Swimmers impress at FINA Swimming World Cup, Beijing – Part 3
The dazzling performances of all participants in their respective events added stars to the first evening of the FINA/Arena World Cup while the audience was eager to see the Olympic champion, Ye Shiwen race in her pet event, Women’s 200m Individual Medley
(IM).
The 16-year-old Shiwen, who improved the records of 200m and 400m IM at the 2012 London Olympic Games, looked confident on the starting blocks. With her self-assured look before the playoff of the 200m discipline, she sent an alarming message to her competitors.
The Chinese star had a comparatively quicker start and gained a competitive lead over her toughest rival. She continued her thrilling form throughout the race and crushed hopes of her opponents in the eight-lap discipline by claiming the title.
With her impeccable pace, she enjoyed a comfortable lead over her closest challenger as she tapped the wall for the crown with a timing of 2 minutes and 06.10 seconds.
Her epic pace remained only 0.09 seconds slower from the world cup mark of 2 minutes and 06.01 seconds, set by Evelyn Verraszto of Hungary in November 2009.
Subsequently, she remained 1.50 seconds away from breaking the world record of the 2 minutes and 04.60 seconds, owned by Julia Smit of USA in December 2009.
The gold medallist was contented with her top finish in the race but expressed her desire of improving the championship mark. After her victory, Shiwen said that she was hoping to improve the record but was only fractions away.
“It's a pity that I missed the meet record. My time was a little bit slower than my expectation. But it is OK; I am just coming back from a Kunming high land training camp. I am not in my best shape,” said Shiwen.
She was followed by Zsuzsanna Jakabos of Hungary, who faced tough competition from her compatriot Katinka Hosszu in the race but managed to secure silver medal. Jakabos remained prominently away from Shiwen as she clocked a time of 2 minutes and 08.22 seconds
for silver medal.
Similarly, Hosszu was only a touch behind and stepped on the medal rostrum for bronze medal by touching the wall with a timing of 2 minutes and 08.35 seconds.
Afterwards, men’s 200m butterfly final caught the attention of the Beijing crowd. The event was expected to be easily dominated by Japanese veteran, Kazuya Kaneda. Kaneda made no mistake in the final round as he went full rampant in the playoff and pocketed
the title by producing a time of 1 minute and 51.22 seconds.
His wonderful pace remained 2.11 seconds away from the championship and world record of Brazilian swimmer, Kaio Almeida, who posted an effort of 1 minute and 49.11 seconds in 2009.
The Japanese champion remained in a considerable lead over his following swimmer, Shun Wang of China, who failed to match Kaneda’s pace in the concluding round and finished second. Wang remained significantly slower from his foregoing swimmer and reached
the victory stand for silver medal by touching the wall with an effort of 1 minute and 52.14 seconds.
His commendable form placed him in a lead of three and half body lengths over his subsequent swimmer, Christopher Wright of Australia, who finished his race in third place by producing a time of 1 minute and 55.47 seconds.
To be continued in Part 4.
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