Dubai: World class international swimming returned to Dubai on Friday morning with the first day’s heats of the FINA/airweave Swimming World Cup kicking off at the Hamdan Sports Complex.
And with so many world champions in action, tonight’s finals session promises to be one of the most exciting ever seen in Dubai. The showdown in the men’s 50m breaststroke promises to be thrilling, with all three medallists from the 2015 World Championships — Adam Peaty, Cameron Van Der Burgh and Kevin Cordes — in the mix. Peaty will also face Cordes and former World Champion Daniel Gyurta of Hungary in the 200m.
Peaty said after the 50m heat “I’m pretty happy with that, it’s my first long course swim after worlds, I had a few weeks off. I’ve pretty much got no expectations for tonight, but it felt smooth and relaxed, so hopefully tonight I can go a bit faster.”
Van der Burgh said after the heat “It was good to get the cobwebs out after Doha, it’s a tough field tonight with all the world champs medallists, I will be doing my best to beat Adam.”
In the women’s backstroke the duel between World Champion Emily Seebohm and three-time World Cup champion Katinka Hosszu continues, with both qualifying for the 50m and 200m backstroke finals. Seebohm is in brilliant form and will be tough to beat.
While Hosszu should have it all her own way in the 200m individual medley, she will face a formidable field in the 200m freestyle, with Italy’s Federica Pellegrini, who qualified fastest, up against Great Britain’s Jaz Carlin and New Zealand’s Lauren Boyle.
Hosszu said after the 200m freestyle heat “That felt pretty good, it was a controlled morning swim, I’m feeling good, I feel more in shape than before, it’s been a good series so far.”
Crowd favourite Chad Le Clos will contest three finals tonight, the 50m and 200m butterfly, and the 100m freestyle.
Le Clos said “It feels good to be back in this pool, it’s hard to do a 100m free in the morning, and to do a 49 in the morning is tough, but I’m happy to make the final, and congratulations to my team mates Caydon (Muller) and Doug (Erasmus) for making it into the final too. I’m in good shape, Doha was good so it will be another great night hopefully, but it will be a tough against (Jeremy) Stravious (France), he’s swimming 48s, it’s a fast time, but I’ll try and beat him tonight.”
Local hope Velimir Stjepanovic will give the crowd reason to cheer extra loud when he contests the 100m and the 400m freestyle finals tonight. In the 400m he will face Gergo Kis of Hungary who swam a great heat this morning, and World Champion James Guy who said afterwards “That felt a lot harder than I expected, but it’s about getting a lane for tonight. Heats are heats, just get a good lane and get out there and have some fun. I’ve been in heavy training for three weeks so it’s about getting out there and racing hard.”
As expected world champion Mitch Larkin qualified first for the 100m backstroke, but will be pushed hard by USA’s David Plummer who finished just .07 seconds behind him.
Jamaica’s Alia Atkinson heads into tonight’s 100m breaststroke final determined to reverse the Doha result which saw her finish second to USA’s Molly Hannis. Atkinson said “I’m feeling pretty good, I was hoping Tokyo and Doha would get rid of a little bit of the roughness, so hopefully by the third time I’ll go OK.”
The action in the FINA/airweave Swimming World Cup continues tonight with the opening ceremony at 5.45pm before the finals at 6pm. Tomorrow’s heats commence at 9.30am. In the afternoon a Children’s Swimming Gala will be held for local swimmers, before the finals at 6pm. Competitions will also be held throughout the event to win great Speedo prizes. Fans who come dressed to support their country will be in with the chance for a prize, and those who guess the correct number of goggles in the case at the Speedo stand can also take home a fantastic prize.
Tickets are Dh50 per day and are available at the door, entry for children under 12 is free.
The 2015 Swimming World Cup is being held over eight legs, and three clusters, with men and women vying for prize money and points in each leg and cluster. The overall male and female points winners will also take home US$100,000 (Dh367,300). The Swimming World Cup this year is being held in a 50m pool for the first time, as the event also serves as an Olympic qualifying event.
