With one gold in her favourite 400m IM and a silver in the 100m backstroke, Katinka Hosszu (HUN) enjoyed her "home advantage" in the Water Cube while Chinese World champion Xu Jiayu claimed the victory in the 50m backstroke on the second day of the FINA Swimming World Cup 2018 in Beijing (CHN) on Saturday November 3.
With cheers from the full house audience at the National Aquatic Centre, Hosszu took the lead in the 400m IM after backstroke and never looked back, winning in 4:25.68. She later clocked 56.53 for a second place in the 100m backstroke, 0.04 shy of the champion Minna Atherton of Australia.
"It is amazing, I love Beijing! And the crowds make me feel at home! For me, seeing the kids and fans just inspire me to swim faster and more events for them. When I was growing up, my idol was a Hungarian 5-time Olympic champion, Christina. and now I still have an idol - a basketball player - Lebron James. He is pushing the limit of basketball and he is building his school outside of basketball. " said the Iron Lady.
"Coming into my age, I am also trying to break my limit and trying to be uncomfortable. That makes me stronger and better," Hosszu said.
Hosszu now leads the FINA Performance Points after two competition days in Beijing with 971 and Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden comes second with 949.
Sjostrom won her first title in Beijing as she stormed 25.03 in the 50m butterfly, beating Ranomi Kromowidjojo of Netherlands by 0.01. Zhang Yufei of China came third in 25.31.
Kromowidjojo became an Olympic champion a few days before her 18th birthday by winning the gold medal in the 4X100m freestyle relay at the 2008 Beijing Olympics Games.
"It is exciting to come back and compete again in the Water Cube, no matter a gold or a silver,"said Kromowidjojo who sealed a victory in the 50m freestyle on Friday November 2.
Wearing his trade-mark yellow cap, local star Xu Jiayu dominated in the men's 50m backstroke 22.70 with his famous underwater kicks. Michael Andrew of United States took the silver 23.14 and Vladimir Morozov of Russia third 23.36.
"In front of the local fans, I felt comfortable and confident. I believe I can win and swim faster in the next stops in Tokyo and Singapore. The reason why I can keep my form after the Jakarta Asian Games is because I kept training. I wish I could show my best form at the Hangzhou World Short Course Championships," Xu said.
Team China also bagged three titles as Wang Shun topped the men's 200m IM 1:52.08, Li Zhuhao swam the fastest in the 200m butterfly 1:51.94 and the mixed 4X50m freestyle relay 1:31.17. In the women's 200m freestyle, Femke Heemskerk of the Netherlands denied China's Li Bingjie and Chen Yuxin's attempt and won in 1:52.22.
Morozov later smashed the 100m freestyle in 45.66 to win and Yuliya Efimova (RUS) was crowned in women's 100m breaststroke (1:03.09).
Kirill Prigoda gave Russia another gold in the men's 50m breaststroke 26.02.
Kykhailo Romanchuk of Ukraine won the men's 1500m freestyle 14:29.88.