By Fawad Hussain
DOHA: World swimming’s backstroke specialist Mitchell Larkin of Australia grabbed two more gold medals and South Africa’s superstar Chad Le Clos completed his tally of four premier medals as the two-day FINA airweave Swimming World Cup 2015 (50m) came to a close with exciting races in Doha yesterday.
It was an eventful and vibrant final day at the Hamad Aquatic Center which saw a good number of fans turning out to back their favourite swimmers with Katinka Hosszu adding three more medals to her tally.
After a gold medal eluded the women’s World Cup points leader Hosszu in the first three races, the Hungarian bounced back strongly to win a gold medal in the final race to finish the event on a high note.
She also won two silver medals earlier in the evening, taking her tally to seven medals including three gold as many silver and a bronze medal.
Hosszu won the women’s 400m individual medley with a time of 4:36:39sec to wrap up her show in Doha.
“ I was targeting to add more gold and I am happy to get it in the final race,” said the Hungarian.
“Doha as I said before is one of my favourite places and once again I am leaving with good memories.”
On the other hand, Hosszu’s arch-rival Emily Seebhom also enjoyed an overall good day as she picked up her third gold medal of the event. The Aussie won the women’s 100m backstroke with a time of 58:34sec while Hosszu fell short by a second for the silver medal. Natalie Coughlin of the USA took the bronze medal.
“I was chasing the third gold (of the event) and I was very confident that I will win it,” Seebohm said after her triumph.
Le Clos who clinched gold medals in 200m freestyle, 200m and 50m butterfly races on the inaugural day won the 100m butterfly race on the final day to seal his fourth gold medal.
“The first day gave me a lot of confidence,” said the South African. “I just wanted to maintain the momentum and I am happy that I did it.”
Also sparkling on the day was Jamaican sensation Alia Atkinson who earned a gold medal after claiming the victory in women’s 50m breaststroke.
Brazil’s world record holder in 50m freestyle, Bruno Fratus continued to excel in men’s 50m freestyle, winning gold medal in the event after overcoming Anthony Ervin (USA) and Douglas Erasmus (South Africa) respectively.
“It was a spectacular race and I am satisfied with my performance.”
Larkin, the points leader in men’s World Cup series collected his first gold medal of the day when he ended as join winner at the men’s 50m backstroke with David Plummer of the USA after similar time of 24:70sec.
The 22-year old Aussie who won 100m backstroke on the first day, then outclassed his opponents to win the men’s 200m backstroke with a time of 1:53:80sec. Masaki Kaneko (Japan) took the silver by finishing the job in 1:57:83sec while Luke Greenbank (Great Britain) took the bronze medal.
“I tried to be focused as the opponents were very tough and I am happy to defeat them. I enjoyed the event in Doha and look forward to returning here in the future,” said Larkin. Fratus was delighted on his show and was left stunned with the facilities in Doha.
“That was a good swim, I’m happy with my time,” said the Brazilian.
“I love it here, I have never been to the Middle East before and I’ve got to say I’m taken aback by the facilities. It bodes well for the future of Qatar swimming. It’s also great to see how receptive people are here. I’m impressed,” he added.
Meanwhile, the longest race of the day was won by Ukraine’s Mykhailo Romanchuk who clinched the men’s 1500m freestyle race after a time of 15:07:06 followed by Damien Joly (France) and Alistair Milne (Great Britain) respectively.
The Peninsula
