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The World Aquatics Swimming World Cup 2024 tour shifts to South Korea after a World Record fell in Shanghai last Sunday.
The post-Olympic racing season is underway as some of the world’s best will be racing for prize money this weekend in Incheon at the Munhak Park Tae-Hwan Swimming Pool, the host of the 2014 Asian Games.
Many Korean swimmers will be racing this weekend after its best Olympic showing in 12 years, as Kim Woo-min won the nation’s first Olympic swimming medal since London 2012 when Park Tae-Hwan, the namesake of the pool these athletes will be competing in this weekend, won two silvers in the 200m and 400m freestyle.
This Korean team has been on the rise the last few years, and many of those stars have since risen, and will be racing this weekend ready to show their national pride.
The racing has been fast, and it should be no different in Incheon, with heats set to begin Thursday morning 9:30 a.m. local time, with finals following at 7:30 p.m. local.
Here are some of the races to keep an eye out for this weekend.
Korea’s lone medallist from Paris, Kim Woo-min, is set to swim the event he won the bronze medal in in Paris, the 400m freestyle. Kim will have his hands full with the likes of last week’s winner Duncan Scott, who went 3:36.98 in Shanghai. Kim, age 23, is in the prime of his career that culminated in that huge swim in Paris. Now he has an opportunity to swim in an international meet in his home country, where the Korean fans will make their voices heard.
Rising junior Kim Jun-woo, who won silver in the 1500m freestyle at last year’s World Juniors, is also on the entries list as the 17-year-old was sixth last year in the 400m freestyle at that meet.
Look no further than American Kieran Smith and Lithuania’s Danas Rapsys to challenge the likes of Scott and Kim in this race on the first night of competition.
Fresh off a World Record last week in the 50m butterfly, Switzerland’s Noe Ponti will look to keep that momentum into Incheon as he moved up to third all-time last week in the 100m butterfly with a 48.40 in Shanghai. Ponti dominated the field in China, in front of an impressive field with Olympic finalists Nyls Korstanje (49.24) and Matthew Temple (49.93).
🇨🇭 Noe Ponti wakes up the pool with a WORLD RECORD 🚀 on the third day of the #SWC2024 in Shanghai setting a 21.67 in the Men’s 50m Butterfly 😱 pic.twitter.com/IlDo4nfXj4
The field will also be bolstered by the presence of Andrei Minakov and South Africa’s Chad Le Clos, who were on the podium together in this event at the 2019 World Championships.
However, Ponti is in a class of his own right now, and, at age 23, could inch closer to Caeleb Dressel’s 47.78 world record, although that time is currently in the stratosphere. Ponti has a lot of speed right now, and he will be looking to swim even faster in Incheon this week.
After Gretchen Walsh set the World Record back home last week, what does Virginia teammate Kate Douglass have in response this week? Douglass became the first American to break 57 seconds in the non-Olympic event last week before Walsh took the event inside 56 for the first time a few hours later.
This weekend, Douglass will have her hands full with the likes of China’s Yu Yiting as well as the emergence of Korea’s Kim Seo-yeong in her home nation. The race, however, is likely to be between Douglass and the clock as she currently leads the overall World Cup point standings with two weekends to go.
China’s Tang Qianting keeps inching closer and closer to the world record in this event, getting less than two tenths off the world record in her home town of Shanghai. Tang, age 20, dominated last week’s field that included Olympic finalists Alina Zmushka and Benedetta Pilato, winning over Zmushka by nearly two full seconds.
The race this weekend in Incheon will likely be between Tang and the clock as that 1:02.36 held by Alia Atkinson and Ruta Meilutyte is certainly under threat after Tang’s 1:02.53 last week. Fellow Olympic finalist Eneli Jefimova of Estonia, who was the first Olympic finalist for her nation, is also in the field, as is 200m Olympic champion Kate Douglass of the United States.
Olympic champion Leon Marchand could take aim at the World Record of 1:49.63 set back in 2012 by Ryan Lochte as Marchand swam 1:50.30 in Shanghai last week. It was perhaps the best swim of the weekend for Marchand, who will have his hands full this weekend with the entrance of Japan’s Daiya Seto to the World Cup circuit.
Seto, who was the World Short Course champion in 2021, was passed by Marchand on the all-time list as Seto currently sits sixth all-time in this event.
Marchand has been on a tear the last two years and if there is anyone who can slow the Marchand train down, it could be Seto.
Finland’s Laura Lahtinen swam a quick 100m butterfly last week in Shanghai, moving up to 21st on the all-time list with a 55.58. She will return in Incheon for round two of a potential triple crown as she is set to compete against China’s Zhang Yufei and Regan Smith of the United States. Both Zhang and Smith have been 55’s in long course meters, and have been on form by virtue of their results last week.
Korea’s Kim Seo-yeong will enter the fray this weekend in her home nation as the 30-year-old is coming off of her fourth Olympic appearance this summer in Paris where she was 17th in the 200m IM.
Reigning World short course champion Hwang Sun-woo will be racing in his home nation against last week’s champion Duncan Scott of Great Britain and four-time Olympic champion Leon Marchand of France.
Hwang was a medal favorite in the 200m freestyle in Paris but was unable to advance past the semi-finals in France. This weekend will be his first bit of international racing since, as he swam 1:45 last week in long course meters at the Korean National Sports Festival. Hwang appears to be on form, and he will want to perform for his home fans in Incheon.
100m Olympic champion Pan Zhanle and world number one Edward Sommerville are also on the entries list as this will be one of the can’t miss races of the weekend on Saturday night.
The 2024 #Swimming World Cup continues in Incheon tomorrow! 🏊♂️ Get ready for more thrilling action from the world’s top swimmers! 🙌🔥 Who’s tuning in?#SWC2024 #FASTLANE pic.twitter.com/lRIeB9OSrh
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