PR 65 - SWC 2013: Hosszu (HUN) and Belmonte (ESP) produce record-breaking feats in Berlin

Lausanne (SUI), August 12, 2013 – Berlin (GER) successfully staged the second leg of the FINA Swimming World Cup 2013 from August 10-11. The sensations of the two-day meet were undoubtedly Spain’s Mireia Belmonte and Katinka Hosszu from Hungary. Belmonte established two new World Records in the women’s 400m (3:54.52) and 800m freestyle (7:59.34), becoming the first woman to break the 8-minute barrier in the longest event. In the morning heats, Hosszu clocked 57.45 in the women’s 100m individual medley, setting a new World Record. She also bettered the world mark set by Julia Smit (USA) in Manchester in 2009 in the 400m individual medley, winning the event in 4:20.85. The ever-impressive swimmer repeated her performance from the first leg in Eindhoven (NED), taking out the three individual medley events and the 200m butterfly. Her performance in the 200m individual medley (2:03.25) earned a total 1033 points, the meet’s highest score.

Still among women, Aya Terakawa (JPN) remained consistent, claiming a double victory in the 50m and 100m backstroke again. Dutch sprint queen Ranomi Kromowidjojo was the swiftest again in the 50m and 100m freestyle.

In the men’s field, Robert Hurley (AUS) remained unchallenged in the 50m and 100m backstroke events. Roland Shoeman (RSA) took out the 50m breaststroke while Italian Fabio Scozzoli touched first in the 100m breaststroke. In the 200m breaststroke, Daniel Gyurta’s (HUN) new World Cup record of 2:01.37 was the meet’s best performance among men (982 points). Australia’s Kenneth To (AUS) continued his dominance in the 200m individual medley while Daiya Seto from Japan swam a blistering 3:58.84 in the 400m individual medley, a new World Cup record. South Africa’s Chad Le Clos claimed his second gold the 200m butterfly.

Other nations with gold medals in Berlin were the Denmark, France, Italy, Jamaica, Poland, Russia, Ukraine and USA.

FINA Swimming World Cup 2013 calendar:

August 7-8: Eindhoven (NED)
August 10-11: Berlin (GER)
October 12-13: Moscow (RUS)
October 17-18: Dubai (UAE)
October 20-21: Doha (QAT)
November 5-6: Singapore (SIN)
November 9-10: Tokyo (JPN)