LAUSANNE, Switzerland, November 13. WHILE it was not a surprise, today FINA officially confirmed South Africa's Chad Le Clos and Sweden's Therese Alshammar as the overall winners of the FINA World Cup. The World Cup is a circuit of two-day short course meter events that spanned seven meets in just a month-and-a-half, with the final week featuring a three-meet Asian tour.
Le Clos proved to be the most dominant swimmer during the 2011 circuit with 31 medals, and a total of 176 points. That gave him the $100,000 overall grand prize check, which added to his $45,500 in race earnings gave him an overall haul of $145,500.
Japan's Hidemasa Sano finished second with 90 points overall, earning him the second-place $50,000 check. Along with his $6,500 in race earnings, he checked out of the 2011 tour with $56,500 total. Germany's Marco Koch used an early surge in the tour, with a variety of wins during the first few meets, to hold on to third with 65 points. That performance pocketed him $30,000 for third, which along with his $11,000 in race earnings tallied him $41,000 for the circuit.
In the women's race, Alshammar won 18 total medals and 145 points to claim the women's $100,000 grand prize. Along with her $26,000 in race winnings, she finished with a $126,000 cash haul. The win gave Alshammar her fourth overall victory on the World Cup tour. She won the overall standings in 2006, 2007 and 2010, while also taking second to Jessica Hardy in 2009.
USA's Missy Franklin will be giving up a boatload of cash to remain eligible for NCAA competition, as she finished second with 70 points. That entitled her to $50,000 for second place, along with $21,500 in race winnings that included a $10,000 world record bonus. In sum, Franklin is turning down $71,500 for just a handful of meets on the European leg of the circuit. Korea's Choi Hye Ra snagged third place with 60 points to win $30,000. Added to her $14,500 in race earnings, she finished with $44,500 for her time on the circuit.