Which Leg of the 2022 FINA World Cup Circuit Was Fastest?

2022 FINA World Cup

• October 21 – November 5, 2022
  • Leg 1: Oct. 21-23 – Berlin, Germany
  • Leg 2: Oct. 28-30 – Toronto, Canada
  • Leg 3: Nov. 3-5 – Indianapolis, Indiana
• SCM (25 meters)
• World Cup Central

Data courtesy of Barry Revzin.

Each leg of the 2022 FINA World Cup circuit featured a unique field.

There were of course constants, swimmers who swam at all three stops in search of the overall series title, but each leg had a different set of athletes competing depending on where the competition was.

We saw a bevy of Europeans race in Berlin, a loaded group of Canadians in Toronto, and a who’s who of American stars in Indianapolis.

So, which meet was the fastest?

SwimSwam data guru Barry Revzin has taken a look at this question from multiple angles, and the numbers indicate that there wasn’t much discernible difference between Toronto and Indy, but Berlin was clearly the slowest meet of the three.

Winning FINA Point Scores

The average winning FINA point scores in Toronto and Indy were virtually identical, while Berlin’s lagged behind. The median and minimum FINA point scores produced by event winners were all relatively similar, indicating that a few outliers/exceptional swims in Toronto and Indy boosted their overall average.

What set Toronto and Indy apart from Berlin was primarily the record swims.

Toronto had three swims exceed 1010 FINA points—Katie Ledecky‘s world record in the women’s 1500 free, and then Summer McIntosh and Ledecky going the second and third-fastest times ever in the 400 free (though Ledecky’s 400 free score doesn’t factor into this average since we’re only looking at winning times). The second stop also had six total and five winning times score more than 980 FINA points.

Indy had one over 1010—Ledecky’s 800 free world record—and four total over 980. Berlin, on the other hand, only had one exceed 980.

32 of the 34 winning times in both Toronto and Indy exceeded 900 FINA points, while Berlin only had 25. Toronto led the way with 15 winning times exceeding 950 FINA points.

For a visual look at this data, here’s how the winning times stacked up in terms of FINA points from each of the three stops:

Looking at it cumulatively, the graph below highlights how Berlin was clearly the slowest of the three meets:

WHERE DID THE TOP TIMES COME FROM?

Out of 36 events, Indianapolis produced the fastest winning time across 17 of them, followed by Toronto (13) and Berlin (6).

Fastest Times – Women

Fastest Times – Men

Diving a bit more into each meet’s depth, Indy had the quickest third-place times more than half (19/36) of the time, followed by Toronto (10) and Berlin (7).

Third Place Times – Women

Third Place Times – Men