World Cup Shanghai, Day 1 Finals: Continental Records For Qin Haiyang, Wang Shun, Kaylee McKeown & Noè Ponti
Qin Haiyang, Wang Shun, Kaylee McKeown and Noè Ponti set respective continental standards on a fast and furious day one of the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup 2024 in Shanghai, China.
A blistering final 25 guided Qin to a time of 55.73 in the 100m breaststroke with Chinese teammate Wang going 51.24 in the 100IM as the pair set Asian records.
McKeown also set an Oceania mark of 25.40 in the 50m backstroke while Ponti went 48.40 to take 0.07 from his previous 100 fly standard set at the 2023 European Short-Course Championships in Otopeni, Romania. Both swimmers produced the third-fastest performances all-time in their respective events.
Chen Luying set a WJR of 2:02.71 in the women’s 200 fly as the assault on the record books continued.
Leon Marchand also made his return to the pool following his golden campaign in Paris where he soared to four gold medals, the Frenchman once again in the record books in the 100IM.
- Link to results
- Noè Ponti Almost Lost For Words After Lowering European 100 Fly S/C Record In Shanghai; Third-Fastest All-Time
Women’s 400m Freestyle
Li Bingjie, who set the world record of 3:51.30 in October 2022, moved into the lead at the 100m mark only for Tang Muhan to go ahead at halfway.
Liu Yaxin then went to the head of the field and pulled away on the final two lengths to touch in a 3:48.45 PB, leading a Chinese sweep of the podium ahead of Li (4:00.18) and Tang (4:00.40).
Men’s 400m Freestyle
James Guy booked lane four after topping prelims in 3:41.82 ahead of Danys Rapsys (3:41.99) and British teammate Duncan Scott with whom he won 4×2 gold in Paris (3:42.29).
Matt Sates – who was third overall at the 2023 World Cup – was locked out in ninth.
Guy told Swimming World at Paris 2024 of his intention to return to the 400 free in which he is the British record-holder in the long and short-course pools.
Scott headed Guy at the halfway mark with the former kicking clear at 250, the Scot never threatened to win in 3:36.98 ahead of Kieran Smith (3:38.44) and Rapsys (3:38.63).
Scott’s time was a PB and tickled Guy’s British record of 3:36.35 which has stood since the 2014 World Short-Course Championships.
Scott told World Aquatics on poolside:
“It’s not an event I do too much of, but I am learning every time I do it.
“It’s great fun racing these boys; it’s a great start for me.
“I am really happy. Coming into this meet, I found it a bit of an unknown how I would do. I wasn’t sure how I would do it.
“It’s far better than I thought I would do.”
Women’s 50m Backstroke
Kaylee McKeown shattered the 100 back short-course world record when she lowered it to 54.56 at last month’s Australian Championships.
That came weeks after she won the backstroke double in Paris, three years after her double gold in Tokyo.
Known as “Miss Unstoppable,” the 23-year-old holds the long-course WRs in the 50 and 200 – Regan Smith the standard bearer over 100 – and the short-course mark in the 100 and 200.
Maggie MacNeil went 25.25 to top the all-time standings at the 2022 short-course worlds in Melbourne.
On Friday, McKeown led the prelims in 26.10 ahead of Smith (26.33) and Ingrid Wilm (26.40).
Come the final and she made a blistering start to lead throughout and take the touch in 25.36, a new World Cup and Oceania record, ahead of Smith (25.70) and Wilm (26.08).
“It was fun,” said McKeown. “There’s always something you can do in a 50 to make it better.
“I am just excited to race…..because racing and stuff like that is not something I am enjoying as I usually did.
“Coming off the Olympics, you go from such a high to such a low. I am struggling to find the motivation to push myself.
“I’ve been doing this for such a long time and I really just need to take some time away from the pool. After the World Cup events, I will go home to enjoy myself outside of swimming.”
