Hosszu Takes The 400 IM And 200 Butterfly On Day Two In Moscow

It took five tries before Katinka Hosszu was able to pick up her first win on day one in Moscow, but on Sunday she wasted no time taking the top spot in the 400 IM in a time of 4:30.65. Hosszu was challenged by Miyu Otsuka of Japan who was only two one-hundredths of a second behind the Hungarian world champion after the breaststroke.

Hosszu increased her lead over Otsuka by a significant margin in the freestyle winning the event in a time of 4:30.65.

Although her the time was 10 seconds away from her world record, she was not far off her 2012 in season time of 4:28.01 which she posted in Stockholm last October.

Otsuka finished second in a time of 4:32.35 while Spaniard Mirea Belmonte finished third in a time of 4:36.55.

Men’s 1500 freestyle

The opening event of the second evening of the FINA World Cup in Moscow was an exciting battle between Myles Brown of South Africa, Brazilian Lucas da Cruz Kanieski and Gergely Gyurta of Hungary. At the 750 mark only six tenths of a second separated the three men and it stayed that close until the 1350 turn which is when Brown who won the 400 freestyle on Saturday created a little more separation between himself and the other two men.

Brown won the event in a time of 14:43.52. Da Cruz Kanieski who won the bronze in the 400 freestyle posted a time of 14:44.66 and Gyurta who recorded a 14:46.17.

Women’s 100 freestyle

Swedish swimmer Sarah Sjoestroem showed yesterday by winning three events that she was ready to take on all comers in the short course pool and today was no different. Sjoestroem dominated the women’s 100 freestyle turning at the halfway mark in a

Sarah Sjostrom (Photo Credit Victor Puig, victorpuig.com)

time of 25.27 a full second ahead of Russian Veronika Popova. She then went on to extend her lead winning the event in a time of 51.93 almost two seconds ahead of the field.

With that time Sjoestroem broke her own Swedish national record of 52.15 which she set last January.

Maud van der Meer of the Netherlands finished second in a time of 53.79 followed by Popova who posted a 53.94.

Men’s 200 freestyle

Australian Robert Hurley had a great day on Saturday winning the 100 backstroke and collecting a silver in the 400 freestyle, he returned to the pool on Sunday aiming for the win in the 200 freestyle. At the 100 meter mark Hurely led the field going out in a time of 51.02, but it was Polish swimmer Pawel Korzeniowski who moved up seven positions in the final 100 meters of the race who took the event in a time of 1:44.12.

Hurley finished a close second posting a time of 1:44.33 followed by Myles Brown, who only minutes earlier won the 1500 freestyle, finished third in a time of 1:44.46. 

Women’s 50 breaststroke

After yesterday’s 100 breaststroke where Lithuanian teenage superstar Ruta Meilutyte broke the world record while Yuliya Efimova finished with the silver, it was beginning to look a lot like Barcelona. The Russian fans were hoping that the 50 breaststroke final would turn out the same way it did at the World Championships where Efimova defeated Meilutyte in the final.

That would not be the case as Meilutyte would go on to win the event in a time of 28.89, just nine one-hundredths of a second off of American Jessica Hardy’s world record and Efimova would be disqualified from the event.

Although Meilutyte did not break the world record in the 50 breaststroke she did break her own European record of 29.44 which she posted in Istanbul at the 2012 Short Course World Championships.

Jamaican Alia Atkinson who picked up the bronze in the 100 breaststroke finished second in a time of 29.33 followed by German Dorothea Brandt who finished third recording a time of 30.35.

Men’s 100 breaststroke

Yesterday defending World Cup Champion Australian Kenneth To finished second twice to Russian Vladimir Morozov in both the 100 freestyle and 100 IM, but on Sunday he made sure that he got his first win early. To won the 100 breaststroke in a time of 58.42.

Michael Jamieson of Great Britain held off Russian Viatcheslav Sinkevich to finish second in a time of 58.83. Sinkevich finished third in a time of 58.89.

Men’s 100 butterfly

Chad le Clos

Men’s World Cup point leader South African Chad le Clos picked up his second win of the competition taking the 100 butterfly in a time of 49.34. Yesterday le Clos won the 200 butterfly and finished second in the 50 butterfly, he has another chance later today to take home gold as he is going into the 200 IM final as the top ranked competitor.

American Tom Shields finished second in a time of 49.74 followed by Konrad Czerniak of Poland who finished third in a time of 50.66.

Women’s 100 backstroke

With a win in the women’s 100 backstroke Daryna Zevina of the Ukraine swept the women’s backstroke events in Moscow. Zevina won the event convincingly finishing in a time of 56.91, only two tenths of a second off her own national record of 56.71 which she posted in 2011.

Sayaka Akase of Japan finished second in a time of 58.25. Katinka Hosszu who swam her second of six events on the evening finished third posting a time of 58.75.

Although one may think that Hosszu has not been happy with only winning two of her races in Moscow her goal coming into the event was finishing in the top three in all her events, “I’m not disappointed. My goal was to be in the top-3 in every race. There is a new rule: you get points for every medal. So this was a pretty good day for me with five podiums and one gold,” said Hosszu at the conclusion of Saturday’s events.”

