Competition Wrap - 2024 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup - Stop 3
The final leg of the 2024 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup was held over the weekend in Singapore, where nine Kiwi swimmers took on the third stop of the series.
For those that aren't aware, this year's World Cup consists of three legs held on consecutive weekends in October in different cities. Each leg features three days of racing. With the upcoming 2024 World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m) being held in Budapest this December fast approaching, the World Cups are held in the short course format. The opportunity to race against quality athletes from across the globe is seen as an important part of an athlete's preparation and development.
The leg in Singapore produced some fast racing, with some of the best swimmers in the world re-writing the history books on five occasions. Regan Smith (USA) continued to demonstrate her backstroke prowess, breaking both the 100m and 200 backstroke World Records (54.27 and 1:58.83 respectively) across the weekend. Country-mate Kate Douglass (USA) knocked nearly 1.5 seconds off her World Record mark from the previous week, continuing to exert her dominance in the women's 200m breaststroke (2:12.72) with another World Record in as many weeks. Not to be outdone, Leon Marchand (France) broke the men's 200m individual medley (1:48.88) World Record and Noe Ponti (Switzerland - 21.50) his own men's 50m butterfly World Record.
Whilst there were swimmers in each finals across each day of racing in Singapore and seven finals in total, Carter Swift (Club 37) was the pick of the Kiwis as he broke his NZ Record in the men's 100m freestyle twice in one day to place sixth overall in the final.
We have provided an overview by day of the results from our Kiwis below.
Day Wraps
Day One - Thursday 31 October
Josh Gilbert (Club 37) kicked off the first day of racing in Singapore by making the final in the men's 100m breaststroke. Qualifying fifth fastest (57.98) from the heats, Gilbert was slightly slower in the final (58.20) to claim seventh. Qin Haiyang (China) took out the final with a World Cup Record (55.61) ahead of Ilya Shymanovich (55.72) and Caspar Corbeau (Netherlands - 56.67).
Carter Swift was the pick of the four Kiwis in the men's 50m freestyle, securing a personal best (21.51) to place tenth and narrowly miss out on the final, just 0.01 seconds outside Cameron Gray's NZ Record. Teammate Jack Hendy (Club 37 - 21.89) placed 11th, with Jasi teammates Ollie Lutton (22.79) in 21st and Hugo Wrathall (22.81) in 22nd.
Isabelle Gibson (Club 37) was the fastest Kiwi in the women's 50m backstroke, touching 11th (28.05) ahead of Luisa Palmer (Wanaka - 29.97) in 19th.
Lewis Clareburt (Club 37) opened his campaign in the men's 200m backstroke, swimming nearly 3.5 seconds faster than his personal best (1:58.29) to place 11th. Ollie Lutton (2:02.02) placed 14th and Vincent Honey-Downs (Club 37 - 2:07.80) in 18th.
Hugo Wrathall also raced the men's 100m butterfly, claiming his fifth best time of his career (54.40) to finish 22nd. Luisa Palmer was the other race of the day, finishing 23rd in the women's 100m individual medley (1:06.00).
Athlete | Event | Result | Ranking |
Josh Gilbert | 100m Breaststroke | 57.98 (Heat) & 58.20 (Final) | 7th |
Carter Swift | 50m Freestyle | 21.51 | 10th |
Jack Hendy | 50m Freestyle | 21.89 | 11th |
Ollie Lutton | 50m Freestyle | 22.79 | 21st |
Hugo Wrathall | 50m Freestyle | 22.81 | 22nd |
Isabelle Gibson | 50m Backstroke | 28.05 | 11th |
Luisa Palmer | 50m Backstroke | 29.97 | 19th |
Lewis Clareburt | 200m Backstroke | 1:58.29 | 11th |
Ollie Lutton | 200m Backstroke | 2:02.02 | 14th |
Vincent Honey-Downs | 200m Backstroke | 2:07.80 | 18th |
Hugo Wrathall | 100m Butterfly | 54.40 | 22nd |
Luisa Palmer | 100m Individual Medley | 1:06.00 | 23rd |
Day Two - Friday 1 November
Carter Swift was the standout performer of the second day, breaking his NZ Record twice in the men's 100m freestyle. Swift was the second fastest qualifier from the heats (47.03) as he shaved 0.14 seconds off his previous best from the 2022 Apollo Projects NZ Short Course Swimming Championships. He didn't wait long to drop under 47 seconds though, shaving another 0.07 seconds off the NZ Record in the final (46.96) to finish sixth. It was a close final, with Paris Olympic Champion Pan Zhanle (China - 46.09) winning ahead of Thomas Ceccon (Italy - 46.25) and Dylan Carter (Trinidad & Tobago - 46.60).
Lewis Clareburt had a busy second day of action, making the final in both the men's 200m butterfly and men's 200m individual medley. Having qualified third fastest in the morning (1:54.44), Clareburt set a personal best (1:52.92) in the butterfly final to finish sixth. Chad Le Clos (South Africa - 1:50.42) took the win, with Trenton Julian (USA - 1:51.68) and Alberto Razzetti (Italy - 1:51.96). Clareburt qualified fifth fastest in the individual medley heats (1:56.03), before going faster in the final for another personal best (1:54.47) to finish sixth. It was a memorable race, with Marchand (1:48.88) breaking the World Record ahead of Duncan Scott (Great Britain - 1:51.14) and Alberto Razzetti (1:52.99).