Men’s 200m Backstroke
Pieter Coetze led prelims and he controlled the final with only Lorenzo Mora threatening his lead.
The South African came home in a PB of 1:49.12 with Italian Mora second in 1:51.33 and Enoch Robb coming quickly for third in 1:51.44.
Coetze said: “It felt very good; quite smooth in the beginning. I was quite shocked when I turned for the 100, and I saw I had a body-length lead.
“I said that I knew I was going to win because my back end helps typically me in the race, and at that point I definitely knew I would win.”
Women’s 200m Butterfly
The 200 fly went straight to finals with Smith and Laura Lahtinen of Finland occupying the centre lanes.
Chen Luying was inside WR pace after 50 and 0.21 outside at halfway ahead of Smith and Lahtinen.
The Chinese still led at 150 before Smith came through on the penultimate 25, to take the win in 2:01.85 with Chen setting a WJR of 2:02.71 for second and Lahtinen third in 2:03.13.
It meant two top-three finishes in 10 minutes for Smith who said:
“I got pushed all the way. It was an amazing race, but it gets harder as you get older. It was a tough double, and she really made me work for it.
“You really have to be in shape for the 200 m fly. I haven’t been swimming very much. The girls in the lanes next to me gave me a really great race, and they really pushed me. That’s what it is all about.
“The fans are amazing and everyone has been really nice to me.
“Everyone here is really excited about swimming; it has been great. People here are very excited to see swimming right now. It’s really fun to come to China and be with people who love the sport.”
While Chen identified stamina in the latter stages of the race and overall speed as areas she could improve, she said of her WJR: “Overall, I performed really well, which gives me confidence for the next two stops.”
Men’s 100m Butterfly
Noè Ponti won the fly treble at last year’s European Short-Course Championships in Otopeni, Romania.
The Swiss set a continental record of 48.47 en-route to gold over 100m last December and on Friday he booked lane four in 49.63.
Come the final and Ponti went ahead at 75, coming home in 48.40 for a European and World Cup record.
Nyls Korstanje (49.25) and Chad Le Clos (49.72) came second and third.
Women’s 200m Breaststroke
Kate Douglass left Paris with two golds and two silvers, among them the 200m breaststroke title.
In Shanghai prelims, the American powered to 2:17.11, the third fastest of her career, and 4.15secs ahead of Ye Shiwen, second through, as she catapulted herself to the top of the 2024 rankings.
The question was whether she could come close to Rebecca Soni’s WR of 2:14.57 which has stood since December 2009.
Douglass was 0.43 outside at halfway and came home in clear water in 2:15.96, 4.02secs ahead of Alina Zmushka (2:19.98) and Rebecca Meder (2:20.35).
“I am having a lot of fun so far,” said Douglass. “This meet has pretty chill vibes and is pretty low-pressure. I think a lot of people are enjoying that and feeding off of it. I had fun exploring the city the other night, and I am looking forward to doing that.”
Men’s 100m Breaststroke
Qin Haiyang was the overall men’s winner at the 2023 World Cup after sweeping the breaststroke events at all three stops of the tour for the treble treble.
The Chinese finished seventh in the 100m breaststroke in Paris but topped prelims in 56.52 ahead of teammate Sun Jiajun (56.80) and world record-holder Ilya Shymanovich (56.92).
Nicolo Martinenghi, winner of the Olympic title, was 10th in 58.59 with Arno Kamminga, silver medallist in Tokyo, 12th in 59.01.
Shymanovich was just 0.08 outside the WR at 50 and still led at the final turn, just ahead of Qin before a blistering final 25 guided the Chinese to victory in 55.73, an Asian record.
Qin, who claimed an unprecedented clean sweep at the 2023 worlds, took 0.04 from the previous Asian standard of 53.77 set by Yuya Hinomoto of Japan at the 2021 national championships.
Shymanovich was second in 56.07 with Sun making it a Chinese 1-3 in 56.16.
