Already virtual winners of the 2015 FINA/airweave Swimming World Cup, Katinka Hosszu (HUN) and Cameron van der Burgh (RSA) showed once more in the eighth and final leg of the series, being held in Dubai (UAE) on November 6-7, why they are the best of the circuit. The Hungarian star amassed four medals (two gold, two silver) in this initial day in the UAE, while the South African champion was not impressed with the presence of Adam Peaty (GBR) in the men’s 50m breaststroke. The other highlight of the session was the amazing performance of Mitch Larkin (AUS) in the men’s 100m backstroke, approaching the WR and obtaining the best time of the year in 52.11. Finally, Chad Le Clos, the 2014 winner of the World Cup, had a challenging day, getting “only” two silver medals in the 100m free and 200m butterfly (his pet event), but eventually winning the 50m fly.
In the much awaited men’s 50m breast final, Cameron van der Burgh (RSA) confirmed the 2015 World Cup consistency by getting his seventh gold out of seven races contested (in Singapore, the finals’ session of Day 1 had to be cancelled due to high levels of haze). The South African champion earned gold in 26.77 (the best of the season remains his 26.74 effort in Paris-Chartres), while Adam Peaty (GBR), the world champion and WR holder in 26.42 had to content for the silver in 27.16. It was a sweet “revenge” for Van der Burgh after his second place at the 16th FINA World Championships Kazan 2015, precisely behind the British star.
“It’s never easy racing the World Champion, I think this is the toughest event here, 8 out of 9 medallists from World Championships are here. There so many South Africans out so it’s really nice and they really pushed us on tonight”, said Cameron van der Burgh.
“The rivalry (with Cameron) is good for the sport, is good for other people coming up. It mixes up a bit, I’m glad we can race each other like that. This is my first long course race of the season so I’m happy with my times”, declared Adam Peaty after the thrilling final.
Katinka Hosszu (HUN) - Photo credit: Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia
In the 200m free duel between Federica Pellegrini (ITA) and Katinka Hosszu (HUN), the Magyar star departed very fast, touching first at the 50m-mark under world record pace. She wouldn’t lose the lead of the race and eventually got the gold in 1:55.41, the best winning time of the 2015 circuit and Hosszu’s sixth victory in this event. Pellegrini got the silver in 1:57.42, very far from her WR of 1:52.98.
Transferring these times to the Kazan 2015 rendezvous, the winning time of the Hungarian would have been sufficient for the bronze. In Russia, Hosszu was fifth in 1:56.19, while the Italian star was silver medallist in a faster time of 1:55.32.
Some finals later, the “Iron Lady” didn’t give any chance to her contenders in the 200m IM, completing her 2015 sweep in this race, this time in a winning performance of 2:08.61, the fastest of the present World Cup.
“I’m super happy with my night, I actually broke two national records [200m free and 50m back, where she was second] and I didn’t expect that at all. Emily and I have been racing like this the whole series, but I’m super excited with my time, especially after three races tonight and this time of the season. It’s great we are pushing each other!" said the Magyar.
In her last appearance of the evening, Hosszu seemed to have the 200m back race under control, but a strong final lap from Emily Seebohm (AUS) dictated the victory for the Australian in 2:06.94. It was the fourth consecutive win in the series for the 2015 world champion and also her fastest time of the World Cup.
“The rivalry with Katinka has been really tough and she’s been keeping me on my toes, which has been really good and obviously waited until the end to push out the best one. That helped me out heaps, I’m only a second off my time in Kazan so I’m really happy with that. I watched her the whole way, I made sure I stuck with her and when I took off on that last 50 I saw her go and I just hoping I had it in the end. We are both pushing each other to our best. I’ve probably never really raced this much before and racing people like Katinka is making me a stronger swimmer”, considered Seebohm.
The podium of the men's 100m back - Photo credit: Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia
In the men’s backstroke events, Mitch Larkin (AUS) continues to impress, with an outstanding victory in the 100m, in a very fast time of 52.11, the best global performance of the season and naturally the fastest time of the series in this event. It’s the third consecutive win for the Australian in this race, after clocking already a “turbo” time in the previous leg in Doha (QAT), touching home in 52.26. Larkin approached Aaron Peirsol’s WR of 51.94 and swam also faster than in Kazan 2015, when he got the world title in 52.40.
“I hope it won’t be long now until someone gets the record, I think someone will break it next year. I’m really happy with my results, tonight was a personal best. I may have forced it a bit in the first 20m, I will go home and work on some things and I see where I can improve to crack 52 and then see what happens after that. It’s hard to pinpoint what’s changed for me, it’s a combination of a lot, my life outside of swimming is good and my team around me are great and really passionate. I think that’s really helped me a lot this year. My results are giving me the confidence I may have lacked before”, confessed Larkin.
In the final event of the evening, Hungary was once more in evidence, with the thrilling victory (4:16.71) of David Verraszto in the men’s 400m IM. The Magyar was the sole winner of this event during the 2015 World Cup, with his best time being registered precisely in the first meet of the circuit in Moscow (4:14.89)
Other highlights of the day included the comfortable win of Alia Atkinson (JAM) in the women’s 100m breast, her fourth of the season and the fastest one, in 1:05.93; in the men’s 100m free, Chad Le Clos (RSA) could not get the third gold of the season, finishing second to France’s Jeremy Stravius (48.34); in the 200m fly, the South African wasn’t also at his best, conceding the victory to the 2014 European champion Viktor Bromer, from Denmark (1:55.98 for the winner, 1:56.03 for Le Clos); in his third final of the day, the 50m fly, the “2014 FINA Best Swimmer of the Year” finally got a “tasty” victory in 23.31 (his third of the season); finally, Emily Seebohm (AUS) got her fifth win (27.57) of 2015 in the women’s 50m back.
Alia Atkinson commented on her performance: “It was the last race of the season so I wanted to make sure I did something, and I had more confidence in myself so if I go out and bring it home. I tried some different things and finally worked tonight.”