Josh Gilbert made his second final in as many days, this time in the men's 50m breaststroke. Gilbert qualified seventh fastest in the heats (26.90), before going faster in the final (26.64) to equal his personal best time and finish seventh overall.
A quick recap of the other Kiwi results on day two saw Isabelle Gibson finish tenth in the women's 100m backstroke (59.72), ahead of Luisa Palmer (1:04.97) in 19th place. Jack Hendy was the pick of the Kiwis in the men's 50m backstroke (24.18) finishing 14th ahead of Ollie Lutton (25.87) in 23rd and Vincent Honey-Downs (27.08) in 27th. Hugo Wrathall (49.69) led the rest of the Kiwis in the men's 100m freestyle in 25th, with Jack Hendy (51.13) in 40th and Vincent Honey-Downs (54.15) in 64th.
Athlete | Event | Result | Ranking |
Carter Swift | 100m Freesyle | 47.03 (Heat) & 46.96 (Final) | 6th (and NZR x 2) |
Lewis Clareburt | 200m Butterfly | 1:54.44 (Heat) & 1:52.92 (Final) | 6th |
Lewis Clareburt | 200m Individual Medley | 1:56.03 (Heat) & 1:54.47 (Final) | 6th |
Josh Gilbert | 50m Breaststroke | 26.90 (Heat) & 26.64 (Final) | 7th |
Isabelle Gibson | 100m Backstroke | 59.72 | 10th |
Luisa Palmer | 100m Backstroke | 1:04.97 | 19th |
Jack Hendy | 50m Backstroke | 24.18 | 14th |
Ollie Lutton | 50m Backstroke | 25.87 | 23rd |
Vincent Honey-Downs | 50m Backstroke | 27.08 | 27th |
Hugo Wrathall | 100m Freestyle | 49.69 | 25th |
Jack Hendy | 100m Freestyle | 51.13 | 40th |
Vincent Honey-Downs | 100m Freestyle | 54.15 | 64th |
Day Three - Saturday 2 November
Lewis Clareburt produced the third fastest performance in his career in the men's 400m individual medley to place fourth (4:06.84) in the timed final. Leon Marchand completed the triple crown as the winner (3:58.45) ahead of Alberto Razzetti (4:00.59) and Trenton Julian (4:04.46).
Josh Gilbert achieved his best placing of the World Cup in his final event, the men's 200m breaststroke. Having qualified eighth fastest from the heats (2:06.79), Gilbert produced his second best time of his career to place fourth (2:05.80). Caspar Corbeau (2:02.33) took out the event ahead of Joshua Yong (Australia - 2:02.85) and Ilya Shymanovich (2:03.90).
Clareburt was the pick of the Kiwis in the men's 200m freestyle, placing 11th (1:44.13) to finish ahead of Carter Swift (1:45.61) in 14th and Hugo Wrathall (1:51.95) in 41st.
Isabelle Gibson rounded out her campaign with 11th in the women's 200m backstroke (2:11.86) with the third fastest time of her career. Luisa Palmer (2:22.74) was in 18th, and also placed 15th in the women's 200m individual medley (2:26.02). Ollie Lutton (56.07) placed 19th in the men's 100m backstroke ahead of Vincent Honey-Downs (58.15) in 26th. Carter Swift led the Kiwi charge in the men's 50m butterfly (23.39) in 17th, just head of teammate Jack Hendy (23.43) in 19th, Hugo Wrathall (24.78) in 29th and Ollie Lutton (25.07) in 32nd.
Athlete | Event | Result | Ranking |
Lewis Clareburt | 400m Individual Medley | 4:06.84 (Timed Final) | 4th |
Josh Gilbert | 200m Breaststroke | 2:06.79 (Heat) & 2:05.80 (Final) | 4th |
Lewis Clareburt | 200m Freestyle | 1:44.13 (Heat) | 11th |
Carter Swift | 200m Freestyle | 1:45.61 | 14th |
Hugo Wrathall | 200m Freestyle | 1:51.95 | 41st |
Isabelle Gibson | 200m Backstroke | 2:11.86 | 11th |
Luisa Palmer | 200m Backstroke | 2:22.74 | 18th |
Luisa Palmer | 200m Individual Medley | 2:26.02 | 15th |
Ollie Lutton | 100m Backstroke | 56.07 | 19th |
Vincent Honey-Downs | 100m Backstroke | 58.15 | 26th |
Carter Swift | 50m Butterfly | 23.39 | 17th |
Jack Hendy | 50m Butterfly | 23.43 | 19th |
Hugo Wrathall | 50m Butterfly | 24.78 | 29th |
Ollie Lutton | 50m Butterfly | 25.07 | 32nd |
Congratulations to all of our swimmers, their coaches and support teams. It's great to see our Kiwis taking the opportunity to race internationally.
You can find the full results from the World Cup via the link below.
World Aquatics Swimming World Cup Champions
World Aquatics award prize money to those who accrue the most points across the three legs.
In the women's field, Kate Douglass took home the title and the $100k USD prize. Regan Smith took home second overall and $70k USD prize, with Siobhan Haughey (Hong Kong) third overall with $30k USD prize money.
Across the men's events, Leon Marchand was crowned the winner with $100k USD added to his account. Noe Ponti came second plus the $70k USD bonus and Duncan Scott third with $30k USD prize money.
Officials in Singapore
Special shoutout to SNZ Life Member Lesley Huckins (Canterbury West Coast) who was part of the officiating team in Singapore for the third World Cup meet, where she was a Referee.
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