By Fawad Hussain
DOHA: Swimming superstars Chad le Clos and Katinka Hosszu dominated the opening day of FINA airweave Swimming World Cup 2015 (50m) which began yesterday in Doha with a total number of 16 races decided at the Hamad Aquatic Center.
South Africa’s Le Clos ended the first day with a maximum number of gold medals by an individual, winning three events while Hosszu wrapped up the inaugural day with a tally of four medals including two golds besides a silver and a bronze medal.
Australia’s ace swimmer Emily Seebohm also lived up to expectations by grabbing a brace of gold medals while men’s World Cup points leader Mitchell Larkin of Australia also earned a gold medal on the first day.
But, it was Olympic and World champion Le Clos’ day who made a remarkable return to the FINA Worlds after missing the Asia leg.
In the very first event, the South African clinched gold medal in men’s 100m freestyle with a time of 48:96sec. Fedrico Grabich of Argentina took the silver medal while Frenchman Jeremy Stravius secured bronze medal in the event.
The 23-year old then proved his dominance in butterfly by routing his opponents.
He prevailed over Dane Viktor Bromer (1 min 56:30sec) in 200m butterfly by finishing the job in 1 min 55:80sec. Aussie Geoffrey Wright took the bronze medal.
Le Clos captured his last gold medal of the day with a win in men’s 50m butterfly beating USA’s Giles Smith (silver) and Serbia’s Ivan Lender (bronze).
Cameron Van Der Burgh won the fourth medal of the day for South Africa topping the men’s 50m breaststroke race.
The women’s events saw tough battles between rivals Hosszu, the World Cup points leader and second-placed Seebhom.
However, the Hungarian gained edge over her rival with a maximum number of medals on the first day.
She opened her account with a victory in women’s 200m after overcoming Federica Pellegrini (Italy) and Coralie Balmy (France) who won silver and bronze medals respectively.
Seebohm excelled in the women’s 50m backstroke to win gold medal. Hosszu ended third in the event with Natalie Coughlin of the USA taking the silver medal.
The Hungarian bounced back strongly and won the women’s 200m individual medley with Caitlin Leverenz (USA) and Sakiko Shumizu taking the second and third position respectively.
Tough competition was witnessed between Hosszu and Seebhom in women’s 200m backstroke and once again it was the Aussie who edged out her Hungarian counterpart to win gold medal with Daryna Zevina taking the bronze medal.
Apart from Hosszu’s tally, Hungary also got two gold medals from Danniel Gyurta and Zoltan Verraszto who won the men’s 200m breaststroke and men’s 400m individual medley respectively.
Female swimmer from the US also made their presence felt, walking away with two gold medals.
Molly Hannis grabbed the gold in women’s 100m breaststroke by defeating Jamaican sensation Alia Atkinson (silver) while Felicia Lee secured second gold for the US with a win in women’s 00m butterfly.
Swimmer from Great Britian, France and New Zealand also won a gold medal each. George Guy took the maiden gold for Great Britain by winning the men’s 400m freestyle while Anna Santamans of France claimed the women’s 50m freestyle title.
New Zealand’s Lauren Boyle showed great stamina to win the marathon women’s 800m freestyle.
The World Cup concludes today with an equal number of 16 races scheduled for the final day.
The Peninsula
