FINA/ARENA Swimming World Cup 2008 action is in full swing and when the 4th stage takes place this weekend (November 1-2), Singapore will be the setting. The Asian leg will certainly be a exciting extension of last weekend, when the 3rd leg was held in Sydney and two new world records were broken by Australians Matt Jaukovic and Robert Hurley in the men’s 50m butterfly (22.50) and men’s 50m backstroke (23.24) respectively. Both will compete again in Singapore, as will their compatriots who currently lead the overall men’s and women’s World Cup rankings – Christian Sprenger (55 points) and Marieke Guehrer (75 points).
Joining these heavyweights will be Tunisian golden boy Oussama Mellouli, Americans Tara Kirk, Kara Lynn Joyce, Randall Bal and Peter Marshall, and South Africa’s Melissa Corfe, Cameron van der Burgh, William Diering and Kathryn Meaklim (currently 2nd overall amongst women in the World Cup ranking). The third-ranked woman, Therese Alshammar (SWE), who is trying to defend her Cup title from 2007, will swim, as will her compatriot and sprint powerhouse Stefan Nystrand. Brazil’s Fabiola Molina and Thiago Pereira will swim, as will Australian Beijing Olympians Sally Foster, Sophie Edington, Ashley Delaney, Nicholas Frost and Bronte Barratt.
Several young stars will join the fray, including Daniel Bell (NZL) and Marco Koch (GER). Bell won three gold medals at the FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in July, while Koch took home duel silvers from that event in the breaststroke events. A legend will also attend – Slovakia’s quadruple Olympian Martina Moravcova, who clinched two silver medals from the Sydney 2000 Games in the 100m butterfly and 200m freestyle. Additionally, European backstroke record holder Anastasia Zueva and her Russian counterpart Evgeny Korotyshkin will participate.
This is only the second year in the event’s 20-year history that the calendar has been compacted to fit seven meets into a period of five weeks. Fans are reminded they can access Cup coverage of the finals via free LIVE streaming on the FINA website, and witness some of the best test their endurance in an effort to win acclaim and prize money.