Read below to see our full live coverage of day one at the FINA World Cup in Dubai. Katinka Hosszu highlighted the competition with four wins and two runner-up finishes in six events, and other headliners included Vladimir Morozov, Chad le Clos and Daiya Seto.
Men’s 100 Free
Vladimir Morozov of Russia kickstarted finals of the Dubai stop with his fifth straight win in the men’s 100 free. Morozov posted a time of 46.71 to retain his title and collect another gold.
Pieter Timmers of Belarus slipped to second after leading throughout prelims, finishing with a time of 47.14, while Japan’s Katsumi Nakamura posted the only other sub-48 second time of the morning at a 47.44.
Australia’s Jack Gerrard finished fourth overall with a 48.00, followed closely by Great Britain’s Benjamin Proud and his time of 48.11.
Spain’s Miguel Ortiz-Canavate and Ukraine’s Andrii Khloptsov delivered matching times of 49.17 to tie for sixth.
Shinri Shioura of Japan was eighth with a 49.25.
Women’s 200 Free
Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu posted her first gold medal finish for Dubai in finals of the women’s 200 free. Hosszu touched in 1:54.37, followed closely by Australia’s Madeline Groves and her time of 1:54.53.
The Chinese trio of Fang Yi, Zhang Jiaqi, and Cao Yue finished third through fifth with times of 1:55.82, 1:58.22, and 2:02.06 respectively.
Slovakia’s Barbora Tomanova (2:05.25), Lucy Agnew (2:06.09), and Ekaterina Price (2:07.46) completed the top eight.
Men’s 50 Breast
Brazil’s Felipe Lima turned in the top time in the men’s 50 breaststroke, stopping the clock at a 26.02.
Vladimir Morozov added a silver medal to his collection with a final time of 26.61, while third went to China’s Li Xiang’s 26.82.
South Africa’s Roland Schoeman took fourth overall with a 26.90, just ahead of teammate Bradley Tandy’s 26.93.
Egypt’s Youssef Mohamed (27.35), Great Britain’s Lawrence Palmer (27.38), and Slovakia’s Marek Botik (27.70) rounded out the top eight.
Women’s 100 Breast:
The women’s 100 breaststroke was highlighted by a tight race between the USA’s Katie Meili and Jamaica’s Alia Atkinson. At the 50-meter mark Atkinson was in the lead out-splitting Meili 29.63 to 30.00, but some steam in the second half of the race pushed Meili past Atkinson to the gold. Meili finished with a time of 1:03.26 over Atkinson’s 1:03.32.
Russia’s Yulia Efimova finished close behind with a time of 1:03.43, moving up from her fourth place turn at the 50-meter mark.
Rie Kaneto of Japan slid down to fourth with a time of 1:04.97 after entering finals as the top seed, while the USA’s Breeja Larson finished fifth with a time of 1:05.29.
Slovakia’s Andrea Podmanikova (1:07.46), the USA’s Liz Roberts (1:10.15), and France’s Camille Dauba (1:10.19) were sixth through eighth.
Women’s 100 Fly
Denmark’s Jeanette Ottesen continued her strong tour with a win in the women’s 100 fly. Ottesen edged out Hungary’s Katinka Hoszu, 56.11 to 56.57, to pick up this win.
Australia finished 3-4 as Madeline Groves pulled away from Brittany Elmslie on the way home. Groves touched in 57.86 to Elmslie’s 58.19.
Hong Kong’s Chan Kin Lok was next in 58.43, and she was followed by Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Amina Kajtaz (59.51), Russia’s Natalia Lovtcova (1:00.29) and China’s Yang Chang (1:00.31).
Men’s 100 Back
In a tight duel, Belarus’ Pavel Sankovich edged out Australia’s Bobby Hurley for first place. Hurley led at the halfway point, 24.34 to 24.37, but Sankovich pulled even. As the two short course backstroke aces came down to the wire, Sankovich pulled it out, 50.20 to 50.29.
Japan’s Takeshi Kawamoto held Russia’s Stanislav Donets at bay, with Kawamoto taking third in 50.68 and Donets settling for fourth in 50.89.
