Fina World Cup, Moscow: Katinka Hosszu ten medals

THE official mixed 200 free relay world record was set tonight at the FINA World Cup in Moscow, while Katinka Hosszu had a busy night.

Men’s 1500 free
South Africa’s Myles Brown, who already tossed up a third-ranked 14:30.54 at the Eindhoven stop earlier this summer, raced his way to his second tour stop win with a 14:43.52 in the men’s 1500-meter freestyle to start the night. South Africa has had a strong meet so far with Brown, Chad Le Clos and Roland Schoeman all making noise with event wins.
Brazil’s Lucas Kanieski finished more than a second behind with a 14:44.66, while Hungary’s Gergely Gyurta faded to third with a 14:46.17 after leading early on.

Women’s 400 IM
The Iron Lady picked up right where she left off last night, with another podium finish as Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu snagged the distance medley crown in 4:30.65. That’s her seventh podium of the meet, and second gold. It’s not even close to the speed she had in Berlin when she blasted a world record 4:20.85 for the win, but this stop has been relatively slower outside of the amazing women’s breaststroke events.
Japan’s Miyu Otsuka took a distant second in the finale with a time of 4:32.35, while Spain’s Mireia Belmonte wound up third in 4:36.55.
Hungary’s Evelyn Verraszto (4:40.82), Russia’s Victoria Malyutina (4:40.82), Russia’s Yuliya Larina (4:43.48), Japan’s Miho Takahashi (4:44.40) and Ukraine’s Ganna Dzerkal (4:46.41) rounded out the top eight in the timed final event.

Women’s 100 back
Ukraine’s Daryna Zevina collected her third first-place check of the meet as she easily blasted the field in the 100 back with a 56.91. No one was even with a second of the Ukrainian as her backstroke prowess this weekend had earned her some serious cash with $1,500 for each and every victory.
Japan’s Sayaka Akase raced to second in 58.25, while the World Cup Queen Katinka Hosszu snared her EIGHTH podium of the meet. She clocked a 58.75 for third-place honors as she continues to pile up record numbers of dollars on the circuit. Russia’s Daria Ustinova (59.26), Russia’s Polina Lapshina (59.51), Russia’s Alexandra Papusha (59.85), Russia’s Nadezhda Vinyukova (1:00.02) and Russia’s Alina Kendzior (1:01.54) wrapped up the rest of the finale.

Women’s 200 fly
The Iron Lady Katinka Hosszu collected her third gold medal of the meet, second of the night and NINTH podium appearance thus far as she rolled to a 2:06.80 for the win. Hosszu has a much stronger butterfly in her back pocket with a 2:02 from the World Short Course Championships, but she didn’t need it as she conserved energy en route to another paycheck.
Great Britain’s Sophie Allen posted a second-place time of 2:07.92, while Spain’s Mireia Belmonte picked up another cash prize with a third-place time of 2:10.77. Russia’s Daria Shmakova (2:11.58), Anastasia Guzhenkova (2:12.94), Victoria Malyutina (2:14.22), Irina Nazarova (2:15.43) and Anastasia Lyazeva (2:16.78) also competed in the finale.

Men’s 200 IM
South Africa’s Chad le Clos backed up his victory in the fly earlier in the night with a double this evening as he held off Australia’s Kenneth To with a 1:53.04 for the win in the 200 IM. To, meanwhile, finished second in 1:54.91, while Poland’s Pawel Korzeniowski claimed third in 1:56.42.  The top three swimmers have all picked up significant cash this weekend with repeated appearances during the awards podium ceremony breaks here in Moscow.  Brazil’s Henrique Rodrigues (1:56.54), Hungary’s David Verraszto (1:56.88), Russia’s Dmitry Gorbunov (1:57.26), Russia’s Sergey Kashperskiy (1:58.33) and Russia’s Alexander Tikhonov (1:58.42) comprised the rest of the championship heat.

Women’s 400 free
Spain’s Melanie Costa coasted to victory in the women’s middle distance event. She turned in a 4:01.71 to win my more than three seconds as she put up a leisurely time to earn a first-place paycheck. Spanish teammate Mireira Belmonte, the world record holder with a 3:54.52 at the Berlin stop in August, took second in 4:04.77, while backstroke specialist Daryna Zevina of Ukraine picked up third in 4:05.03. Germany’s Sarah Kohler (4:05.44), Sweden’s Louise Hansson (4:06.95), Russia’s Elizaveta Gorshkova (4:13.33) and China’s Chen Ziyi (4:15.72) finished fourth through seventh. Katinka Hosszu either decided to extend her warmdown period intentionally, or just plain finally hit the bottom of her gas tank in her attempt at a 10th potential podium. She finished eighth in 4:20.07 after already having claimed nine medals here in Moscow.

Women’s 100 IM
Anytime you have a scary sprint breaststroke on your resume, you are automatically a threat in the sprint medley, and Lithuania’s Ruta Meilutyte demonstrated that fully tonight. Meilutyte blazed the sprint medley with a time of 58.57 after coming home in 30.92 to overtake the world-record holder Katinka Hosszu.
Hosszu, meanwhile, clocked a 58.75 for second to capture her 10th podium of the meet following a warmdown swim during the 400 freestyle. It is astonishing the type of versatility Hosszu presents at these FINA World Cup meets, and is why she’s raking in the dough both for her swimming and also in sponsorship deals.
Jamaica’s Alia Atkinson wrapped up the podium with a third-place time of 59.12, while Germany’s Theresa Michalak also broke 1:00 with a fourth-place 59.34. Great Britain’s Sophie Allen (1:00.38), Sweden’s Louise Hansson (1:00.96), Hungary’s Evelyn Verraszto (1:01.76) and Russia’s Veronika Popova (1:01.85) also competed in the finale.

Women’s 50 fly
Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom powered her way to another gold medal. This time, she clocked a sizzling 25.56 to take home the sprint fly as the final individual title of the weekend. That’s four golds for the sensational Swedish sprinter, who definitely knew which events to focus on for her biggest return.
The Netherlands’ Inge Dekker picked up second-place honors in 25.97, while Singapore’s Li Tao finished third in 25.99. Russia’s Rozaliya Nasretdinova (26.29), Russia’s Daria Tcvetkova (26.31), Germany’s Dorothea Brandt (26.65), Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu (26.98) and Russia’s Anastasia Lyazeva (27.05) also vied for the title. That’s Hosszu’s 12th final of the meet, having claimed a medal in 10 of those attempts.

Source: swimmingworldmagazine.com