2017 FINA World Cup

Cluster No. 2 -- Hong Kong

September 30 - October 1
Victoria Park Swimming Pool
LIVE RESULTS

Superstars ​Katinka Hosszu, Sarah Sjöström​, and ​Chad Le Clos​ picked up where they left off, winning multiple events at the first stop of the second FINA World Cup cluster in Hong Kong over the weekend.

With a shortened second cluster due to Dubai withdrawing, swimmers are allowed to compete in a maximum of six individual events in full-program meets, including in Hong Kong this past weekend and in Doha this Wednesday and Thursday.

Almost two months since the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, it is clear everyone is starting back into their training cycles. While there were not a lot of fast times produced in Hong Kong, five-time reigning World Cup champion Hosszu proved to be the exception.  

The Iron Lady lapped up the extended program, collecting six golds from six events, topped by a 56.97 100m IM in her last race to narrowly miss the world record by 0.46 seconds. This was the highest FINA point score of the weekend and narrowed the gap in the overall points race between Hosszu and Sjöström. Hosszu's other wins came in the 50m-100m-200m backstroke treble (26.24/56.20/2:03.14), and 200m-400m IM (2:05.29/4:33.55).

Australia's Emily Seebohm matched the Iron Lady's schedule across all six backstroke and IM events, scooping the minor medals with five silver and one bronze.

Although we are used to seeing Sjöström smash world records at any given time, she didn't have a quiet weekend by any means and almost matched Hosszu by collecting five golds and one silver medal in Hong Kong. The flying Swede took home golds in the 50m-100m fly (24.62/55.32), 100m-200m free (51.99/1:51.77), and 50m free (23.46), where she handily defeated recent world-record breaker in the event, Ranomi Kromowidjojo (24.12).

On the men's side, ​Tom Shields​ came up big on day one with a rare win over world-record holder Chad Le Clos in the 200m butterfly. Shields cracked the 1:50 mark, with his 1:49.62 holding off a fast-charging Le Clos by 0.6 of a second. With this swim, Shields hit the top FINA point score on the men's side with 971.

These two faced off against each other three more times across the weekend, with le Clos winning the battle in a points decision thanks to wins in the 50m (22.52) and 100m (50.28) butterfly and 200m free (1:42.88). Le Clos leaves Hong Kong with three gold and three silver medals, while Shields displayed versatility with a gold, two silvers, and three bronzes, including the 100m IM and 200m back.

Fellow World Cup veteran and last year's overall champion ​Vlad Morozov​ highlighted the sprint events -- taking wins in his signature 50m-100m free double (20.91/45.91), 100m IM (51.64), and silver in the 50m back.

Veteran journeyman and Olympic champion ​Tony Ervin​ placed sixth in the 50m free with a 22.24.

Local crowd favorite ​Kenneth To continued his comeback to international racing, winning three medals in his home pool.

Other multiple winners over the weekend included Cameron van der Burgh (two gold), ​Alia Atkinson​ (two gold, one bronze), and Kirill Prigoda (two gold, two silver).

With FINA recently upping the prize money for overall top three point scorers and extending cluster bonuses from sixth down to eighth, here's how the points race looks after one of two meets completed in cluster No. 2.

Men's Rankings

Cluster No. 2

1.) Chad Le Clos (RSA) -- 75
2.) Tom Shields (USA) -- 75
3.) Vlad Morozov (RUS) -- 45
4.) Cameron van der Burgh (RSA) -- 42
5.) Kirill Prigoda (RUS) -- 42
6.) Kenneth To (HKG)  - 24
7.) Christian Diener (GER) -- 24
8.) Gabrielle Detti (ITA) -- 21
9.) Ilya Shymanovich (BLR) - 21

Overall

1.) Chad Le Clos (RSA) -- 234
2.) Tom Shields (USA) -- 147
3.) Vlad Morozov (RUS) - 138

Women's Rankings

Cluster No. 2

1.) Katinka Hosszu (HUN) -- 96
2.) Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) -- 87
3.) Femke Heemskerk (NED) -- 51
4.) Emily Seebohm (AUS) -- 42
5.) Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED) -- 33
6.) Alia Atkinson (JAM) -- 30
7.) Rikke Pedersen (DEN) -- 27
8.) Li Bingjie (CHN) -- 21
9.) Zhang Yufei (CHN) - 21

Overall

1.) Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) -- 353
2.) Katinka Hosszu (HUN) -- 272
3.) Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED) - 155

How Does The Prize Money Work?

Individual Event Prizes

• ​Gold -- $1,500
• Silver -- $1,000
• Bronze -- $500
• 4th -- $400
• 5th -- $300
• 6th -- $200

Cluster Bonus Prizes

• ​1st -- $50,0000
• 2nd -- $35,000
• 3rd -- $30,000
• 4th -- $20,000
• 5th -- $10,000
• 6th -- $5,000

Overall Series Bonus Prizes

• ​1st -- $150,000
• 2nd -- $100,000
• 3rd -- $50,000

World Record Bonus

• ​$10,000 for every WR broken