Sjostrom, 3 Tied Men Lead World Cup Points After Moscow

2017 FINA WORLD CUP MOSCOW

• Wednesday, August 2nd & Thursday, August 3rd
• JSC Olympisky Sports Complex, Moscow
• SCM
• World Cup Preview
• Meet Site
• Live Stream (country-limited)
• Day 1 Prelims Recap
• Start Lists/Results

Two world records have Sarah Sjostrom leading the women’s points, while Chad le Clos, Cameron van der Burgh and Kirill Prigoda are tied for the men’s lead one meet into the 9-meet circuit.

Sjostrom broke world records in the 50 free (23.10) and 100 free (50.77) while also winning the 100 fly and taking second in the 100 IM. That puts her at 109 points, a massive early lead over Katinka Hosszu, who sits at 57.

From a competitive standpoint, the new rules implemented this year are making the series points less about how many events in which one can medal, but how much one can excel at the four events he or she is allowed. While that’s been an unpopular change for many athletes, it should theoretically leave more parity in the points contenders, as a swimmer who excels at 2-3 events now has a chance to keep pace with a swimmer who can medal in 7-8.

That’s the essence of the Sjostrom-Hosszu battle at this point. Sjostrom can dominate the sprint freestyles and butterflys, and can branch to the 200 free or 100 IM in any meet that doesn’t feature all four of those events. The onus is now on Hosszu to pick her events wisely, making the most of the four she enters. In Moscow, Hosszu swam and won the 100 back, 100 IM and 200 IM while taking second in the 200 fly.

Sjostrom also picked up FINA’s biggest performance bonus of 24 points for having the top swim in FINA points.

Le Clos, who won this series in 2011, 2013 and 2014, won the 200 free, 50 fly and 100 fly, but missed the final of the 50 free. His countryman van der Burgh, who won World Cup titles in 2008, 2009 and 2015, won just a single event, but also used that event to earn the 24-point performance bonus. Meanwhile Prigoda took home a gold, a bronze and the second-place 18-point FINA bonus. All three men are tied with 36 apiece.

World Cup Scoring

Medal Points

Each individual event yields points for the top 3 finishers.

• Gold: 12 points
• Silver: 9 points
• Bronze: 6 points

World Record Bonuses

Each world record yields 20 points. Tying a world record is worth 10 points.

Performance Bonuses

The top 3 male and top 3 female swims of the meet earn bonus points. Top swims are determined based on FINA points. Only the top-scoring swim from each athlete is counted.

• First: 24 points
• Second: 18 points
• Third: 12 points

Moscow Performance Bonuses:

Women:

1. Sarah Sjostrom, 50 free: 23.10 = 1018 FINA points
2. Ranomi Kromowidjojo, 100 free: 51.14 = 986 FINA points
3. Katinka Hosszu, 100 IM: 57.02 = 981 FINA points

Men:

1. Cameron van der Burgh, 100 breast: 56.30 = 963 FINA points
2. Kirill Prigoda, 200 breast: 2:02.16 = 958 FINA points
3. Ilya Shymanovich, 100 breast: 56.40 = 958 FINA points

Prigoda won the tiebreaker with Shymanovich by virtue of his second-best swim, a 938-point 100 breast of 56.80, compared to Shymanovich’s second-best swim, a 922-point 2:03.71 in the 200 breast.

World Cup Point Standings

Here are the full point standings:

Women:

Men: