“Great start of season, the best is yet to come”. 2018 FINA swimming World Cup wrapped up in Kazan
Russian swimmers won some more gold medals on the final day of the first leg of the FINA Swimming World Cup.
Anton Chupkov won the second gold medal in the swimming pool of Kazan. He achieved victory in the 100m and 200m races. He was not confident enough during the first part of the race, but, as usual, found extra energy reserves for the last minutes and won.
“I am so happy with my victory. This is the first time I have won gold at the World Cup. Two prizes are from Kazan. My result is not bad”, Chupkov said.
Men. 200m. Breaststroke
1. Anton Chupkov, Russia – 2:07.59
2. Kirill Prigoda, Russia – 2:09.75
3. Mikhail Dorinov, Russia – 2:09.86
Yulia Efimova gauged her strength properly before the leg in Kazan. She pulled out from the 200m breaststroke race, but achieved victory in the 50m race. This is her second gold medal in Kazan.
“Great start of season. The best is yet to come. I am heading for Doha at 10.00 p.m. I have to hurry up”, Efimova declared.
Women. 50m. Breaststroke
1. Yulia Efimova, Russia – 30.92
2. Natalia Ivaneeva, Russia – 31.33
3. Agne Seleikaite, Lithuania – 31.54
The 100m freestyle world record-holder Sarah Sjostrom was just three hundredths from the World Cup record. However, the swimmer from Sweden won five gold medals. It’s highly unlikely that she has any claims.
“I am really happy that I have won five times. I didn’t know what to expect from myself. The European Championship has just passed. I trained on my own. I am pleased with my swimming skills”, Sarah noted.
Women. 100m. Freestyle
1. Sarah Sjostrom, Sweden – 52.99
2. Femke Heemskerk, the Netherlands – 53.63
3. Ranomi Kromowidjojo, the Netherlands – 53.71
Blake Pieroni (USA) had an advantage over his rivals in the 200m race. He was ahead of Le Clos and Stolk from the first meters of the race and didn’t lose a chance to win.
Men. 200m. Freestyle
1. Blake Pieroni, USA – 1:47.32
2. Chad Le Clos, RSA – 1:48.10
3. Kyle Stolk, the Netherlands – 1:49.67
Team Russia claimed silver, even though they were in the lead. Vladimir Morozov started the race, but the tournament hosts could not launch supremacy. Team the Netherlands achieved victory. Morozov added two silver and two bronze medals to his three golds.
“I would say that the tournament was excellent. Everything worked out even better than I had expected”, Morozov admitted after the final race.
Mixed. 4x100m. Freestyle
1. The Netherlands – 3:46.10
2. Russia (Vladimir Morozov, Yulia Efimova, Egor Kuimov, Maria Kameneva) – 3:46.10
3. Hungary – 3:57.88