There was a big gap back to the rest of the field as Colombia’s Omar Pinzon was next to finish in 53.06, just ahead of Spain’s Miguel Ortiz-Canavate (53.15). Rounding out the field were Jack Gerrard (54.08) and Cameron Oliver (54.24).
Women’s 50 Back
The women’s sprint back marked Katinka Hosszu’s second win of the evening and third podium finish in four events. Hosszu came into the wall in a swift 26.35.
Ukraine’s Daryna Zevina touched second in 26.57, just ahead of China’s Cheng Haihau in 26.89.
More than a second back in fourth was France’s Camille Gheorghiu (28.65), and just behind her was Slovakia’s Barbora Tomanova (28.65). Completing the field were Greta Agnew (29.38), Emily Peck (29.50) and Gabriela Nikitina (29.66).
Men’s 200 Fly
South Africa’s Chad le Clos had to work for it, but he pulled out the victory in the event long considered his best, the 200 fly. Le los led wire-to-wire, but a strong third 50 from Japan’s Daiya Seto had him only three tenths off the South African’s swift pace.
But le Clos pulled away down the stretch and came home in 1:49.71, just more than a second off of his own three-year-old world record of 1:48.56.
Seto grabbed second in 1:50.73, and Germany’s Phillip Heintz was third in 1:51.79
The only man within ten seconds off the top three was Jakob Karl, who came in fourth at 2:01.35. Next was South Africa’s Marco Smit (2:09.41) and then Omar Al Hammadi (2:11.40), Joaquin Gonzalez Pinero (2:11.92) and Abdulla Alfalsi (2:20.17).
Women’s 200 IM
Another race, another gold medal for Katinka Hosszu. Her third victory of the day came in one of her specialty events, the 200 IM. She came in at 2:05.87, not close to her world record-time of 2:01.86 from two years ago, but it was enough to earn the win after Zsuzsanna Jakobos and Yulia Efimova made Hosszu work for it.
Efimova, more known for her World titles in breaststroke events, split a 24.476 on the breaststroke leg that put her slightly ahead of Hosszu going into the freestyle. But Hosszu regained her form and pulled away from the field, and Hosszu’s fellow Hungarian Jakobos pulled ahead of Efimova to get second. Jakobos touched in 2:07.34 and Efimova 2:07.82.
Well back in fourth was another breaststroke specialist, Jamaica’s Alia Atkinson, in 2:13.30. Slovakia’s Andrea Podmanikova was fifth in 2:17.84.
Completing the field were Maria Iorini (2:27.24), Emilie Krog (2:30.13) and Caroline Castella (2:31.62).
Men’s 400 Free
Bobby Hurley came out on the short end of a tight finish in the men’s 100 back, but he had his way in the 400 free, winning a tight four-man duel.
Hurley pulled ahead on the seventh of eight 50s and then held off a strong charge from South Africa’s Myles Brown on the way home. Hurley came in at 3:41.92, just ahead of Brown’s 3:42.38.
Just as he did in the Olympic final of this race, Great Britain’s James Guy led for the majority of the race before fading after the 300-meter mark. Guy ended up third in 3:44.38, just ahead of Germany’s Paul Zellman, who was fourth in 3:44.82.
Another German, Moritz Brandt, ended up fifth in 3:52.96, and rounding out the field was Ivan Lender (3:58.19), Ryan Wee (3:59.34) and Max Tambling (4:01.88).
Women’s 50 Free
Denmark’s Jeanette Ottesen won her second race of the day in the ladies’ splash-and-dash. She came in at 24.12, out-pacing the field by more than a half second.
Australia’s Brittany Elmslie was second in 24.65, and the USA’s Katie Meili grabbed third in 24.87, getting onto the podium (and earning the $500 check for third place) by just one one-hundredth of a second over Australia’s Madeline Groves (24.88).
Russia’s Natalie Lovtcova was fifth in 25.17, ahead of South Africa’s Emma Chelius (25.65), Latvia’s Gabriela Nikitina (25.70) and the USA’s Breeja Larson (25.90).
