2024 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup Series

2024 WORLD AQUATICS SWIMMING WORLD CUP – SHANGHAI

DAY 1 HEATS START LIST

If you think it’s been a long time since the Olympics and you’ve missed the international swimming scene, then I have news for you. It’s back.

The first session of the first leg of the 2024 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup is just around the corner. This year the series returns to the short course meters, and while some may be taking a break from the sport after a grueling three-year quad between the Olympics, the first stop is still packed with talent.

Domestic stars like Li Bingjie And Ye Shiwen Take the water for the women, while the reigning king of last year’s series, Qin Haiyangwill attempt to repeat the feat of winning all breaststroke events. However, Qin will not have an easy task to win the series title Pan Zhanlethe recently crowned world record holder in the 100 meter free run (LCM) Pan Zhanle will also try to get the wins Leon Marchandwho left the Paris Games as a four-time Olympic champion.

Marchand only has one event today, the 100 IM, so we’ll see if the Frenchman can muster some speed. Also at the event, albeit in the women’s version Kaylee McKeownwho, like Qin, completed the triple-triple last year and won all backstroke events at all three stops.

McKeown, who left Paris with two individual gold medals and a bronze medal, quietly broke the 100m backstroke world record (SCM) at the 2024 Australian Short Course Championships last month. The swimmer, who admitted on a podcast with Coleman Hodges that he isn’t great underwater, will, like Marchand, take part in all three tour stops this year.

This morning the Australian star is taking part in two events: the aforementioned 100 IM and the 50 Back. In any case, she will face Sweedens Louise Hanssonwho, in addition to her 10 short track world championships, was a three-time NCAA champion.

However, Hansson isn’t the only one McKeown needs to watch out for as an American star Kate Douglass And Regan Smith Each overlaps with McKeown in an event, albeit differently. Douglass joins McKeown in the 100 IM Beata Nelsonwho won the World Cup in 2022.

Regan Smith will once again face McKeown in the backstroke, with the shortest (and non-Olympic) 50 backstroke opening Smith’s World Cup series program. Smith, like Douglass, will be competing at all three stops, so the battle for the series crown is sure to be intense. When adding Zhang Yufeiwho takes over the 50 for free, and Siobhan HaugheyAnyone who does not attend this session must watch the competition from start to finish. Speaking of watching… (no puns today, but I’ll accept a bad transition…)

The preliminary session will be viewable by most fans on the World Aquatics Recast page (for a fee), which can be accessed below. Further information can be found here.

WOMEN’S 400 Free – Preliminary Rounds

• World record: 3:51.30 – Li BingjieCHN (2022)
• World Cup record: 3:52.80 – Summer McIntosh, CAN (2022)
• Junior World Record: 3:52.80 – Summer McIntosh, CAN (2022)

Top 8:

1. Li Bingjie (CHN) – 4:08.88
2. Gao Weizhing/Liu Yaxin (CHN) – 4:09.45
4. Kong Yaqi (CHN) – 4:09.76
5. Tang Muhan (CHN) – 4:10.38
6. He Ya-Hsuan (TPE) – 4:23.20
7. Pan Pin-Chen (TPE) – 4:24.61
8. Ho Hung Yi (TPE) – 4:29.59

I don’t want to editorialize too much, but with only ten participants this morning, there’s not much that can be gleaned from this preliminary round. China’s Li Bingjie He appeared composed and in control, staying under 16 seconds throughout the race and reaching the 200 mark in 2:02.44, ahead of Liu Yaxin’s 2:03.38. Liu was locked in a battle for second place with Gao Weizhong, who came home in the only sub-15 split, tying with Liu behind Li. Tang Muhan, who is perhaps better known as a 200-meter swimmer, placed 5th in the preliminary heat.

With the top 5 clearly separated from places 6-8, you can expect much faster racing tonight.

