Sweden’s Sarah Sjöström broke the women’s 50 meter freestyle record on the opening day of the International Swimming Federation (FINA) Swimming World Cup in Moscow.
Sjöström completed the event in a time of 23.10 seconds at the Olimpiyskiy Swimming Pool, lowering the mark of 23.69 she had set on her way to winning gold at the World Aquatics Championships in Hungarian capital Budapest last week.
The Netherlands’ Ranomi Kromowidjojo, who won silver behind Sjöström in Budapest, was made to settle for second place again.
She finished in a time of 23.29, with Australia’s Cate Campbell rounding off the podium in 23.96.
Having won two world titles in front of her home crowd in Hungary, Katinka Hosszu secured a pair of wins on the first day in Moscow.
She triumphed in the women’s 100 meter backstroke in a time of 55.65, with Australia’s Emily Seebohm ending as the runner-up in 57.09.
Russia’s Maria Kameneva won bronze, finishing the event in 57.09.
Hosszu was also victorious in the 100 meter individual medley, finishing 0.08 clear of Sjöström to win in a time of 57.02.
Bronze was earned by Seebohm, after the 25-year-old ended in 58.63.
The opening World Cup of the season is the first to be held under new rules, which were adopted by FINA last month.
Hosszu, who has been the dominant force in recent World Cup seasons, was among the most vocal critics of the changes.
She launched the Global Association of Professional Swimmers with several of the sport’s top swimmers last month, following FINA’s move.
Changes made by the governing body limited competitors to four individual events per meet, which particularly angered the Hungarian, who finished top of the women’s standings in the last five editions after entering almost every discipline.
There was a victory for Italy’s Federica Pellegrini in the women’s 400m freestyle, as the newly crowned 200m world champion finished in a time of 3min 57.80sec.
Spain’s Mireia Belmonte and Russia’s Anna Egrova clocked 3:58.24 and 4:04.31 respectively to round off the podium.
Jamaica’s Alia Atkinson, who missed the World Championships, returned to competition by winning the women’s 50 meter breaststroke in 29.46.
She was followed by Lithuania’s Ruta Meilutyte and Russia’s Natalia Ivaneeva, who managed times of 29.51 and 29.87.
The hosts celebrated gold in the men’s 200 meter breaststroke final as Kirill Prigoda clocked 2:02.16, while Belarus’ Ilya Shymanovich and Russia’s Anton Chupkov rounded off the top three in 2:03.71 and 2:04.08.
South Africa’s Chad le Clos held off a strong Russian challenge to win the men’s 200 meter freestyle in 1:42.54.
Home favorites Aleksandr Krasnykh and Mikhail Vekovishchev managed times of 1:42.69 and 1:43.26 to complete the podium.
Le Clos won his second event of the day by finishing the men’s 100 meter butterfly competition in 49.13.
The 25-year-old was followed by Britain’s Adam Barrett in 49.45 and the United States’ Tom Shields, who managed 49.55.
Action at the World Cup continues tomorrow.
The opening cluster of the World Cup season will then continue held from August 6 to 7 in Berlin before Amsterdam stages the following event on August 11 and 12.
By Michael Pavitt
Republished with permission from insidethegames.biz.