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Noe Ponti (SUI) and Regan Smith (USA) were the top point scorers at the second World Aquatics Swimming World Cup stop in Incheon as Ponti won the 50m butterfly and Smith won the 200m backstroke to finish the second stop of the series.
Switzerland’s Noe Ponti neared his own world record once again in the 50m butterfly, closing out his racing campaign at the Incheon stop of the 2024 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup with a time of 21.76, just off his 21.67 time claimed last week in Shanghai.
Ponti, whose swim is the fifth fastest performance of all-time, was closely followed by Nyls Korstanje (21.99) of the Netherlands.
“It was a 50 and we were all a bit tired,” Ponti said. “I went .09 slower than the previous record, what can I say, it’s still an amazing performance.
Everything went well today. It was my third win of the weekend. I am hopefully going to be first in the World Cup rankings.”
Ponti was the top point male scorer in Incheon, scoring 58.2 points and is second overall with 115 points, behind France’s Leon Marchand (116.4).
“It feels good. I am really happy,” Ponti said. “It is the first time that I have won a leg of the World Cup. It could not get better than this. I am having fun racing these guys. I think we are all having lots of fun and I think that’s the most important thing. Money and hard work are not as important as enjoying what we do. I don’t know what I will do with the money, maybe savings, but I may invest it in my house. If I had not tied with Leon in the 100m individual medley I am not sure I would have won this title. It’s fun to have races and rankings so close with the other guys. It happens and it’s awesome.”
The women’s top point scorer was Regan Smith of the USA, who won the 200m backstroke on Saturday at 1:59.60, which put her sixth on the all-time list. Smith is the first American to break 2:00 in the event as she followed up her world record from last night in the 100m backstroke.
“I am very pleased with the time, but if I had swum 2:03 tonight I would have been feeling the same way,” Smith said. “I just want to give myself a mental break right now. Right now it is about swimming free (of pressure) and not really thinking much about anything.”
Smith scored 59.4 points to win the Incheon stop overall as she currently leads the overall points with 118.4 points over fellow American Kate Douglass (118.3).
“It was a good way to end the weekend,” Smith said. “Kate and I were just going back and forth in the world cup rankings and it has been fun to do this with a good friend of mine, so it’s been a fun week. I want to get my parents something special for Christmas this year because they have done quite a lot for me. They have spent a lot of money on me during my swimming career so I would like to give back in a way that is bigger than just saying thank you.
“Kate and I are neck and neck in the World Cup rankings,” Smith said. “She is my best friend and the last of us both want is to be concerned with the points system. We are both here for the fun of it, and supporting each other. We make each other better for sure. I think if I focus on it, it will take away from the fun of it, and that’s what it really is all about right now.”
Perhaps the top swim of the day was from Great Britain’s Duncan Scott, who dominated the 200m freestyle field to win at 1:40.29. Scott was under Paul Biedermann’s world record pace from 2009 through 150 meters and eventually claimed a time just short off his lifetime best to put up the seventh fastest performance of all-time.
“I was really happy with that,” Scott said. “I wasn’t expecting that at all. I was really happy with 1:40.9 (in Shanghai) and tonight was faster. Racing alongside these boys brings the best out of me. I just love racing. Next year (at the World Championships) in Singapore with a full cycle of training I am quite excited for what I can do in the 200m free.”
Scott beat a stellar field as Lithuania’s Danas Rapsys (1:42.00) won silver and American Kieran Smith (1:42.36) won bronze. Korea’s Hwang Sun-woo, the two-time defending world short course champion in this event, finished fourth in his home nation at 1:42.92.
Scott has been racing well at these World Cups, currently sitting fifth in the overall points ranking with 110.9.
France’s superstar Leon Marchand has the lead overall with 116.4 as he won his best event, the 400m IM, at 3:58.30 in a tough race over Japan’s world record holder Daiya Seto (3:59.43).
“I took a long time off from swimming after the Olympics, probably about six weeks,” Marchand said. “I am not really fit I would say, but I feel fine in the water. I was able to race those guys to the wall so I am doing well. After Singapore I will go back to Toulouse, France to train with my previous coach, and we will get back to work.”
This was Marchand’s second straight win in this event in this World Cup series as he will go for a triple crown next weekend in Singapore.
Seto led for 325 meters before Marchand out-kicked him on the freestyle, as Marchand moved up to tenth all-time in the event in which he won his first Olympic gold medal.
