MOSCOW, Russia, October 19. THE second evening of finals is complete at the FINA World Cup stop held in Moscow.
USA's Missy Franklin earned her fourth gold medal in just two days to add just another accolade to her growing resume within the swimming community. South Africa's Chad Le Clos, meanwhile, pushed his leading cash tally to $18,500, while Sweden's Therese Alshammar made a run at her world record in the women's 50 fly. USA's Michael Phelps also demonstrated some final 50-meter speed to win the men's 200 back.
Men's 1500 free
Serbia's Stefan Sorak, a new name to the international scene, has definitely enjoyed some early success in the World Cup series. With a 15:04.07 in the metric mile, he pushed his overall winnings to $3,500, and took 10th in the early season rankings. His compatriot, Velimir Stjepanovic, cashed $1,000 with a second-place 15:06.83, while Russia's Nikolay Bulakhov finished third in 15:08.60.
Russia's Daniil Serebrennikov (15:25.07), Russia's Maxim Sedov (15:30.28), China's Feng Zhimin (15:30.91), Russia's Andrey Dmitirev (15:43.52) and Ukraine's Yulian Omelchuk (16:19.12) also vied for the tile in the final heat.
Women's 100 free
USA's Missy Franklin jumped to second in the world in the event with a scorching fast time of 52.80. That swim trails only Sarah Sjostrom's 52.44 from Stockholm, and is just a second back of Natalie Coughlin's American record of 51.88. Germany's Daniela Schreiber touched second this evening with a 53.08 to move to fifth in the early season rankings, while USA's Allison Schmitt finished third overall tonight in 53.13.
USA's Lia Neal ripped off a fourth-place 54.03, while Russia's Margarita Nesterova took fifth in 54.29. Russia's Vitalina Simonova (54.72), China's Zheng Yifei (55.04) and Russia's Victoria Andreeva (55.27) rounded out the championship heat.
Men's 200 free
Germany's Paul Biedermann joined those that have earned more than $5,000 during the circuit, as his 1:43.15 claimed him a $1,500 check. That swim bettered his top-ranked time of 1:43.44 set at the Stockholm stop. He had some company, as USA's Michael Phelps gave him something to think about with a 1:43.31 just .16 seconds behind. That runner-up finish also put Phelps second in the early season rankings. Meanwhile, Russia's Nikita Lobintsev clocked a third-place 1:43.91 for $3,000 overall during the circuit.
Russia's Alexander Sukhorukov (1:45.54), Poland's Pawel Korzeniowski (1:45.98), Russia's Artem Lobuzov (1:46.69), Russia's Evgeny Lagunov (1:46.72) and China's Zhang Zhongchao (1:46.90) also swam in the finale.
Women's 50 breast
Russia went 1-2 in the sprint breast with Valentina Artemyeva winning in 30.23, giving her a second $1,500 check for the meet, for a total of $3,000. Yuliya Efimova clocked a 30.54 for second, and now has $3,000 during her time on the circuit as well. Korea's Kim Hye Jin also broke 31 seconds with a third-place 30.97 to improve to $3,500 in winnings.
Russia's Daria Deeva (31.01), Russia's Ekaterina Baklakova (31.32), Russia's Vera Kalashnikova (31.45), Korea's Darae Jeong (31.50) and Russia's Ekaterina Uymenova (32.01) finished fourth through eighth.
Men's 100 breast
Japan's Naoya Tomita won the event in 58.81, lowering his early season best of 59.23 to move to sixth in the early rankings. The victory gave him $5,000 for the World Cup circuit. Russia' Sergey Geybel touched second in 59.13, while Germany's Marco Koch placed third in 59.29. Koch remains second in the overall money race with $6,500 to his name, while South Africa's Chad Le Clos is in the clear lead with $17,000.
Russia's Viacheslav Sinkevich (59.57), Russia's Stanislav Lakhtyukhov (59.69), Japan's Kazuki Otsuka (59.72), Russia's Denis Krivasheev (1:00.22) and Canada's Michael Brown (1:00.31) comprised the rest of the championship finale.
Women's 400 IM
Quietly, Japan's Izumi Kato has put together an impressive selection of events during the World Cup circuit. With her victorious time of 4:34.00 in the distance medley, Kato assumed the cash earnings lead from Therese Alshammar ($7,000) with a tally of $7,500. Kato fell well off her second-ranked season best of 4:31.27 from Stockholm, but didn't need much to win the event tonight.
