Kira Toussaint has announced via Instagram that she fractured one of her fingers during practice on Friday, October 7. Due to her injury, Toussaint pulled out from at least the first stop of the 2022 FINA World Cup, which will take place in Berlin, Germany from October 21 – 23, 2022.
Toussaint says that she has been able to continue training through the injury, with her finger in a splint – just without starts or finishes.
FINA announced Toussaint as a competitor, along with Madi Wilson and Chad le Clos, at the FINA World Cup via Twitter. While she won’t be in Berlin, Toussaint may still be back in action at the Toronto stop which begins on October 28, and the Indianapolis on November 3.
Toussaint was a powerful force at the 2021 FINA World Cup, which spanned four meets instead of this year’s three. Toussaint was the second-highest performer at the FINA World Cup last year by scoring 227.4 points to trail Emma McKeon‘s 228.3. Toussaint won several events at the World Cup in 2021 including the 50 and 200 backstrokes at all four stops, as well as the 100 backstroke at three.
She opened the series with a 50 backstroke win of 25.81, which was a new World Cup record in the event. She followed that swim with another three victories, hitting a 26.07, 25.93, and 25.87. Toussaint will have tough backstroke competition again in 2022 in the form of Louise Hansson, Kylie Masse, and more, but she will certainly be looking to capture another few medals if she makes it to Toronto and Indianapolis.
Toussaint returned to training at Tennessee earlier this year, where she swam the last two years of her collegiate career. In September, she confirmed that she plans to train with the Volunteer post-grad group through the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The fact that she won’t be racing in Berlin means that she won’t be able to capture the newly-instated sweep bonus. This year, FINA will pay an extra $10,000 to any swimmer who wins the same event at all three meets.
The eight swimmers who have been confirmed to race at the three stops are Thomas Ceccon (ITA), Kyle Chalmers (AUS), Nic Fink (USA), Anastasia Gorbenko (ISR), Siobhan Haughey (HKG), Louise Hansson (SWE), Kylie Masse (CAN). Other swimmers including Wilson, le Clos, Shaine Casas, and Hali Flickinger will be in attendance.
Maybe she should try bobsled?