The second leg of the FINA Swimming World Cup 2018 concluded today at the Hamad Aquatic Centre in Doha (QAT). The event witnessed five new world cup records, two of them by the Swedish swimmer Sarah Sjostrom, who participated in five races and got five gold medals! Katinka Hosszu, from Hungary, was the star in the Qatari capital, by attending 15 finals and winning seven gold, one silver and four bronze. In the last day of the Doha leg, the Russian Yuliya Efimova, the Australian Mitchell Larkin and the American Blake Pieroni, all succeeded to win their third gold medal in the meet. 

The first final of the last day was the men's 400m individual medley, where the Hungarian David Verraszto won the gold and established a new world cup record in a time of 4:13.44. The silver medal went to Maksym Shemberev from Azerbaijan with 4:13.61, and the bronze was for Tomas Peribnio Avila from Ecuador in 4:17.02.


Sarah Sjostrom (SWE)

Sarah Sjostrom set her second WCup record in Doha with a time of 56.46 in the final of the women's 100 butterfly. She was followed by Kimberly Buys from Belgium with 58.23 and Ranomi Kromowidjojo from the Netherlands with 59.40. 

Sarah's second gold of the session came in the final of the women's 100m freestyle, with a time of 53.13. Ranomi Kromowidjojo from the Netherlands and her teammate Femke Heemskerk came second and third with 53.29 and 53.34 respectively.

Hosszu won three gold medals and two bronze in the final day. She first won the women's 800m freestyle with a time of 8:34.58. The second was the Chinese Chanzhen Zhou with 8:35.67 and the bronze went to Spain’s Andrea Galisteo Zapatero with 8:43:99. Katinka's second gold came in the final of the 200m backstroke, in a winning time of 2:11.00, followed by Kira Toussaint from the Netherlands with 2:13.24 and the Chinese Yuru Jiang with 2:14.54. The seventh gold medal for Hosszu was achieved in the 200m individual medley with a time of 2:11.57. The second place was for Russia’s Yuliya Efimova with 2:13.60 and the third was Sishi Zhang from China in 2:14.23. 

The fifth World Cup Record in Doha was improved by the Ukrainian Andrii Govorov in the final of the men's 50 butterfly in a time of 22.82. Michael Andrew from the USA came second with 23.21 and the South African Ryan Coetzee was third in 23.54.

The Australian Larkin Mitchell won his third gold in Doha in the final of the men's 100 backstroke in a time of 53.68. The silver medal went to US Michael Andrew with 54.11 and the bronze went for the Russian Vladimir Morozov with 55.07.

The American Blake Pieroni also won his third gold in Doha. He came first in the final of the men's 200m freestyle with a time of 1:47.20. Kyle Stolk from the Netherlands came second with 1:49.45 and Lorenz Weiremans from Belgium was third in 1:49.68.

The Russian swimmer Yulia Efimova excelled in breaststroke, winning her third gold medal in Doha in the final of the women's 50 breaststroke with a time of 30.43. The second place was for her compatriot Vitalina Simonova with 32.01 and the third was Hosszu in 32.81.

In the final of the men's 200m breaststroke, Anton Chupkov (RUS) won the gold in a time of 2:08.77. Arno Kamminga from the Netherlands came second with 2:11.21 and the third was the Russian Kirill Prigoda with 2:11.61.

The last event in the second leg of the FINA Swimming World Cup 2018 was the mixed 4x100m medley relay. The Dutch team won the gold in a time of 3:49.18. The silver went to China with 3:58.36 and the bronze was for the Hungarians in 3:59.43.

Best performers in Doha:

MEN
1. Anton Chupkov (RUS), 200m breast, 2:08.77, 951 pts
2. Andrii Govorov (UKR), 50m fly, 22.82, 949 pts
3. Michael Andrew (USA), 50m back, 24.49, 945 pts

WOMEN
1. Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), 50m free, 23.99, 960 pts
2. Katinka Hosszu (HUN), 100m back, 59.63, 924 pts
3. Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED), 100m free, 53.29, 913 pts

Top-8 rankings, and prize money distribution after Cluster 1 (Kazan + Doha):

MEN
1. Anton Chupkov (RUS) 90 pts - US$ 50,000
2. Michael Andrew (USA) 87 - US$ 35,000
3. Vladimir Morozov (RUS) 84 - US$ 30,000
4. Mitch Larkin (AUS) 72 - US$ 20,000
5. Blake Pieroni (USA) 57 - US$ 10,000
6. David Verraszto (HUN) 54 - US$ 5,000
7. Andrii Govorov (UKR) 48 - US$ 4,000
8. Felipe Lima (BRA) 45 - US$ 3,000

WOMEN
1. Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) 120 pts - US$ 50,000
2. Katinka Hosszu (HUN) 90 - US$ 35,000
3. Yulia Efimova (RUS) 78 - US$ 30,000
4. Kira Toussaint (NED) 66 - US$ 20,000
5. Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED) 63 - US$ 10,000
6. Femke Heemskerk (NED) 51 - US$ 5,000
7. Vitalina Simonova (RUS) 48 - US$ 4,000
8. Zsuzsanna Jakabos (HUN) 45 - US$ 3,000