MEN’S 400 Free – Preliminaries

• World record: 3:32.25 – Yannick Agnel, FRA (2012)
• World Cup record: 3:32.77 – Paul Biedermann, GER (2009)
• Junior World Record: 3:37.92 – Matthew Sates, RSA (2021)

Top 8:

1. James Guy (GBR) – 3:41.82
2. Dana’s Rapsys (LTU) – 3:41.99
3. Duncan Scott (GBR) – 3:42.29
4. Kieran Smith (USA) – 3:42.85
5. Charlie Clark (USA) – 3:43.82
6. Kregor Zirk (EST) – 3:43.92
7. Breno Correia (BRA) – 3:44.04
8. Benjamin Goedemans (AUS) – 3:44.11

In the first heat, American record holder Kieran Smith took the lead in the 150, from Estonian Kregor Zirk, who scored 54.19 in the 100, to Smith’s 54.26. By the 200m (1:51.26), Smith had increased his lead to over half a second over fellow American Charlie Clark, who was also able to keep up with Zirk’s early speed. Smith, who failed to make it to the finals of this event at the Paris Olympics, won the preliminary heat in 3:42.85, building a lead of almost a full second over his compatriot.

If the rules were followed in the first season and the middle lanes came out on top three times, then the second season was an abstract painting. Brits James Guy and Duncan Scott on lanes 8 and 0 dueled for the lead with Danas Rapsys, who took lane 4. All three were running much faster than Smith and Zirk, with Guy clocking a lead of 1:48.28. At the halfway point he was joined by Rapsys and Scott who were under 1:50, with splits of 1:49.12 and 1 :49.77.

Rapsys was able to close the gap of almost a second in the final 100 minutes, finishing just 0.17 seconds behind, with Scott taking third place in 3:42.29. It will be interesting to see how it plays out in tonight’s finale, with all three grouped together rather than separated. Junior world record holder Matthew Sates finished outside the final with a time of 3:44.40, good for ninth place.

WOMEN 50 Back – Preliminary Rounds

• World record: 25.25 – Maggie MacNeil, CAN (2022)
• World Cup record: 25.81 – Kira Toussaint, NED (2021)
• Junior World Record: 26.08 – Sara Curtis, ITA (2024)

Top 8:

1. Kaylee McKeown (OFF) -26.10
2. Regan Smith (USA) – 26.33
3. Ingrid Wilm (CAN) – 26.40
4. Peng Xuwei (CHN) – 26.86
5. Anastasiya Shkurdai (NIA) – 26.87
6. Louise Hansson (SWE) – 26.88
7. Hannah Fredericks (AUS) – 26.96
8. Wang Xueer (CHN) – September 27th

The first of many races to take place in between Kaylee McKeown And Regan SmithHe went the Australian way. The Olympic double backstroke champion got off to a strong start with a time of 12.65 seconds to hold off Smith. Smith, who had a 12.99 on the flip, came back quicker than McKeown (13.34 vs. 13.45) but will have to find something more to get past her rival tonight.

Ingrid Wilm, who made the Olympic team for the first time last summer, was only slightly slower than the two at 13.04, but easily made it into a possible podium spot this evening with her time of 26.40 this morning. According to Wilm it will be a tough battle, because there are only 0.02 seconds between places 4 and 6.

MEN 200 Back – Preliminary rounds

• World record: 1:45.63 – Mitch Larkin, AUS (2015)
• World Cup record: 1:46.11 – Arkady Vyachanin, RUS (2009)
• Junior world record: 1:48.02 – Kliment Kolesnikov, RUS (2017)

Top 8:

1. Pieter Coetze (RSA) – 1:51.89
2. Enoch Robb (AUS) – 1:52.09
3. Noah Milard (AUS) – 1:52.52
4. Jack Dahlgren (USA) – 1:53.97
5. Kacper Stokowski (POL) – 1:54.72
6. Lorenzo Mora (ITA) – 1:55.53
7. Khiew Hoe Yean (MAS) – 1:56.89
8. Fu Kun-Ming (TPE) – 1:57.43

After breaking the African record in the long-distance version of the event at the Olympics, South African Pieter Coetze has put himself in prime position to match George Du Rand’s 2009 time of 1:47.08. Coetze, who swam in the second three heats, was the fastest of all competitors with a time of 54.11. Only three other swimmers were under 55.5, with Australian duo Enoch Robb and Noah Millard between 54.16 and 54.59.

