2021 FINA World Cup Kazan: Day 3 Finals Live Recap

2021 FINA WORLD CUP STOP #4 – KAZAN

• Thursday, October 28 – Saturday, October 30th
• Kazan Aquatics Palace, Kazan, Russia
• Prelims: 10 am local / 3 am ET
• Finals: 6 pm local / 11 am ET
• SCM (25m)
• Results

MEN’S 400 IM – FASTEST HEAT

WR 3:54.81 SETO Daiya JPN 20 DEC 2019 Las Vegas (USA)
WC 3:57.25 SETO Daiya JPN 30 SEP 2018 Eindhoven (NED)
WJ 3:59.15 SETO Daiya JPN 13 DEC 2012 (TUR)

GOLD – Daiya Seto (JPN), 3:57.85
SILVER – Ilya Borodin (RUS), 4:02.89
BRONZE – Daniil Pasynkov (RUS), 4:06.01

27-year-old Daiya Seto of Japan put on an absolute clinic in this men’s 400m IM, logging a massive 3:57.85 to beat the field by 5 seconds. The man led from start to finish and nearly broke his own longstanding World Cup Record, a mark represented by the 3:57.25 he put up in 2018.

Seto owns the World Record in this event with his lifetime best of 3:54.81 from the ISL season 1 finale in Las Vegas; however, his outing here was right up there among the best. His 3:57.85 here in Kazan ranks as the 11th fastest swim in history.

He will be contesting the 200m breaststroke later on in tonight’s session.

A pair of Russian record-holders followed Seto, with Ilya Borodin snagging silver in 4:02.89 while Daniil Pasynov rounded out the top 3 in 4:06.01. The latter owns the SCM 200 IM Russian record while Borodin set this event’s Russian mark at 3:59.57 just last month.

WOMEN’S 800 FREE – FASTEST HEAT

WR 7:59.34 BELMONTE Mireia ESP 10 AUG 2013 Berlin (GER)
WC 7:59.34 BELMONTE GARCIA Mireia ESP 10 AUG 2013 Berlin (GER)
WJ 7:59.44 WANG Jianjiahe CHN 6 OCT 2018 Budapest (HUN)

GOLD – Leah Neale (AUS) 8:22.53
SILVER – Valeriia Salamatina (RUS) 8:23.54
BRONZE – Aleksandra Byova (RUS) 8:26.81

Nothing too Earth-shattering transpired in this women’s 800m free, as Aussie Leah Neale comfortably got her hand on the wall first in a time of 8:22.53.

This is her first time on top of the 800m podium this FINA World Cup Series, although her time has been faster earlier on the circuit. Neale posted a mark of 8:20.55 in Budapest, while she was much slower in Doha at 8:28.16.

Her fastest time ever is represented by the 8:21.95 she produced at the 2015 Australian Short Course Championships so, 6 years later, the now-26-year-old is still holding steady.

WOMEN’S 100 FLY – FINAL

WR 54.61 SJOSTROM Sarah SWE 7 DEC 2014 Doha (QAT)
WC 54.84 DAHLIA Kelsi USA 6 OCT 2018 Budapest (HUN)
WJ 55.64 SHKURDAI Anastasiya BLR 1 NOV 2020 Budapest (HUN)

GOLD – Emma McKeon (AUS) 55.63
SILVER – Maria Ugolkova (SUI) 56.89
BRONZE – Lana Pudar (BIH) 57.39

Versatile Emma McKeon of Australia topped the women’s 100m fly podium once again, clearing the field by over a second en route to gold.

Touching in a mark of 55.63, McKeon opened in 26.03 and closed in 29.60 to capture her 2nd top prize in this event. Her outing here was .20 faster than the 55.83 she logged in Doha for gold there last week.

Behind her this evening was Swiss ace Maria Ugolkova who narrowly missed her own national record in placing 2nd. She registered a mark of 56.89, just .08 away from the 56.81 she scored in Budapest.

Tonight’s bronze medalist, however, did collect a new national record, as Lana Pudar produced a time of 57.39 for a new Bosnia & Herzegovina national standard. At just 15 years of age, she dropped nearly .3 off her previous PB and national record of 57.86 from the Kazan stop.

MEN’S 50 FLY – FINAL

WR 21.75 SANTOS Nicholas BRA 6 OCT 2018 Budapest (HUN)
WC 21.75 SANTOS Nicholas BRA 6 OCT 2018 Budapest (HUN)
WJ 22.34 MINAKOV Andrei RUS 18 DEC 2020 Saint Petersburg (RUS)

GOLD – Szebasztian Szabo (HUN) 21.97
SILVER – Tom Shields (USA) 22.19
BRONZE – Kyle Chalmers (AUS) 22.33

It took until this final stop but Hungary’s Szebasztian Szabo finally put an end to American Tom Shields‘ reign over this men’s 50m butterfly event.