Men’s 200 Breast
Germany’s Marco Koch dominated his signature event, beating the field by almost two seconds. The reigning long course World Champion in the event touched in 2:03.41.
Japan’s Daiya Seto, better known for his exploits in IM and butterfly events, had a nice swim here, touching second in 2:05.29. Seto held off the Olympic silver medalist in the event, the USA’s Josh Prenot, who ended up third in 2:05.66.
China’s Wang Boyu grabbed fourth in 2:07.36, and next in was Egypt’s Marwan El-Kamash (2:14.99). Peter Durisin (2:15.44), Cameron Matthews (2:20.89) and Michael Jones (2:21.53) all swam in the final heat.
Men’s 100 IM
After winning the 100 free for the fifth-straight World Cup meet earlier in the session, Vlad Morozov added his fifth-straight title in the 100 IM as well. Morozov came in at 51.05, seven tenths of a second ahead of the rest of the field and about three-quarters of a second off his own world record of 50.30 set at the first stop of the World Cup circuit in Berlin.
Germany’s Phillip Heintz grabbed second in 51.76, and Belarus’ Pavel Sankovich earned his second podium finish of the day, taking third in 52.44.
Spain’s Miguel Ortiz-Canavante came in fourth at 54.02, and Daiya Seto continued his busy day, competing in back-to-back races and getting fifth in the 100 IM in 54.65 minutes after a runner-up finish in the 200 breast.
Colombia’s Omar Pinzon (55.13), Hong Kong’s Ng Chun Nam (55.48) and Slovakia’s Adam Halas (56.00) finished sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively.
Women’s 200 Back
Ukraine’s Darya Zevina dominated this race, leading by more than a second at the halfway point and pulling away to take the gold medal by almost four. Zevina touched for the win in 2:00.97, while Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu, in her fifth race of the evening, had to settle for second.
Hosszu touched in 2:04.65, ensuring her fifth top-two finish in five tries on the night. Another Hungarian, Zsuzsanna Jakobos, was third in 2:06.41.
China’s Cheng Haihua edged Hong Kong’s Lau Yin Yan for fourth, 2:07.58 to 2:07.66. Completing the field were Liu Haiyun (2:10.30), Lucy Agnew (2:16.32) and Greta Agnew (2:18.60).
Men’s 50 Fly
South Africa’s Chad le Clos picked up his second butterfly win of the day, crushing the field in the sprint event and winning in 22.08, not too far off the world record of 21.80. That mark belongs to Germany’s Steffen Deibler, set in Berlin back in 2009 during the supersuit era.
Great Britain’s Benjamin Proud led a tightly-bunched pack into the wall and grabbed second in 22.76, just ahead of South Africa’s Roland Schoeman (22.80) and Belarus’ Pavel Sankovich (22.88).
Ukraine’s Andrii Khloptsov (23.08) was fifth, and rounding out the field were Russia’s Vlad Morozov (23.36), South Africa’s Brad Tandy (23.45) and the USA’s Josh Prenot (23.46).
Women’s 800 Free
Katinka Hosszu’s sixth race of the day was her longest, but she had enough left in the tank to pull ahead of China’s Fang Yi down the stretch and take home a fourth gold medal. Hosszu came in at 8:27.45, and Fang was second in 8:30.02.
Slovakia’s Spela Bohinc took the bronze in 8:32.88.
Also competing in the 800 were Yang Chang (8:39.30), Zsuzsanna Jakobos (8:43.17), Lucy Agnew (9:25.55) and Bianca Pera (9:35.37).
Men’s 400 IM
An excellent day for Japan’s Daiya Seto concluded with a blazing swim in the 400 IM. Seto clocked in at 4:00.93, easily out-pacing the rest of his competition.
Germany’s Phillip Heintz took second in 4:04.59, and the USA’s Josh Prenot came in third at 4:07.29.
Hungary’s Gergely Gyurta fiished fourth in 4:10.57, and China’s Jiang Tiansheng out-swam Germany’s Marco Koch for sixth, 4:16.04 to 4:16.67.
Jakub Karl got seventh in 4:29.11, and Dante Nortje had the eighth-best time (4:40.08) out of the early heats.
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