After starting with a bang - and Kaylee McKeown's WR on opening night in Budapest - the Day 2 evening finals delivering another stunning evening session on Saturday. Siobhan Haughey threatened the women's 200m freestyle World Record, then McKeown broke her own World Record in the women's 100m backstroke. Re-live all the instant athlete reactions, photos and race insights from the Hungarian capital.
Parting Shot From Saturday Night
It's Kaylee, of course.
She keeps resetting the record books on the Swimming World Cup, and just keeps getting better throughout the tour.
Women's 100m Backstroke World Record - 57.33 | Kaylee McKeown
Men's 200m Butterfly | Sates-sational Finish
Swimming out of Lane 1, South Africa's Matthew Sates made his winning move during the third length, then powered through to a commanding victory. Doubling back from his triple crown win in the 200m IM, Sates makes it a double Crown-winning evening tonight in Budapest.
That's USD 20,000 dollars in bonus money for the night for Mr. Sates, not to mention the accrued points will pay dividends for the Budapest meet and the overall series prize money.
Results
- Matthew Sates (RSA) - 1:55.25
- Richard Marton (HUN) - 1:56.21
- Trenton Julian (USA) - 1:56.74
Women's 100m Breaststroke | Pilato Sets World Cup Record in Prelims, Wins in the Final
Setting the World Cup Record in the heats showed Italy's Benedetta Pilato came to play in Budapest - her first Swimming World Cup stop of the 2023 season. Going nearly as fast in the final, Pilato wins with a bit of open water to the field, with ther Netherlands's Tes Schouten in second and Ireland's Mona McSharry in third.
Results
- Benedetta Pilato (ITA) - 1:05.83
- Tes Schouten (NED) - 1:06.29
- Mona McSharry (IRL) - 1:06.32
Men's 100m Freestyle |Ceccon's Crowning Achievement
Having lost the first of his two triple crown bids by the smallest of margins in the 200m backstroke on Friday night, Italy's Thomas Ceccon came back tonight to take the Men's 100m free win -- and the Crown.
T&T's Dylan Thomas made him work for it. The Trinidadian made Ceccon work for it, getting out to an early lead and hanging tough. But tonight, the versatile Italian wouldn't be denied. For these efforts, Ceccon pockets a USD 10,000 bonus and a seat in the King's chair.
Results
- Thomas Ceccon (ITA) - 48.41
- Dylan Thomas (TTO) - 48.52
- Alessandro Miressi (ITA) - 48.62
Women's 50m Butterfly | Sjostrom Stalks Early-Leader Zhang, Delivers Out Stealthy Win
Last night, Zhang Yufei called Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom her "50m butterfly idol." The younger Zhang had the jump from the start, but Sjostrom held it together just a little better for the final three strokes to come home with a win by a whisker.
Results
- Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) - 25.21
- Zhang Yufei (CHN) - 25.23
- Sara Junevik (SWE) - 26.01
Qin's "Triple-Triple" Comes That Much Closer to Reality, Just Misses (His Own) World Cup Record by .01 in the Men's 50m Breaststroke
Another One! Kaylee Sets Another Historic Best in the Women's 100m Backstroke
Just off World Record pace (+.05) at the turn, Australia's Kaylee McKeown turned it on during the latter half of the final length to reset the women's 100m backstroke World Record at 57.33. The 22-year-old breaks the former World Record - her own - which she set in Adelaide (AUS) before the Tokyo Olympic Games.
NEW WORLD RECORD AGAIN!!
— World Aquatics (@WorldAquatics) October 21, 2023
🇦🇺@ee_oly She is on another planet!#swimming #SWC23 pic.twitter.com/xR5SD9D9js
Here's what we wrote before tonight's final:
""Does McKeown have enough left in her to break her own world record? She is still early in her Olympic preparation, but if she were to go faster than 57.4 in Budapest, it would certainly send a message to the rest of the world that there is a lot of work to be done to take her down."
It's not only World Record statisticians that are on high alert with seemingly every one of Kaylee's races these days.
Results
- Kaylee McKeown (AUS) - 57.33 World Record!
- Kylie Masse (CAN) - 59.26
- Ingrid Wilm (CAN) - 59.64
Men's 200m IM | The Crowns Keep Coming, As South Africa's Sates
Results
- Matthew Sates (RSA) - 1:57.72
- Kieran Smith (USA) - 1:58.98
- Danas Rapsys (LTU) - 1:59.38
Haughey Goes For It. Her 200m Free World Record Bid Falls Short, But She Sets World Cup Record & Wears the Crown
Nearly a half-second under the World Record pace late in the race, Siobhan Haughey couldn't quote reset the all-time record books in the 200m free, but she did set the World Cup Record and win the event's triple crown. Way to keep us on the edge of our seats, Siobhan!
Results
- Siobhan Haughey (HKG) - 1:54.08 World Cup Record
- Barbara Seemanova (CZE) - 1:55.79
- Erika Fairweather (NZL) - 1:56.08
Men's 50m Backstroke | USA's Andrew Takes the First Crown on Saturday night
Strong start, even better finish propelled USA's Michael Andrew to the win in the Men's 50m backstroke final. And with the victory, Andrew takes the Crown and the 10,000 American greenbacks for his efforts over the stroke and distance in Berlin, Athens and Budapest.
Results
- Michael Andrew (USA) - 24.64
- Isaac Cooper (AUS) - 24.82
- Miroslav Knedla (CZE) - 24.85
Men's 1500m Free | Open Water Athletes Dominate Duna's Long-Distance Event
Hungary goes 1,2,3 in the longest event in the pool, and perhaps its not too surprising that the podium was dominated by the home nation's strong open water swimmers. David Betlehem, the 2022 Open Water World Junior Champ, adds his first World Cup win in the pool to the Open Water Swimming World Cup podiums he picked up in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
Results
- David Betleham (HUN) - 14:58.04
- Zalan Sarkany (HUN) - 15:04.88
- Kristof Rasovszky (HUN) - 15:08.00
Women's 400m IM | Kapas, Crevar, Kapas... Kapas Tops It
Nearly tied on the final turn, Hungary's Boglarka Kapas rode the wave of support in Duna Arena to a stirring win to start the Saturday night action in Budapest over Serbia's Anja Crevar. For Kapas, this was her fifth win on the World Cup. And the Duna Arena crowd loved it.
Hungary's Vivian Jackl completed the podium after wrestling the midway lead after a strong backstroke leg.
Kapas Gives Her Recap
"It’s a bit strange to do this event after a while but I’m really happy for today’s swim, especially in front of such a great crowd. I’ve done the 400 IM at all three stages and I’ve managed to improve my time by a second at each stop, though today I wanted to get closer to 4:40. The Olympic qualifying time is 4:38, I want to achieve that this year – for that, I need to improve my backstroke which doesn't work now. I have the technique in the breaststroke. If I can put everything together, I’ll clock the time needed to qualify for the Olympics.”
Results
- Boglarka Kapas (HUN) - 4:43.13
- Anja Crevar (SRB) - 4:43.83
- Vivien Jackl (HUN) - 4:45.95
We're Live From Budapest
A Window Into The Athlete Warm-Ups
Go behind the scenes into the warm-up pool with photographer Istvan Derencsenyi and see how athletes get activated for tonight's finals
How We Got Here | Day 2 Morning Heats
How It Began | Lookback to Opening Night