the European cluster of the World Cup, and while most of them didn’t make the trip to Asia, Marco Koch added his 3rd-straight win with a 2:03.21. Daiya Seto placed 2nd, and American Josh Prenot, a new face on the tour, was 3rd in 2:05.62.
• Yawen Hou won the women’s 800 free in 8:16.81. 19 of the 21 competitors in the race were Chinese, interrupted only by Hosszu’s 3rd-place finish and Jakabos’ 8th-place finish.
• Seto won the men’s 400 IM ahead of Germany’s Philip Heintz (4:04.26-4:05.56), and Prenot added another bronze  in 4:07.29.
• The day closed with the mixed 200 medley relay, which was won by China in 1:40.12. Russia was 2nd and Hong Kong was 3rd out of 5 teams.