The second edition of the Lausanne Swim Cup, taking place on December 20-21, 2017 in Switzerland, was the occasion for some very interesting performances, a few days before the end of 2017. With 24 swimmers entered, the team of Japan was naturally the squad to beat, and some of their stars managed to close the season with eye-catching results.
The “most valuable” of them was Daiya Seto (world champion in the 400m IM in 2013 and 2015), who established the best performance of the meet, a 952-FINA point effort, thanks to his victory in the men’s 200m fly in 1:50.33 (new record of the competition). His teammate Masaki Kaneko was also successful in the 100m back, touching home in 49.92 (941 points), the best time of the competition in this event. Kosuke Hagino, also from Japan, was the best in the men’s 200m IM (1:52.55 – 921 points), while Yui Ohashi (400m IM win in 4:24.03 – 948 points) was the “strongest” female swimmer of the Japanese delegation. The next one was junior World Record holder Rikako Ikee, who touched for gold in the women’s 100m fly (55.64 – 945 points).
In the “rest of the world club”, Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED) easily triumphed in the women’s 50m free (23.66 – 947 points), while Taylor Ruck (CAN) was slightly better in the women’s 200m free (victory in 1:52.74 – 948 points). This was one of the top-level races of the meet, with four athletes (out of the six finalists) reaching at least 900 points – the fourth best ranked was Charlotte Bonnet (FRA), in 1:54.25 (911 points). The French star was unbeatable in the 100m free, where she clocked 52.06 (935 points). Four other swimmers in the event did better than the 900 point-mark, with Ruck getting the silver in 52.09 (933), Ikee the bronze in 52.11 (932), Kromowidjojo finishing in fourth (52.16 – 929) and her compatriot Femke Heemskerk arriving in fifth (52.34 – 920).
Katinka Hosszu (HUN) was also one of the many stars present in Lausanne and the Magyar great did not disappoint, with victories in the women’s 50m back (26.47 – 912 points), 100m back (56.99 – 900), 100m IM (58.40 – 913), and 200m IM (2:05.00 – 926).
The Lausanne Swim Cup, supported by FINA, was held in the Mon-Repos swimming pool and was held over a two-day competition programme in a six-lane 25m pool. A total of around US$ 80,000 was distributed as prize money to the best athletes of the meet, which was a qualifying event for the FINA World Swimming Championships (25m), to be held in December 2018.