Dubai Newly crowned Commonwealth and European men’s 200-metre freestyle champions Thomas Fraser-Holmes and Velimir Stjepanovic will go head-to-head in Dubai next week at the Fina/Mastbank Swimming World Cup at the Hamdan Sports Complex from August 31 to September 1.
Dubai-based Stjepanovic, who represents Serbia, won the 200m and 400m freestyle European crowns in Berlin this week in times of 1:47.78 and 3:45.66.
Stjepanovic’s time in the 200-metre ranks him fifth in the world this year, but he will face stiff competition in Dubai when he comes up against the new Commonwealth and Pan Pacific champion Fraser-Holmes of Australia. Fraser-Holmes took gold in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in July in 1.45.08, a time which put him at the top of the 200m world rankings.
He reaffirmed his position as the World No.1 when he stormed home in the last lap to win gold at the Pan Pacific Championships at the Gold Coast, Australia this week.
The 200-metre and 400-metre are now shaping up as the most hotly contested events on the program in next week’s Swimming World Cup, with Stjepanovic and Fraser-Holmes up against the three swimmers who dominated the events last year, Chad Le Clos of South Africa, Australia’s Bobby Hurley and Poland’s Pawel Kozeniowski, guaranteeing some thrilling racing.
It won’t be any easier in the other men’s events, with current World, Olympic and World Cup champion Le Clos’ main challenge in the butterfly events expected to come from USA’s Thomas Shields. After taking silver behind Le Clos at the 2012 Short Course World Championships in Istanbul, Shields got the better of the World and Olympic champion twice in the 100-metre butterfly during last year’s Swimming World Cup, defeating him in Doha and Berlin. These victories denied Le Clos a clean sweep in both the 100-metre and 200-metre butterfly events in the Swimming World Cup.
Le Clos’ dominance in the individual medley events is also under threat, with Fraser-Holmes (who took silver in the 400-metre IM in Glasgow) also in the field, along with Oussama Mellouli of Tunisia and the man who beat him into second place in Dubai last year, David Verraszto of Hungary. Verraszto is the new European champion in this event, having won it on Sunday in Berlin.
Olympic and World Champion Cameron van der Burgh is expected to reign supreme in his favoured breaststroke events, with his toughest competition coming from his countryman, veteran sprinter Roland Schoeman in the 50 metres, with Daniel Gyurta of Hungary his biggest threat in the 100 metres. Gyurta, who currently holds World and Olympic titles in the 200 metres breaststroke, missed the medals in Berlin so will be looking for a return to form.
The Dubai leg of the Swimming World Cup is round two of the seven-stage series, which starts in Doha, Qatar on August 27-28 and goes to Hong Kong, Moscow, Beijing and Tokyo. The final will be held in Singapore on November 1-2.
The Swimming World Cup is contested in a 25-metre pool and sees both men and women vying for prize money in each of the 36 events. The overall men’s and women’s series winner also receives $100,000 (Dh367,000). Over 150 of the world’s best swimmers representing 37 countries will arrive in Dubai this week.