Tonight it was Szabo’s turn to get to the wall first, posting a head-turning sub-22 outing of 21.97. That is within striking distance of the World Cup and World Record of 21.75 Brazil’s Nicholas Santos logged in 2018.

Szabo owns the Hungarian national record at his personal best of 21.86, so tonight’s performance was just off that result.

For Shields, the 30-year-old still stood tall, clocking 22.19 for runner-up positive while Aussie Kyle Chalmers busted out a near-personal best of his own in 22.33. His resume includes a 22.24 national record in this event from last week in Doha.

This is Chalmers’ only event today after having thrown down the fastest 100m freestyle in history last night for a new 44.84 World Record.

WOMEN’S 200 BACK – FINAL

WR 1:58.94 McKEOWN Kaylee AUS 28 NOV 2020 Different Area (AUS)
WC 1:59.35 ZEVINA Daryna UKR 26 AUG 2016 Chartres (FRA)
WJ 2:00.03 FRANKLIN Missy USA 22 OCT 2011 (GER)

GOLD – Kira Toussaint (NED) 2:03.51
SILVER – Daria K. Ustinova (RUS) 2:07.20
BRONZE – Anastasia Klyarovskaya (RUS) 2:07.54

Dutch speedster Kira Toussaint made it a clean FINA World Cup sweep of this women’s 200m backstroke, tonight racing her way to gold in 2:03.51.

That beat the field decisively, with the next closest swimmer, Daria K. Ustinova of Russia, turning in a time of 2:07.20 to finish nearly 4 seconds behind Toussaint.

In fact, Toussaint nearly made it a clean sweep of all of the backstroke events, collecting 4 golds in the 50m back across the Cup, as well as 4 golds in the 200m back. She also won the 100m back three times, although Swedish swimmer Louise Hansson took the first gold in Berlin.

MEN’S 100 BACK – FINAL

WR 48.33 STEWART Coleman USA 29 AUG 2021 Napoli (ITA)
WC 48.88 XU Jiayu CHN 11 NOV 2018 Tokyo (JPN)
WJ 48.90 KOLESNIKOV Kliment RUS 22 DEC 2017 Saint Petersburg (RUS)

GOLD – Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS) 49.47
SILVER – Pavel Samusenko (RUS) 50.44
BRONZE – Grigory Tarasevich (RUS) 50.82

It was a 1, 2, 3 Russian finish tonight in Kazan, led by reigning World Junior Record holder Kliment Kolesnikov.

The 21-year-old Olympian touched in 49.47 to represent the only swimmer to get under the 50-second threshold tonight. That’s less than a second off of his own lifetime best of 48.58 from November of 2020, a time that makes him the 2nd fastest performer all-time behind newly-minted World Record holder Coleman Stewart of the United States (48.33).

Pavel Samusenko was next in line, hitting 50.44 while former Louisville Cardinal Grigory Tarasevich was also in the mix at 50.82. Samusenko’s time is a new personal best, while Tarasevich has been as quick as 50.54 from 2016.

WOMEN’S 50 BREAST – FINAL

WR 28.56 ATKINSON Alia JAM 6 OCT 2018 Budapest (HUN)
WC 28.56 ATKINSON Alia JAM 6 OCT 2018 Budapest (HUN)
WJ 28.81 PILATO Benedetta ITA 21 NOV 2020 Budapest (HUN)

GOLD – Nika Godun (RUS) 29.64
SILVER – Yuliya Efimova (RUS) 29.65
BRONZE – Vitalina Simonova (RUS) 30.46

By the narrowest of margins, Nika Godun beat out countrywoman Yuliya Efimova for 50m breaststroke gold. Godun touched in 29.64, a fingernail ahead of Efimova’s 29.65.

Godun won this event once before on the circuit, clocking 29.81 for gold in Budapest.

MEN’S 200 BREAST – FINAL

WR 2:00.16 PRIGODA Kirill RUS 13 DEC 2018 Hangzhou (CHN)
WC 2:00.48 GYURTA Daniel HUN 31 AUG 2014 Dubai (UAE)
WJ 2:03.23 BEST TIME 14 DEC 2012 (TUR)

GOLD – Daiya Seto (JPN) 2:01.49
SILVER – Arno Kamminga (NED) 2:02.13
BRONZE – Anton Chupkov (RUS) 2:02.71

Seto, Kamminga, and Chupkov are certainly among the most notable and talented breaststrokers in the game right now and their battle for gold here didn’t disappoint. Kamminga had the quick start, getting to the 50 in a 27.77 and the 58.63 while Seto and Chupkov were 3rd and 5th, respectively, and the halfway mark.

