Dubai: Defending champion Chad Le Clos may have been overshadowed by the amazing exploits of Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu during the opening leg of the 2014 Fina/Mastbank Swimming World Cup in Doha two days back. But the World, Olympic and Commonwealth Games champion from South Africa is seeking to raise the bar a bit and come within striking distance of his more accomplished colleague from Hungary when the second leg of the 2014 Fina/Mastbank World Cup takes place at the Hamdan Sports Complex here on Sunday and Monday.
Hosszu ended two days of competition at the opening round in Doha with ten medals, seven of these gold, and three world records to boot. Le Clos won the men’s competition while Hosszu took the women’s honours at the end of the Dubai leg at the Hamdan Sports Complex last year.
And this year, the South African wants to perhaps go one step further. For the time-being, things are going in his favour as overall champion for 2012 and 2013 as the 22-year-old South African occupies the top position in men’s competition at the end of the Doha leg.
Le Clos has 54 points following three golds and a silver on the two days of the event in Doha. He is followed by Thomas Fraser-Holmes of Australia in second and Daniel Gyurta of Hungary, both with 48 points.
Fraser-Holmes had the highest number of wins in Doha with four golds, while coming in fastest in the 200m free, 200m individual medley, 400m individual medley and 400m freestyle. Germany’s Christian Diener had wins in the 100m and 200m backstroke for two gold medals to remain within striking distance of the overall two-time defending champion.
“Things are looking pretty balanced among us [men], but then I think I am in pretty good shape this year and we will see how things go here,” Le Clos told the media.
“There are a lot of tough swimmers out there, but my job is to go out there and give it my best and we will see how things work out on Sunday and Monday,” he added.
With her brilliant performance, Hosszu is firmly in the seat with 189 points, way clear of Inge Dekker of the Netherlands in second with 60 points and Spaniard Mireia Belmonte in third with 45 points.
This is the fourth time that Dubai is hosting the Fina Swimming World Cup that this time has 235 swimmers from 38 nations attending. As many as 84 swimmers from the UAE will be involved in this competition, 50 of these UAE athletes and the remaining 34 expatriates, including recent European champion Velimir Stjepanovic.
The Dubai leg is the second round of the seven-leg World Cup series. The swimmers will next move onto to Hong Kong, and then onward to Moscow, Beijing and Tokyo and finally to Singapore for the seventh round on November 1-2.
The Swimming World Cup is contested in a 25m pool and sees both men and women vying for prize money in each of the 36 events. Points are awarded for performances using a Fina scale that is based on the current world record time. Points are accumulated over the seven leg series with the overall series winners in the men’s and women’s sections winning $100,000 (Dh365,000). Action at the Hamdan Sports Complex will get under way at 10 am with the heats followed by all the finals and medals presentation from 6 pm onwards.
Provisional top-3 best of the overall ranking of the competition
(Men) 1. Chad Le Clos (RSA) 54 pts; 2. Thomas Fraser-Holmes (AUS) 48; 3. Daniel Gyurta (HUN) 48.
(Women) 1. Katinka Hosszu (HUN) 189 pts; 2. Inge Dekker (NED) 60; 3. Mireia Belmonte (ESP) 45.