“It was a good one, it was well paced compared to last week,” Marchand said. “I started a little bit slower in the fly, and I think my backstroke was really good. I was holding a lot of water. I was trying to push myself in breaststroke and my legs were just dying at the end.
China’s Qin Haiyang is currently third overall in the men’s rankings with 112.6 points as he won the 200m breaststroke on Saturday at 2:02.57, out-touching Australia’s Joshua Yong (2:02.73) in the process.
Yong beat Qin last weekend but Qin, the long course world record holder, was able to turn the tables to win this weekend in Incheon.
“It was a bit of good fortune and thanks also to my training,” Qin said. “However I was not 100% confident about the details of my performance. There were some flaws and mistakes that I need to improve in my next competition. Since the Incheon World Cup is over, nothing matters except the improvements I must make before Singapore.”
China had a big day in the pool, with lots of fans making the trip to Incheon to watch their favourite swimmers. Olympic gold medalist Pan Zhanle started things off by winning the 800m freestyle at 7:35.30.
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“It was an honour to win this title, fortunately, I was in good condition for today,” Pan said. “My training is very similar to this event. The 800m event was not only to challenge me, but to train myself to the best of my ability. I thought my time was very good.”
Pan was able to claim victory over the likes of 17-year-old rising star Kim Junwoo, who finished second at 7:39.15 after leading for 575 meters.
“I was in good condition, so I performed well from the start of the race,” Kim said. “However, I am not disappointed in the result of the race because Pan Zhanle did well, as I expected he would. As I moved from junior to senior swimmer, I improved my standard and learned a lot from the other Korean senior swimmers. I learned how to increase my concentration with each and every competition.
“Also, I was advised to believe in the best in myself.
A thanks to Korean fans for supporting me”, Kim added.
Olympic silver medalist Tang Qianting won her second straight 50m breaststroke title at 29.03. She won over the likes of Italy’s Benedetta Pilato (29.48) and Alina Zmushka (29.80).
“Today was my last race for the Incheon World Cup,” Tang said. “For now I want to enjoy a good rest and to be prepared for the Singapore World Cup.”
Yu Yiting closed out the weekend for China by winning the 200m IM in the final race of the meet, touching at 2:04.73 in a good race with Canada’s Mary-Sophie Harvey (2:05.23).
“The competition in Incheon was a great experience for me and I was honored to receive a gold medal in this event,” Yu said. “I am enjoying this moment. I know that everyone was swimming their own world class performances. The last 5 meters of this race was very competitive for me.”
Yu is currently fifth in the overall points standings with 105.1 behind the likes of Harvey (106.2) and Siobhan Haughey of Hong Kong, who won the 100m freestyle on Saturday at 51.73. This is the second straight win this year for Haughey in the 100m freestyle.
“The race was very competitive,” Haughey said. “I always hope to get better each week. It’s a 100 and one small error can cost a lot. After each race we look at the race video and maybe find one or two areas that we want to work on. For this race it was my turns and underwaters and I think I did pretty well on those things. For Singapore I will find something new to work on.”
Finland’s Laura Lahtinen (100m butterfly) and South Africa’s Pieter Coetze (100m backstroke) will also have triple crowns on the line next weekend in Singapore.
Lahtinen swam 55.76 in winning the 100m butterfly over Australia’s Lily Price (56.15) and China’s Yu (56.22).
“It was supposed to be a good swim but I know that I was going under water before the walls and that was really slow,” Lahtinen said. “I am really happy with the last 50. At least I was faster than the others. My legs were dying. I just tried to stay relaxed. It was a better swim than this morning, which was really bad. Maybe I lost a few tenths because of a turn, I think the second turn was slower for sure.”
Coetze won the 100m backstroke at 49.93 as he claimed victory over Poland’s Kacper Stokowski (50.17), thanks to a stellar last turn.
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“That felt quite tough,” Coetze said. “I felt it in my legs and my body is quite stiff right now. I saw Kacper right next to me, and I knew it was going to be close, but I was happy to get the win. I didn’t come here with the mindset to swim PB’s. I am just trying to win each time I swim and to keep the streak alive.
The 2024 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup will continue and conclude next weekend in Singapore, the site of the World Aquatics Championships 2025. The stop will begin on Thursday 31 October at 9:30 a.m. local time and finish on Saturday 2 November.
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