Kamminga held the lead at the 150 but Seto had nearly caught up and courtesy of a 30.87 closing split, Japan’s Seto overtook Kamminga and touched in first place with a 2:01.49. That swim for Seto was within 0.20 seconds of his personal best and Japanese record in the event, which sits at a 2:01.30 from 4 years ago.

Kamminga followed Seto with a 2:02.13, also trailing his own PB and NR of 2:01.43 from 2020. Chupkov on the other hand doesn’t hold the Russian record as countrymate Kirill Prigoda owns the mark, along with the world record, at a 2:00.16 from 2018. Chupkov’s best ever swim in the event is a 2:01.57 from 3 years ago, a bit faster than the 2:02.71 he posted here for bronze.

WOMEN’S 100 FREE – FINAL

WR 50.25 CAMPBELL Cate AUS 26 OCT 2017 Adelaide (AUS)
WC 50.58 24.49 SJOSTROM Sarah SWE Eindhoven (NED) 11 AUG 2017
=WC 50.58 24.55 McKEON Emma AUS Budapest (HUN) 9 OCT 2021
WJ 51.45 SANCHEZ Kayla Noelle CAN 14 DEC 2018 Sheffield (GBR)

GOLD – Emma McKeon (AUS), 50.67
SILVER – Michelle Coleman (SWE), 51.94
BRONZE – Madi Wilson (AUS), 52.24

Although Emma McKeon of Australia has been faster, co-owning the World Cup Record at 50.58 in this women’s 100m freestyle, the 27-year-old just threw down the 4th fastest performance in history.

Nailing a mark of 50.67, McKeon was in a league of her own tonight, beating Michelle Coleman of Sweden by more than a second, although Coleman put up the 3rd fastest time of her career in 51.94.

Splitting 24.34/26.33, McKeon’s 50.67 tonight sits only behind the World Record mark of 50.24 held by her teammate Cate Campbell, as well as the pair of aforementioned 50.58’s. McKeon already won the 100m fly earlier in this session.

MEN’S 200 FREE – FINAL

WR 1:39.37 23.79 49.29 1:14.72 BIEDERMANN Paul GER Berlin (GER) 15 NOV 2009
WC 1:39.37 23.79 49.29 1:14.72 BIEDERMANN Paul GER Berlin (GER) 15 NOV 2009
WJ 1:40.65 23.58 49.51 1:15.14 SATES Matthew RSA Berlin (GER) 3 OCT 2021

GOLD – Matt Sates (RSA) & Danas Rapsys (LTU) 1:41.73
SILVER – *
BRONZE – Fernando Scheffer (BRA) 1:42.83

South Africa’s Matt Sates took this 200m free event at the first two stops of this FINA World Cup circuit, posting a new World Junior Record of 1:40.65 to kick-off his campaign in Berlin.

Chasing him the entire time was Lithuanian national record holder Danas Rapsys, who finally clipped Sates’ heels tonight in the form of tying him for gold. Both men registered a result of 1:41.73 while Brazilian Olympic medalist Fernando Scheffer collected bronze in 1:42.83. Last week Sates was defeated by South Korea’s Hwang Sunwoo.

Also in tonight’s race was 17-year-old David Popovici, the two-time Olympic finalist from Tokyo who makes waves every time he swims. The Romanian hit a new PB and national record effort of 1:43.68 to come in 5th place.

WOMEN’S 200 IM – FINAL

WR 2:01.86 HOSSZU Katinka HUN 6 DEC 2014 Doha (QAT)
WC 2:02.13 HOSSZU Katinka HUN 31 AUG 2014 Dubai (UAE)
WJ 2:04.64 SANCHEZ Kayla Noelle CAN 14 DEC 2018 Sheffield (GBR)

GOLD – Maria Ugolkova (SUI), 2:06.59
SILVER – Viktoria Gunes (TUR), 2:06.72
BRONZE – Zsuzsanna Jakabos (HUN), 2:06.94

In a race that lasts over 2 minutes, this one came down to the near-touch, as the top 3 finishers were all separated by less than half a second.

Getting there first was Ugolkova, the woman who already took 100m fly silver earlier tonight. Here she posted a winning effort of 2:06.59, tying her lifetime best and Swiss national record she established at the 2019 European Short Course Championships.

Also producing a national record en route to silver tonight was Viktoria Gunes of Turkey. 23-year-old Gunes logged 2:06.72 to snag silver, hacking her previous national record and lifetime best of 2:08.88 from this ISL season to bits.

Hungary’s mainstay racer Zsuzsanna Jakabos was the bronze medalist this evening, posting 2:06.94 to finish off her meet.