Four World Cup records fell on the first night of action from Berlin as China’s Qin Haiyang tied his gold medal-winning swim from the World Aquatics Championships - Fukuoka 2023 with a 57.69 in the 100m breaststroke.

Qin was able to take down one of the most stacked fields in the entire competition as it featured last year’s World champ Nicolo Martinenghi, last year’s World Cup champ Nic Fink, and the two-time reigning Olympic champ Adam Peaty.

Qin dominated the entire 100 meters as he once again showed he will be the man to beat in Paris next year as he has continued his assault on the all-time rankings. With this swim, Qin will remain as the second fastest performer all-time but with this swim here, he may take aim at Peaty’s 56.88 world record over the next two weeks.

Arno Kamminga was second at 59.01 ahead of teammate Caspar Corbeau (59.27), Fink (59.68), and Martinenghi (59.76), while Peaty was sixth (59.85).

“I am really happy with this result,” Qin said. “I have just swum at the Asian games and my body is very tired.” Qin just came off the Asian Games in Hangzhou last weekend, where he won the breaststroke triple, just like he did at the Worlds in Fukuoka, becoming the first man to do so in any stroke.

Australia’s Kaylee McKeown, who became the first woman to win the 50m, 100m, 200m triple of the same stroke at the same World Championships, won the 50m backstroke on Friday with a new World Cup record at 27.24. McKeown was just off her gold medal winning swim from Fukuoka (27.08) but set herself up for a potential big payout this World Cup circuit, committing to all three stops.

“I was really pleased with that swim after only a few weeks of training,” McKeown said. “I love to be challenged by the other girls in the 50. I felt good about my swim although my back end still needs work.  I don’t really think about the medals that I won at the World Championships. Every season is a clean slate and I am proud of those medals, but they are not key to the things that I want to do in the future.”

China’s Zhang Yufei, who is also coming off a strong showing at a home Asian Games, won the 200m butterfly with a 2:07.11, not far off her 2:05.57 from last week. Zhang was the Olympic champion in this event two years ago but scratched the event this year at the World Championships to focus on the mixed medley relay where China won gold. Zhang proved Friday evening that she is still a factor for a medal ahead of Paris for next year.

“Yes I was pleased, but it was a little bit slower than my Asian Games time,” Zhang said. “But I must say that this is a really horrible event. It makes me very tired. We raced a lot at the Asian Games just recently and my body is very tired.  I really need a rest but we will continue racing here and also in Athens and in Budapest and then I will be able to fully rest.”

This circuit is serving as valuable racing opportunities on European soil in the long course venue as Berlin is just a short flight from Paris, the site of the big show next summer.

Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom, who will be one of the main stars in what would be her fifth Olympics next summer, sprinted to a gold in the 50m freestyle at 23.95. It was Sjostrom’s eighth time under 24 seconds this year alone as she has been the only to do so in 2023. She has long been one of the most consistent swimmers in the world, and proved why on Friday in the German capital.

“For me the time was very good and I feel amazing,” Sjostrom said. “I am not going to force anything but I know I can work on the details and to get better. I have always said that consistency is important.  I am pleased that I can swim pretty well throughout the whole season. I think the progression will come with the correction of some of these small details.”

Sjostrom was off her own world record of 23.62 from earlier this year but she was able to beat long-time rival Cate Campbell (24.11) of Australia, who is also training for what would be her fifth Olympics next summer. Both Sjostrom and Campbell made their Olympic debuts at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Campbell is now fourth in the world for 2023 from her 24.10 this morning, as she returned to racing earlier this year after taking an extended break after the Tokyo Olympics.

The other two World Cup records on the night came from Tes Schouten in the 200m breaststroke (2:22.13) and Erika Fairweather in the 400m freestyle (4:01.09).

Both Schouten and Fairweather won their very first World Championships medals this summer in the long course venue, taking bronzes in their respective events from this evening. Schouten has quickly become one of the top breaststrokers in the world at age 22 while Fairweather shocked the world in beating Summer McIntosh to win 400m free bronze at age 19.

“I never thought this was possible until my coach said that he thought there was a chance for the record,” Schouten said. “He said something to me after this morning’s heats, and I also thought that swimming the record might be possible and he encouraged me to go with it.”

Both of them were pushed by Australians in their respective finals tonight with Schouten feeling pressure from 2022 Worlds silver medallist Jenna Strauch (2:23.60) who sat out the World Championships with a knee injury. Strauch proved she is getting back to her old self with this swim as she was leading Schouten at the 150.

Fairweather was also pushed by World Short Course champ Lani Pallister of Australia, who scored a best time tonight in the 400m at 4:02.07, which puts her 15th all-time.

“I am just super stoked to win,” Fairweather said. “Coming all the way from the other side of the world, I really didn’t know what to expect. Lani Pallister was pushing me and it's funny how that happens that we are two swimmers from Oceania swimming close together in the final. You can see by the race that we were pushing each other. Coming off a bronze medal in Fukuoka was such a confidence booster and especially swimming again in this stacked field.”

Lithuania’s Danas Rapsys returned to the winner’s circle with a gold in the 400m freestyle at 3:44.86 from lane eight. The time was the fastest he has been in four years as he was as fast as a 3:43.36 from the 2019 Champions Swim Series in Hungary. Rapsys took the race out hard from the outside and never looked back, as this swim put him on the map for the 400m moving forward after he didn’t swim the event at the World Championships.

“After Fukuoka I took the longest vacation ever, and perhaps that will be the new plan for me,” Rapsys said. “I got back in the water about a month ago and I really feel strong and honestly that race was easy for me.”

Italy’s Thomas Ceccon showed off his closing speed in the 200m backstroke with a 1:56.64, swimming away from veteran Ryosuke Irie on the final 50 as the Japanese swimmer was second at 1:58.99. The time is a new best for Ceccon as he is the third fastest Italian all-time in the event.

“I felt really strong after three weeks of hard training at altitude for this with my coach,” Ceccon said. “I only took 3 or 4 days off after Fukuoka because I really need to train for the Olympics and be ready for these World Cups." 

Ceccon's choice of caps drew attention, with the Italian saying: “I wore my lucky cap (with the USA flag) today.  In every swim meet I wear it if i can.  I traded with an American guy at World Juniors in 2019.”

Other winners on the night were Australia’s Isaac Cooper in the 50m freestyle (21.93) and USA’s Michael Andrew in the 100m butterfly (51.66).

Australia also won the 4x100m freestyle to close out the night with Leah Neale (55.85), Alex Perkins (55.27), Bronte Campbell (54.15) and Cate Campbell (53.17) at 3:38.44.

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