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≡ WORLD CUP SERIES ≡
This was the first week of meaningful meets since the Paris Olympic Games and the stars were out in force at the first of three World Aquatics World Cup meets, in Shanghai (CHN). Some were sensational and some decided to stop; this was wild.
The best performance of the weekend, however, might have been in Charlottesville, Virginia on Friday (18th), for the Virginia vs. Florida dual meet, with Cavaliers star Gretchen Walsh on fire!
The Paris Olympic runner-up in the 100 m Butterfly and a three-time relay medalist (2-1-0), Walsh swam in four races and set short-course (meters) records in each:
(1) She led off Virginia’s winning women’s 200 m Medley relay with a 25.37 backstroke leg for an American Record, breaking Clare Curzan’s 25.54 mark from the 2022 World Championships.
(2) Walsh won the women’s 100 m Back in 54.89, another American Record, breaking Olivia Smoliga’s 55.04 mark from 2020.
(3) She won the women’s 50 m Freestyle in 23.10, another American Record, bettering Abbey Weitzeil’s 23.44 time from 2021.
(4) Walsh ended her day with a time trial in the women’s 100 m Medley, winning in a world-record 55.98, smashing Hungarian star Katinka Hosszu’s 56.61 mark from 2017.
Wow! But the Shanghai World Cup was also going on, with plenty of records and surprises.
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In Shanghai, the three-day meet saw the return of French superstar Leon Marchand, who won three events. But he was not the headliner:
● Australia’s Olympic women’s 100-200 m Backstroke gold medalist Kaylee McKeown won a tight battle with American Regan Smith, again, in the 50 m Back, 25.36 to 25.70, with lifetime bests for both and a national record for McKeown.
But afterwards, she posted on Instagram:
“I would like to thank World Aquatics for the opportunity to come out and race at World Cups, it’s been so much fun here in Shanghai.
“Putting my mental health first I’ve decided to cut my experience short. As an athlete It’s so important to listen to your heart and to know when enough is enough.
“Time for a well overdue break. Peace and love to you all.”
● Smith, second to McKeown in the 100-200 Back races in Paris, continued on and won three events, equaling Walsh’s new American Record of 54.89 in the women’s 100 m Back, ahead of U.S. teammate Beata Nelson (56.26).
Smith took the 200 m Back in a lifetime best of 2:00.42, moving to no. 9 all-time and no. 3 all-time U.S., with Nelson third (2:02.56).
And Smith won the women’s 200 m Fly in 2:01.85, just behind Kelsi Dahlia’s U.S. record of 2:01.73 from 2018.
● U.S. teammate Kate Douglass, the Paris 200 m Breaststroke winner and 200 m Medley runner-up, was everywhere and won four events, with two American Records.
She won the 200 m Breast final in 2:15.96, just 0.4 off of the American Record, then got the U.S. mark in the 50 m Butterfly final in 24.54, shaving 0.01 off of Curzan’s 2021 mark of 24.55. It moves Douglass to no. 4 on the all-time list.
In the 100 m Medley, Douglass tied the U.S. record of 57.72 by Nelson in 2021 in the morning heats, then won the final in 56.99 (Nelson was fifth in 58.10). Douglass’ mark only stood for hours before Walsh set the world mark in Charlottesville, however.
Douglass also won the 200 m Medley for her fourth win, in 2:04.09, touching more than a second ahead of the field.
● Swiss Noe Ponti, the Tokyo 2020 bronze winner in the 100 m Fly, snagged the world record in the men’s 50 m Fly in the heats, touching in 21.67, taking 0.11 off the marks by Nicholas Santos (BRA: 2018) and Szebasztian Szabo (HUN: 2021).
Ponti then won the final in 21.68, the no. 2 performance all-time.
Marchand was outstanding as expected, winning the men’s 100 m Medley in 50.65, 1/100th ahead of Ponti (50.66), setting a European Record of 1:50.30 to win the 200 m Medley in 1:50.30, and taking the 400 m Medley easily in 4:00.03.
Eight-time Olympic medal winner Duncan Scott (GBR) was second to Marchand in the men’s 200 m Medley, and won the 200 m free (1:40.92), and the 400 m Free (3:36.98), ahead of American Kieran Smith (3:38.44).
Double-event winners also included South Africa’s Peter Coetze in the 100-200 m Backstrokes and Chinese breaststroke star Haiyang Qin, who took the 50 m Breast (25.38) and 100 m Breast (55.73 Asian Record), but was upset in the 200 m Breast by Australia’s Joshua Yong, 2:01.67 to 2:01.92.
Italy’s Thomas Ceccon, the Paris 2024 men’s 100 m Backstroke winner, upset Chinese sprint superstar (and world-record holder) Zhanle Pan in the 100 m Free, 46.32 to 46.35. Ceccon was the last qualifier out of the heats and pulled the shocker from lane eight!
Two American men earned wins, with Charlie Clark taking the 1,500 m Free in 14:40.57 and Trenton Julian taking the 200 m Fly in 1:51.24.
Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey, the Tokyo silver winner in the women’s 100-200 m Frees, won those events in Shanghai in 51.89 and 1:51.46. China’s Qianting Tang took the 50-100 m Breast events in 28.76 and 1:02.53.
The swimming World Cup moves on to South Korea, to Incheon for the second leg, from 24-26 October. Could this get better?
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