Yet again, a podium tie occurred in Moscow after only one tie in the previous two stops. Korea's Kim Seo Yeong and USA's Hali Flickinger tied for second with matching 4:37.66s.
Russia's Yana Martynova (4:38.20), Russia's Kristina Karsyukova (4:44.11), Russia's Kristina Kochetkova (4:48.00), Russia's Anna Markova (4:48.22) and Russia's Natalia Vinokurenkova (4:51.98) placed fourth through eighth.
Men's 100 fly
For one of the few times this meet, the usually reserved Moscow crowd got truly excited as Russia's Evgeny Korotyshkin edged USA's Tyler McGill, 50.72 to 50.86, to emerge triumphant. That swim pushed Korotyshkin to $5,000 in overall winnings, while McGill moved to $4,000. Serbia's Milorad Cavic took third in 50.90. Korotyshkin and McGill moved to second and third in the early rankings behind Chad Le Clos' 50.66 from Dubai with Cavic now standing fourth.
Le Clos, meanwhile, finished out of the money for one of the few times this circuit with a fourth-place 50.97. His winnings stood still at $17,000 after the race. USA's Michael Phelps, who had a difficult first turn, fell to a surprising fifth in 51.13, while Australia's Geoff Huegill finished sixth in 51.34. Russia's Nikolay Skvortsov (52.52) and Japan's Hidemasa Sano (52.65) also swam in the finale.
Women's 100 back
USA's Missy Franklin doubled up for the second time in two days with a 57.39 in the dorsal event. That swim would have pushed her winnings to $5,750 if she were not trying to maintain NCAA eligibility. Pretty impressive for a single meet, when the overall circuit leaders are only in the $7,000s. Australia's Rachel Goh finished second in 57.74 to increase her winnings to $5,500, while Russia's Anastasia Zueva finished third in 58.07.
Russia's Kseniya Moskvina (58.54), Russia's Maria Gromova (1:00.06), Russia's Julia Larina (1:00.90), Russia's Margarita Nesterova (1:00.92) and Russia's Alexandra Papusha (1:01.40) rounded out the top eight.
Men's 50 back
An all-Russian finale took place in the sprint back as Vitaly Borisov won the race in 24.22. Borisov moved to second in the early season rankings behind Masafumi Yamaguchi's 24.17 from Dubai. Vitaly Melnikov and Sergey Makov provided yet another tie with matching 24.35s for second-place honors. Andrey Arbuzov (24.81), Artem Dubovskoy (24.89), Pavel Chesnokov (25.23), Mikhail Noskov (25.26) and Pavel Kosmynin (25.70) also swam for the home country in the championship field.
Women's 200 fly
China's Gong Jie, who owns the top-ranked time in the early rankings with a 2:03.91 from Stockholm, won the distance fly event with a 2:04.32 this evening. Korea's Choi Hye Ra placed second in 2:06.23, while USA's Andrea Kropp cracked the podium with a third-place time of 2:09.71.
Russia's Anastasia Lyazeva (2:12.34), Anna Kiseleva (2:15.99), Elina Maksumova (2:17.78), Irina Bespalova (2:18.43) and Daria Tcvetkova (2:18.71) finished fourth through eighth.
Men's 200 IM
After a temporary crimp in his cash flow occurred in the men's 100 fly, South Africa's Chad Le Clos bounced back with big money in the 200 IM with $1,500 for a 1:55.26. That effort put him closer to the $20,000 mark with $18,500 total in winnings. The swim came a bit short of his third-ranked 1:54.93 from Stockholm.
Japan's Hidemasa Sano (1:55.60) and Daiya Seto (1:55.86) finished second and third. Both have been faster as Seto ranks second with a 1:54.65, and Sano's top time is a fourth-ranked 1:55.01 this year. Sano and Seto both moved to $4,500 in winnings so far.
Russia's Dmitry Zhilin (1:57.00), Japan's Kazuki Otsuka (1:58.12), Portugal's Diogo Carvalho (1:58.43), Russia's Dmitry Gorbunov (2:00.27) and Russia's Ivan Pavlov (2:01.22) rounded out the championship field.