The trio will take to the middle lanes tonight and try to reach the top of the podium, but the only competitor from the USA, Jack Dahlgren, also had a strong performance this morning, swimming 1:53.97 and could be in the final with von be of the game.

MEN’S 100 FLY – Preliminaries

• World record: 47.78 – Caeleb Dressel, USA (2020)
• World Cup record: 48.48 – Evgenii Korotyshkin, RUS (2009)
• Junior World Record: 49.03 – Ilya Kharun, CAN (2022)

Top 8:

1. Noe Ponti (SUI) – 49.63
2. Nyls Korstanje (NED) – 50.18
3. Matthew Temple (AUS) – 50.48
4. Jakub Majerski (POL) – 50.67
5. Jesse Coleman (AUS) – 50.81
6. Chad le Clos (RSA) – 50.84
7. Harrison Turner (AUS) – 10/51
8. Wang Changhao (CHN) – 51.54

Swiss star Noe Ponti, who was 0.1 seconds away from the podium in Paris, showed great speed in the second half, keeping the Jets going and increasing his lead to just 0.05 seconds over Dutch swimmer Nyls Korstanje at the 50 mark for a heat win from over half a second. Ponti’s 49.63 marks the only sub-50 time of the morning and places him in lane 4 tonight.

He will be joined in the final by the aforementioned Korstanje as well as a strong international field including Chad le Clos, a 12-time short course world champion, and Matthew Temple. No. 2 seed overall Tzen Wei Teong of Singapore will not appear in the final after suffering a DQ in the second heat.

WOMEN’S 200 Breaststroke – Preliminaries

• World record: 2:14.57 – Rebecca Soni, USA (2009)
• World Cup record: 2:15.42 – Leisel Jones, AUS (2009)
• Junior world record: 2:14.70 – Evgeniia Chikunova, RUS (2022)

Top 8:

1. Kate Douglass (USA) – 2:17.11
2. Ye Shiwen (CHN) – 2:21.26
3. Rebecca Meder (RSA) – 2:21.63
4. Alina Zmushka (NIA) – 2:21.70
5. Sophie Angus (CAN) – 2:25.23
6. Andrea Podmanikova (SVK) – 2:25.28
7. Sophie Hansson (SWE) – 2:25.66
8. Nikoleta Trinkova (SVK) – 2:26.70

MEN’S 100 Breaststroke – Preliminaries

• World record: 55.28 – Ilya Shymanovich, NIA (2021)
• World Cup record: 55.61 – Cameron van der Burgh, RSA (2009)
• Junior world record: 56.66 – Simone Cersuolo, ITA (2021)

Top 8:

WOMEN’S 50 FREE – PRELIMINARY ROUNDS

• World record: 22.93 – Ranomi Kromowidjojo, NED (2017)
• World Cup record: 22.93 – Ranomi Kromowidjojo, NED (2017)
• Junior World Record: 23.69 – Anastasyia Shkurdai, NIA (2020)

Top 8:

MEN’S 50 Free – Preliminary rounds

• World record: 20.16 – Caeleb Dressel, USA (2020)
• World Cup record: 20.48 – Vladimir Morozov, RUS (2018)
• Junior World Record: 20.98 – Kenzo Simons, NED (2019)

Top 8:

WOMEN’S 100IM – Preliminary rounds

• World record: 56.51 – Katinka Hosszu, HUN (2017)
• World Cup record: 56.51 – Katinka Hosszu, HUN (2017)
• Junior World Record: 57.59 – Anastasyia Shkurdai, NIA (2020)

Top 8:

MEN’S 100 IM – Preliminaries

• World record: 49.28 – Caeleb Dressel, USA (2020)
• World Cup record: 50.26 – Vladimir Morozov, RUS (2018)
• Junior world record: 50.63 – Kliment Kolesnikov, RUS (2018)

Top 8: