Some of the world’s best swimmers are vying for medals as the World Cup splashes down in Shanghai this weekend.
The three-stop competition series serves as a post-Paris stepping stone ahead of December’s Short Course World Championships in Budapest, as the athletes chasing qualifying times in their quest to compete in the Hungarian capital.
There are subsequent World Cup stops in Incheon, South Korea from October 24th to 26th and Singapore from October 31st to November 2nd.
The last stage of this World Cup will allow the athletes to test and become familiar with the pool where the next Long Course World Championships will be held in July 2025.
In Shanghai, swimmers will have their first opportunity to compete internationally since Paris ended. Here are five races you shouldn’t miss this weekend.
FRIDAY
Men’s 100m Breaststroke
Italian Olympic champion Nicolò Martinenghi will line-up alongside last year’s World Cup champion Qin Haiyan.
After the disappointment in Paris, where he finished only seventh in the 100m breaststroke final, Qin will be looking to redeem himself aiming to beat Martinenghi.
He shocked the world by denying Britain’s Adam Peaty the chance of an Olympic gold medal hat-trick in this event.
World record holder Ilya Shymanovich will also be in China this weekend, as his 2021 record of 55.28 could be threatened.
Dutchman Arno Kamminga, with a personal best of 55.79, won Olympic silver in Tokyo 2020. He could pose a threat to Martinenghi and the home swimmer, as could American Michael Andrew, who changed coaches after not making the US Olympic team for Paris.
SATURDAY
Men’s 100m freestyle:
China’s only individual gold medallist at the Paris Olympic Games, Pan Zhanle, will compete in the event in which he set the world record in the long-distance pool this summer (46.40).
He also achieved the fastest relay split in history, clocking a 45.92, when China broke the United States’ unbeaten streak in the 4x100m medley relay.
Pan, who enters the meet with a personal best in the short course of 45.77 seconds, will find as his main opponents the Italian Thomas Ceccon, with a personal best 5,000ths of a second faster than the Chinese swimmer, and Trinidad and Tobago athlete Dylan Carter.
The Caribbean’s best performance on this distance is 46.36 seconds but he set a new national record with a time of 46.07 seconds, which was the third fastest time in the world that year.
The big question over this distance is whether the current world record of 44.84 seconds, set by Australian Kyle Chalmers, may be in danger, taking into account the individual best performances of these three athletes and that Chalmers won’t be in Shanghai to defend his record.
Thomas Ceccon personal best 45.72 – Pan Zhanle 45.77 – Dylan Carter 46.36
Men’s 200m Individual Medley
The last two Olympic champions will meet in Shanghai, with Frenchman Leon Marchand competing in his first meeting since winning four individual gold medals at the Paris Games.
After setting a new Olympic record and European record that earned him the gold medal, swimming in 1:54.06 (LC), the fresh Olympic champion will take on 2020 Olympic champion Wang Shun, who with a personal best of 1:54.62 (LC) could snatch the title from him at this World Cup stage.
The entire Paris 2024 podium will be back in action as Britain’s Duncan Scott, who has won two consecutive Olympic silver medals in this event, is also on the list of participants.
South Africa’s Matthew Sates, world short course champion in 2022, could be the surprise of this race, being the second fastest of all-time in this distance (1:50.15) and the winner of the 2021 World Cup.
Women’s 100m Backstroke
Australian Olympic gold medallist Kaylee McKeown will take on once more Olympic silver medalist Regan Smith of the United States, as the two have dominated this event since Smith set the long course world record in 2019 (57.57).
McKeown recently set the world record in this event at the Australian Championships in September with a 54.56 and will be racing her biggest rival in this distance.
Smith hasn’t beaten McKeown head to head since 2019 and the two have become good friends as well as competitors as McKeown’s world record will be on watch.
Smith set the new long course world record earlier this summer in June (57.13), while McKeown is one of the best racers in the entire world.
Women’s 200m Medley
If someone can pull the upset, it could potentially be American Beata Nelson, who was the overall World Cup winner two years ago in 2022. Nelson is ranked 15th all-time and perhaps better at the 200m, but will factor into the 100m off her underwater speed.
American Kate Douglass will attempt to break the world record of 2:01.86 set back in 2014 by “Iron Lady” Katinka Hosszú. Kate won Olympic silver in this event in Paris just a few days after winning gold in the 200m breaststroke at the same Games.
The American swimmer is second all-time at 2:02.12 and certainly has all the qualities to swim a new world, she has done nearly everything in this sport except break an individual world record, which could change this World Cup circuit.
Kaylee McKeown of Australia, who won bronze in Paris, along with Yu Yiting of China, who was fourth, should be Douglass’ biggest competitors.