Women's 400 free
USA's Allison Schmitt clipped Russia's Elena Sokolova, 4:02.23 to 4:02.35, in the middle distance event. The swims put Schmitt and Sokolova fourth and fifth in the early season rankings. USA's Chelsea Chenault placed third in 4:05.17 to complete the podium.
Russia's Ksenia Yuskova (4:14.08), Valeriya Kolotushkina (4:16.20), Kira Volodina (4:17.40), Alena Kudryashova (4:18.09) and Irina Arzhantseva (4:19.76) made up the rest of the championship contingent.
Men's 50 free
The Russian crowd definitely enjoyed the sprint event, as one of the loudest and consistent cheers occurred during the splash-and-dash. Canada's Brent Hayden won the race in 21.65 to increase his winnings to $4,500. Hayden moved to fifth in the early season rankings with his swim.
Australia's Eamon Sullivan cashed his first check of the circuit with $1,000 for a second-place 21.76, while Russia's Nikita Lobintsev finished third for the second time this evening with a 21.80.
Australia's Matthew Abood (21.81), Russia's Sergei Fesikov (21.88), Russia's Evgeny Lagunov (21.99), China's Shi Yang (22.02) and Russia's Andrey Arbuzov (22.22) finished fourth through eighth.
Women's 200 breast
Japan's Kanako Watanabe captured the distance breaststroke title in 2:20.94, while Russia's Anastasia Chaun placed second in 2:21.19. Korea's Darae Jeong captured third in 2:21.40. USA's Andrea Kropp nearly earned her second podium of the night with a fourth-place 2:21.75. Watanabe smashed the previously top-ranked time of 2:22.41 clocked by Kim Hye Jin in Stockholm. Chaun and Jeong moved to second and third.
Russia's Vera Kalashnikova (2:24.51), Russia's Irina Novikova (2:25.86), Sweden's Elin Maartensson (2:26.80) and Canada's Annamay Pierse (2:27.51) took fifth through eighth.
Women's 100 IM
Canada's Erica Morningstar is another swimmer who has been making a name for herself on the World Cup circuit. Her total earnings raised to $5,500 with a 1:00.57 to win the sprint medley, while her time fell short of her second-ranked 59.39 from Stockholm. China's Liu Jing took second in 1:00.95, while Russia's Ekaterina Andreeva placed third in 1:01.07.
Russia's Kristina Kochetkova (1:01.89), Olga Klyuchnikova (1:02.04), Victoria Andreeva (1:02.05), Yuliya Efimova (1:02.06) and Daria Belyakina (1:02.43) comprised the rest of the championship field.
Men's 200 back
USA's Michael Phelps demonstrated his competitive desire as he backhalfed his way to victory in the distance backstroke event. Phelps, who stood fourth throughout the first 150 meters, surged to victory with a 1:53.24. The finish put him at the top of the early season rankings, ahead of Chad Le Clos' 1:54.33 from Stockholm. Russia's Artem Dubovskoy (1:53.52) and China's Cheng Feiyi (1:53.75) finished second and third tonight, and moved to second and third in the rankings. Additionally, USA's Jacob Pebley beat the previous top time with a fourth-place effort of 1:54.03.
Russia's Anton Anchin (1:57.79), Alexander Tikhonov (1:58.16), Sergey Makov (1:58.50) and Pavel Kosmynin (2:00.02) finished fifth through eighth in the finale.
Women's 50 fly
Sweden's Therese Alshammar retook the money lead from Izumi Kato with a triumphant time of 25.06 in the sprint fly. The $1,500 pushed her to $8,500 at the end of the third stop of the FINA World Cup circuit. Her time also crushed her previous top time of 25.23 set at the Stockholm stop, and is the sixth fastest effort of all time in the event. Alshammar owns the world record with a 24.38 from the Singapore stop of the 2010 FINA World Cup.
China's Lu Ying finished second in 25.60, while Russia's Anastasia Zueva placed third in 26.66. Russia's Irina Bespalova (26.69), Daria Tcvetkova (26.84), Vasilisa Vladykina (26.94), Germany's Daniela Schreiber (27.10) and Russia's Maria Ugolkova (27.11) also swam in the final heat of the Moscow stop.
