Olympic gold medallist Chad le Clos has world records on his mind, ahead of world-class international swimming returning to Dubai today with the start of the FINA/MASTBANK Swimming World Cup.
This is the fourth time Dubai is hosting a leg of the World Cup, and 235 swimmers from 38 countries will hit the pool on the first day of the exciting competition at the Hamdan Sports Complex.
The entry list for the two-day event features some of the biggest names in the sport. South African Le Clos and World Cup champion Katinka Hosszu of Hungary headline the event, with star names such as Mireia Belmonte of Spain, Oussama Mellouli of Tunisia, Thomas Fraser-Holmes of Australia and Abu Dhabi-born Velimir Stjepanovic of Serbia also featuring.
Between them they hold numerous World Championship and Olympic crowns, and World, Olympic, Commonwealth and European records.
“It’s always a great honour and pleasure to compete here, and to race in this fantastic facility,” Le Clos said. “I hope to get a world record here, I’m looking forward to racing.”
Current world champion Hosszu arrived in Dubai after breaking three world records in the 100m, 200m and 400m individual medley in the first round in Doha last week, collecting 10 medals, including seven golds.
She said: “I missed a couple of world records in Doha so I hope to get them here. I love competing here, I’m really excited and I hope I can inspire local kids to be involved in swimming.”
The World Cup is contested in a 25m pool and sees both men and women vying for prize money in each of the 36 events.
Points are awarded for performances using a FINA scale, which is based on the current world record time and are accumulated over the seven-leg series.
The Dubai competition, which takes place today and tomorrow, is the second round of the series, which commenced in Doha on August 27-28. After Dubai, the competition will move on to Hong Kong, then Moscow, Beijing and Tokyo. The final event will be held in Singapore from November 1-2.
The overall top scorer in the men’s and women’s section at the end of the series will win $100,000 (Dh367,000).
Organisers in Dubai have also included special races for children on both days to give them the opportunity to be part of the event. The “Children’s Swimming Festival” will feature 50m races for 8-12-year-olds, open to any child who can swim that distance.