PR 92 - SWC 2014: Le Clos and Hosszu close to overall title

Lausanne (SUI), October 29, 2014 - Hungary’s Kazinka Hosszu continued amassing gold medals in the 2014 edition of the FINA/MASTBANK Swimming World Cup, earning seven more titles in the sixth leg of the series, held in Tokyo (JPN) on October 28-29. The Magyar swimmer was the best in the 200m free, 100m and 200m backstroke, 200m butterfly, 100m, 200m and 400m individual medley. Moreover, she was also the best female performer of the meet, with her 57.74 effort in the 100m IM (985 points).

Still in the women’s field, Fran Halsall (GBR), Mireia Belmonte (ESP) and Inge Dekker (NED) were the remaining multi-gold medallists in the Japanese capital. Halsall touched first in the 50m and 100m free, and 50m back, while Belmonte was the fastest in the 400m and 800m free, and Dekker in the 50m and 100m fly. Ruta Meilutyte (LTU, 50m breaststroke), Alia Atkinson (JAM, 100m breast) and Rie Kaneto (JPN, 200m breast) complete the list of female winners in Tokyo.

With these results, Hosszu (889 points) naturally consolidated her lead of the 2014 overall ranking, being followed by Dekker (second, 330 points) and Belmonte (third, 255).

Among men, Chad Le Clos (RSA) and local hero Kosuke Hagino shared the honours in this sixth leg, winning three events each. Hagino got the gold in the 200m free, 100m and 200m individual medley, while Le Clos imposed his superiority in the 50m, 100m and 200m butterfly. The Japanese star set the only World Cup record in Tokyo, after touching home in 1:51.27 in the 200m IM; however, Le Clos was the best male performer of the competition, with his 1:49.20 victory in the 200m fly (982 points).

Shinri Shioura (50m free), Katsumi Nakamura (100m free), Yuki Shirai (200m back) and Daiya Seto (400m IM) assured the remaining triumphs for Japan at home soil. Hungary had in Gergely Gyurta (1500m free) and Daniel Gyurta (100m and 200m breast) its male winners in Tokyo, while USA (Eugene Godsoe, 100m back), Spain (Miguel Ortiz, 50m back) and South Africa (Roland Schoeman, 50m breast; Myles Brown, 400m free) had also gold medallists in Tokyo.

Before the seventh and final meet of the series, to be staged in Singapore on November 1-2, Le Clos (414 points) is firmly in the lead of the men’s overall ranking; Daniel Gyurta is second with 293 points and Tom Shields (USA) completes the top-3 with 225.

Winners in Tokyo (JPN):

50m free: Men – Shinri Shioura (JPN), 21.38; Women – Fran Halsall (GBR), 23.80
100m free: Men – Katsumi Nakamura (JPN), 47.30; Women – Fran Halsall (GBR), 51.96
200m free: Men – Kosuke Hagino (JPN), 1:42.62; Women – Katinka Hosszu (HUN), 1:52.45
400m free: Men – Myles Brown (RSA), 3:37.96; Women – Mireia Belmonte (ESP), 4:00.87
800m free: Women – Mireia Belmonte (ESP), 8:08.57
1500m free: Men – Gergely Gyurta (HUN), 14:36.38
50m back: Men – Miguel Ortiz (ESP), 23.30; Women – Fran Halsall (GBR), 26.42
100m back: Men – Eugene Godsoe (USA), 50.49; Women – Katinka Hosszu (HUN), 56.07
200m back: Men – Yuki Shirai (JPN), 1:49.95; Women – Katinka Hosszu (HUN), 2:01.97
50m breast: Men – Roland Schoeman (RSA), 26.02; Women – Ruta Meilutyte (LTU), 29.36
100m breast: Men – Daniel Gyurta (HUN), 57.23; Women – Alia Atkinson (JAM), 1:02.86
200m breast: Men – Daniel Gyurta (HUN), 2:02.12; Women – Rie Kaneto (JPN), 2:19.18
50m fly: Men – Chad Le Clos (RSA), 22.20; Women – Inge Dekker (NED), 25.18
100m fly: Men – Chad Le Clos (RSA), 48.95; Women – Inge Dekker (NED), 56.11
200m fly: Men – Chad Le Clos (RSA), 1:49.20; Women – Katinka Hosszu (HUN), 2:03.14
100m IM: Men – Kosuke Hagino (JPN), 52.03; Women – Katinka Hosszu (HUN), 57.74
200m IM: Men – Kosuke Hagino (JPN), 1:51.27 (World Cup record); Women – Katinka Hosszu (HUN), 2:05.18
400m IM: Men – Daiya Seto (JPN), 3:59.91; Women – Katinka Hosszu (HUN), 4:23.67
4x50m free mixed: Japan, 1:33.28
4x50m medley mixed: Japan, 1:40.51

TOP-3 OVERALL RANKING (before seventh and final leg):

Men
1.    Chad Le Clos (RSA), 414 points
2.    Daniel Gyurta HUN), 293 pts
3.    Tom Shields (USA), 225 pts

Women
1.    Katinka Hosszu (HUN), 889 points
2.    Inge Dekker (NED), 330 pts
3.    Mireia Belmonte (ESP), 255 pts