The FINA Swimming World Cup trophy was presented at the opening press conference of the inaugural leg of the circuit that will take place in Kazan’s Aquatics Palace from September 7-9. For the first time in history, the winners of the overall ranking will be awarded not only with a solid US$ 150,000 cheque, but with a more tangible prize.  

The trophy itself is made of silver. However, this is not its main value, as stressed out by FINA Executive Director Cornel Marculescu: “At the end of the Series, the best athletes will receive this great souvenir to remember the highlights of their performances at the World Cup”. 

The format of the 2018 Series is also new: the summer season will “continue”, as the two meets (corresponding to the first cluster), in Kazan (RUS) and Doha (QAT). As time comes closer to the FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) in December, the length of the pool will move to 25m. That was the conclusion of the discussion FINA had with coaches and athletes in order to improve the programme of the World Cup. 

Olympic silver and bronze medallist as well as five-time World champion Yulia Efimova (RUS), who is going to take part in all seven legs of the circuit, said jokingly that she would prefer to compete in 50m only. “I perform better in the 50 metre pool. That’s true. From another point of view, I have to gather speed before the short course World Championships. I got a bit sick. I even withdrew from the 200m breaststroke race, keeping the 50 and 100m breast and 200 medley in my competition schedule here in Kazan. Nevertheless, I’m sure everything will be OK. I’m an experienced athlete to deal with this situation and to show some good results. Besides, Kazan is a lucky city for me. I won gold medals both at the Universiade 2013 and at the FINA Worlds in 2015. I have no doubt the organisation and performances will be on the same high level this time”, Efimova said.

Last year's overall series winner Chad Le Clos (RSA) also said it’s a great pleasure for him to be back in Kazan. “2015 was a successful year for me. I won gold and silver at the World Championships. Moreover, I had the opportunity to swim in a football stadium. I’m a huge football fan, so it was a dream come true. This World Cup represents an opportunity to improve and work on the smaller things to be ready for the major events”, Le Clos considered.

Cornel Marculescu highlighted that the FINA Swimming World Cup is also very important for athletes and for the sport. “Sport business becomes a competition today. Every day we see new sports and events in the calendar. The rivalry between different sports is very high. Outside the World Championships, the Swimming World Cup is the only event where we can show the beauty of our sport to the world. The television audience, the number of countries, which are receiving the signal, is around 150. For that reason, I would like to thank the participants and the organisers. We feel in Kazan at home. We run different events here every year. And all of them are very successful. We will have the FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) and FINA Convention in 2022 in Kazan. The Aquatics Palace is probably one the best and most beautiful venues over the world”, Mr Marculescu admitted.

Four-time Olympic champion and president of All-Russian Swimming Federation Vladimir Salnikov added: “The Kazan Aquatics Palace has become a traditional venue for FINA events. We have made a joined decision to move the Russian leg from Moscow to Kazan. We can be sure that everything will be organised at the highest possible level. All the services here are established and ready to accommodate all the athletes. Moreover, almost every region of Tatarstan republic has swimming pools. May those children, who first cheered up for top swimmers in this venue in 2013, now go in for swimming themselves. That means we’ll have new champions soon”.