Day 2 Doha Finals: Hosszu Goes 3-For-3 To Gain Ground On Sjostrom

2017 FINA WORLD CUP – DOHA

• Wednesday, October 4th & Thursday, October 5th
• Hamad Aquatic Center
• Prelims at 10am local/Finals at 6pm local
• SCM
• Entries Book
• Day 1 Prelims Recap
• Day 1 Finals Recap
• Day 2 Prelims Recap
• Results
• Live Stream (FINAtv, where available)

With the Dubai stop of this World Cup Series having been eliminated from the schedule, powerhouse swimmers such as Sarah Sjostrom, Katinka Hosszu and Vladimir Morozov took full advantage of being able to swim 6 individual events in Doha.

Sjostrom already won gold across the 200m free, 50m free and 100m butterfly last night, and collected more hardware during day 2 finals. The Swede fired off a quick 51.62 to produce the only sub-52 second outing of the women’s 100m freestyle field to top the podium, while also nailing a speedy 24.76 in the 50m butterfly.

Runner-up to Sjostrom in each of those races was Dutch Olympic champion Ranomi Kromowidjojo who earned silver in times of 52.19 and 25.25 for the 100m free and 50m fly respectively. Kromo’s times in the same events from the Hong Kong stop were 52.53 and 25.46, so the newly-minted 50 SCM free world record holder has improved this time around. Kromo’s medal-winning performances are impressive for the 27-year-old who underwent a tonsillectomy only weeks ago.

Hungary’s Iron Lady Katinka Hosszu was successful across her 3 events today, cranking out a 100m backstroke winning effort of 56.27. That was enough to hold off Aussie World Cup rival Emily Seebohm, who touched just .13 behind for silver after having won the 50m distance of the discipline last night.

Hosszu made her characteristic mark in the 100m IM as well, claiming the Doha title in 57.26. Much closer than in Hong Kong, however, was Sjostrom, who stopped the clock at 57.60 for a quick silver. Sjostrom’s time in the previous stop was 58.62, so she dropped almost a full second with tonight’s performance.

The women’s 400m IM saw 9 swimmers in the fastest heat, which took place tonight and, expectedly, Hosszu topped the field in her pet event. Clocking 4:27.94, Hosszu led the race wire-to-wire, with Seebohm the next closest finisher in 4:32.57.

Young guns out of China, Wang Jianjiahe and Li Bingjie went to work on another mid-distance freestyle event, chasing one another in the 400m freestyle race tonight. Wang got the upper hand when all was said and done, touching the wall in 4:02.43 to Li’s 4:02.53. Wang already nabbed a new World Junior Record last night with her victory in the 800m freestyle.

South Africa’s Chad Le Clos was the winner across 2 events over American Tom Shields today, adding to his 200m butterfly and 50m butterfly golds from last night. Le Clos cranked out a quick 1:44.40 to take the men’s 200m freestyle, while Shields settled for silver in the event with his time of 1:45.02.

The 2 then battled in the 100m butterfly where Le Clos got the leg up once again with a mark of 50.17, although Shields was only .13 behind, touching in 50.30 for another runner-up slot.

The South African was able to collect another 861 FINA points by way of his 2nd place tie with Poland’s Radoslaw Kawecki in the men’s 200m backstroke. The pair touched in 1:51.02 behind Germany’s Christian Diener, the man who also earned 50m backstroke gold tonight in 23.58 to complete the backstroke sweep in Doha.

Le Clos also earned silver behind Russia’s Vlad Morozov in the men’s 50m freestyle, an event which saw the Russian earn the only sub-21 second time of the field. Morozov touched in 20.98 for gold, with Le Clos next in line with 21.50 shortly after his 100m butterfly gold.

The men’s 100m breaststroke was expectedly tight, but ultimately it was Cameron Van der Burgh‘s turn to win. He produced a speedy 56.11 to come within a second of his own WR time of 55.61 set back in 2009. Russia’s Kirill Prigoda touched just .2 back in 56.31, while Belarus’ Ilya Shymanovich rounded out the top 3 in a mark of 56.76.

Additional Winners on Day 2:

• Jamaican world record holder Alia Atkinson earned the 50m breaststroke victory in a time of 29.43 to represent the only swimmer of the field to dip under the 30 second threshold.
• China’s Zhang Yufei took the 200m butterfly gold in 2:07.43, knocking over a second off of the 2:08.64 she produced in Hong Kong. Germany’s Alexandra Wenk was less than a second behind in 2:08.17, while bronze went to Hong Kong athlete Chan Kin Luk in a new national record-setting mark of 2:08.72.
• The women’s 200m breaststroke saw Denmark’s Rikke Pedersen crush the competition, winning by over 7 solid seconds with her time of 2:18.86.
• Gergely Gyurta of Hungary was tonight’s 1500m freestyle winner, taking the gold in a time of 14:41.84.
• Prigoda secured gold a 2nd time in the session, coming out on top in the 200m IM event with his mark of 1:55.57.