Men’s 50 backstroke

Australian Robert Hurley continue to collect more hardware in Moscow winning the men’s 50 backstroke in a time of 23.44. This was Hurley’s fourth medal of the competition, yesterday he won the 100 backstroke and finished second in the 400 freestyle while

Robert Hurley

today he took home a silver in the 200 freestyle. He will look to swept the backstroke events later this evening after just sneaking into the final in the seventh position.

Fellow Aussie Ashley Delaney finished second in a time of 23.81 followed by Russian Anton Butymov who touched third in a time of 23.91.

Women’s 200 butterfly

Today’s placings on the podium is something that Hungarian Katinka Hosszu is more used to. After winning the 400 IM earlier in the day Hosszu picked up her second win of the evening taking the women’s 200 butterfly in a time of 2:06.80. She was pushed by British swimmer Sophie Allen who stayed within a tenth of a second of Hosszu up until the 150 meter mark, but could not match her in the final 50.

Allen finished second in a time of 2:07.92 while Mirea Belmonte of Spain collected her second bronze of the evening finishing in a time of 2:10.77.

Men’s 200 IM

Yesterday Chad le Clos had a shot at standing on the top of the podium twice, but fellow South African Roland Schoeman prevented that, defeating le Clos in the 50 butterfly. Today le Clos would not be denied that opportunity after winning the 100 butterfly earlier in the evening he followed that up by taking the 200 IM in a time of 1:53.04.

Kenneth To finished second for the third time in the competition touching in a time of 1:54.91 followed by Pawel Korzeniowski of Poland who posted a time of 1:56.42.

Women’s 400 freestyle

Spaniards Melanie Costa and Mirea Belmonte finished in the top two spots in the women’s 400 freestyle. Costa, who won the silver at the World Championships in Barcelona in the same event, won the event in a convincing fashion posting a time of 4:01.71.

Belmonte recorded a time of 4:04.27 to place second while Ukrainian Daryna Zevina continued to find a spot on the podium finishing third in a time of 4:05.03.

Men’s 50 freestyle

There was a familiar face standing on top of the podium in the men’s 50 freestyle. Crowd favourite Russian Vladimir Morozov won his third gold of the competition taking the men’s 50 freestyle in a time of 20.59. Morozov was only two one-hundredths of a

Vlad Morozov (Photo Credit Victor Puig, victorpuig.com)

second off of Roland Schoeman’s World Cup record of 20.57 and was four one-hundredths of a second away from his lifetime best of 20.55 that he posted last year at the Short Course World Championships in Istanbul.

Schoeman finished second in a time of 21.15 followed by George Bovell III of Trinidad and Tobago who touched in a time of 21.49.

Women’s 200 breaststroke

After a disappointing 50 breaststroke where she was disqualified for a false start Russian Yulia Efimova, the World Champion in both the 50 and 200 breaststroke, returned to the pool in the 200 breaststroke winning the event in a time of 2:18.50.

Much to the crowd’s delight fellow Russian Vitalina Simonova finished second posting a time of 2:19.22 followed by Kanako Watanabe of Japan who finished third in a time of 2:20.27.

Women’s 100 IM

Make it two for Meilutyte. After winning the 50 breaststroke earlier in the evening Meilutyte went on to prevent Katinka Hosszu from winning her third gold medal of the evening, at least for now. The Lithuanian teenager won the event in a time of 58.57 which betters her lifetime best of 58.79 that she recorded in Istanbul last December.

Hosszu finished second in a time of 58.75 followed by Jamaican Alia Atkinson who collected her second medal of the evening touching in a time of 59.12.

Men’s 200 backstroke

After finishing second to teammate Robert Hurley in both the 50 and 100 backstroke Ashley Delaney wasn’t going to let it happen again, but it was close. Hurley, who spent most of the race two seconds behind Delaney, made it a race swimming the final 50 meters in a time of 28.90 compared to Delaney’s final split of 30.25.

Delaney took the event in a time of 1:54.21 followed by Hurley who posted a time of 1:54.92.

Russian Nikita Ulyanov finished third in a time of 1:55.98.

Women’s 50 freestyle

Make it five for Swedish star Sarah Sjoestroem. In the final individual event of the evening, the 50 butterfly, Sjoestroem who her fifth gold finishing in a time of 25.56. The Swede won the 50 and 200 freestyle along with the 100 butterfly on the first day and followed that up by winning 100 freestyle and the 50 butterfly on Sunday.

Inge Dekker of the Netherlands finished second in a time of 25.97 followed closely by Li Tao of Singapore who collected the bronze finishing in a time of 25.99.

In her final event of the competition Katinka Hosszu finished outside of the top three for the first time touching in seventh with a time of 26.98.

Mixed 4 x 50 freestyle relay

As could have been predicted the mixed relay world record was taken down with ease. The Russian team made up of Rozaliya Nastretdinova (24.56), Dmitry Ermakov (21.97), Artem Lobuzov (22.06) and Maria Reznikova (24.42) set a new world record winning the event in a time of 1:33.01 beating the previous record of 1:41.16 set by an American team in late September.

It was not an easy win for the Russians though as a team from Brazil finished second in a time of 1:33.43 followed closely by a team from Japan that finished in a time of 1:33.48.

Complete results can be found here.