“I want to thank all the people here who are supporting me. They give me strength and confidence. Thank you all,” said Qin.
Women’s 50m Freestyle
Kataryzna Wasick and Zhang Yufei were locked at 11.55 at the turn but the latter took two breaths on the second 25 as the Pole claimed victory, the only woman inside 24 on 23.87.
Zhang was second in 24.00 with Australia’s Milla Jansen third in 24.19.
“Today was fun,” said Wasick. “It was a win. My time was okay. I have been back in the water for a few weeks after taking a break after the Olympics. Without the World Cups it would be really hard to motivate us. Honestly its so nice to see my friends and to compete again with the best swimmers.”
Men’s 50m Freestyle
Dylan Carter, Isaac Cooper and Jack Dolan all clocked 21.03 as 0.35 separated the top eight in prelims with Michael Andrew the man locked out in ninth in 21.49.
Cooper led at halfway in 9.95 with Carter back in sixth only for the Trinidad and Tobago swimmer to come through for victory in 21.06.
Dolan came from seventh at 25 to take second in 21.07 with Marius Kusch of Germany third from lane one in 21.09.
Carter said: “It was a fun race. I think I was ready for that race. It’s good to be back swimming in a short course. The disappointment in Paris got me back into training a bit sooner. I have lost a bit of weight to be fit to race six events on a weekend. I think I gained a bit of weight going into Paris, but I have lost that weight, and I feel fitter.”
Women’s 100m Individual Medley
Douglass matched the American record of 57.72 to head the prelims, equalling Beata Nelson’s time from the International Swimming League (ISL) in December 2021.
She came through on the final 25 to stop the clock at 56.99 – a new American record – ahead of Yu Yiting in a Chinese mark of 57.51 with McKeown third in 57.76.
“I love the 100IM,” said Douglass. “I find the 200IM very painful, and this was a lot more fun to do. I was definitely worried about the timing of my double, but it all worked out. I think I managed my races well. I love training short course at the University of Virginia. We have been doing a lot more of that. I don’t miss long course right now, that’s for sure. I think it’s a lot of fun to race a different pool length, because we all have our strengths and weaknesses. This is my first World Cup series and it’s fun. It’s definitely fun, low pressure, allowing everyone to have a good time and not worry about how we are swimming.”
Men’s 100m Individual Medley
Leon Marchand set La Defense Arena alight with his four gold medals in front of an ecstatic home crowd in Paris.
The Frenchman was the only man inside 52 in Friday prelims to book lane four in 51.65 ahead of Ponti (52.00) and Wang Shun (52.15).
Come the final and it was Ponti who turned first at 25 in 10.16, reaching halfway in 22.69.
Marchand went ahead on the breaststroke before Ponti came back on the final 25 as the Frenchman touched in 50.65, 0.01 ahead of Ponti (50.66) with Scott coming through for his second podium finish of the night in 51.14.
With that, all three men set new national records while Wang’s time of 51.24 sliced 0.06 from the Asian standard of 51.30 held by Kosuke Hagino since December 2014.
Marchand said: “I enjoyed racing Noè tonight. The Olympics were pretty amazing for me, I took some time off from that, I got back in the water about a month and a half ago. I don’t really expect a lot of great results. I am just enjoying racing now so it’s cool. I am just trying to have fun.
“I think it’s a good time, but I haven’t really swam that event before. It was a really fun race from the beginning. Noe just swam another event 20 minutes ago. I thought it was really exciting to race Noè Ponti, and it was a really close race. I will race the 100IM event at every stop of the World Cup. I love being able to travel and go overseas to race. We also have two more stops on the World Cup, and I will be enjoying it all.”
Of why he wore a Caeleb Dressel cap, he said: “Because he’s a legend. I just love that guy. He inspired me a lot and really helped me with my mental health as well. We exchanged caps at the Olympics. I was proud to wear his cap.”
