Russia’s Vladimir Morozov celebrates after winning the men’s 50m freestyle final during the opening day of the FINA Swimming World Cup Doha 2019 at the Hamad Aquatic Centre yesterday.
The FINA Swimming World Cup Doha 2019 begun yesterday, witnessing thrilling races from top swimmers in front of almost a packed house at Hamad Aquatic Centre.
The opening day of the seventh and final meet of World Cup series saw Russian star Vladimir Morozov and Australia’s Cate Campbell (AUS) winning gold medals to consolidate their overall top rankings. Doha’s fan-favourites Katinka Hosszu of Hungary and South African star Chad Le Clos also grabbed the spotlight with victories yesterday.
Danas Rapsys’ gold medal in men’s 400 freestyle was another highlight of the day, as the Lithuanian completed his clean-sweep of seven successive wins in the event.
Meanwhile, Morozov, who came to Doha with a huge 87-point lead, further strengthened his position for over title after winning the men’s 50m freestyle final, clocking 21.83 – just fractions of a second ahead of Kosuke Matsui (JPN) 22.02 and Maxim Lobanovskij (HUN) 22.04.
“It feels very good. This race is getting closer and closer each day. I’ am happy to be a winner in this tight race. I have been racing a lot since last three months and I feel a bit tired,” said Morozov.
Campbell was fastest in the exciting 50m freestyle final with a time of 24.11, edging Michelle Coleman (SWE) 24.50, who won silver.
“Michelle (Coleman) pushed me hard. It’s been an amazing competing with her. We both get the best out of each other,” said Campbell.
The Australian star, who was leading Hosszu by 24 points in overall rankings after the Kazan meet, is still facing a tough competition from the Hungarian, who won the 200m butterfly title yesterday.
Hosszu clocked 2:08.60 for her 302nd World Cup victory, beating team-mate Zsuzsanna Jakabos (2:08.95).
“We Hungarians are strong and do a lot of hard training. I would like to thanks my supporters and the Hungarian fans especially for their support,” said Hosszu.
Multi-Olympic medalist, Le Clos took win in 100m butterfly with Jakub Majerski (POL) and Michael Andrew (USA) getting the next two positions respectively.
“I haven’t played much in the World Cups this year, but I had to come to Doha. I love Doha and the support of the fans here. Just flew here last night. It’s great to be back in Doha,” said Le Clos.
In the men’s 400 freestyle, Rapsys was clinical as he took victory in 3:47.87, with Mykhailo Romanchuk (UKR) 3:48.61 and Jan Micka (CZE) (3:50.20) taking silver and bronze medals.
“My strategy was to be slow in first 200m and the rest of race became easy. The plan was to start slow and get faster. I am happy to win all the seven titles in this race…. thank you fans,” said Rapsys.
Japan’s Yasuhiro Koseki stunned cluster leader Anton Chupkov in 100m breaststroke with a gold medal in 59.11. The Russian finished third with a time of 59.83 behind Dutchman Arno Kamminga 59.25.
Kira Toussaint of the Netherlands was the winner in women’s 50m backstroke with a time of 27.80, finishing ahead of Kaylee Mckeown (AUS) 27.92 and Emily Seebohm (AUS) 28.08.
Australia’s Bradley Woodward clinched his maiden World Cup title with a victory in men’s 200m backstroke. Marlene Kahler (AUT) dominated the women’s 400m freestyle, winning gold in 4:10.51.
Hungary got their second gold medal of the day when Eszter Bekesi won the women’s 200m breaststroke.
