The Week That Was: FINA World Cup Sends World Records Tumbling

Gian Mattia D'Alberto / lapresse Roma sport nuoto trofeo Settecolli nella foto: Sarah Sjostrom SWE Gian Mattia D'Alberto / lapresse Rome in the photo: Sarah Sjostrom SWE

Photo Courtesy: Gian Mattia D'Alberto / lapresse

Editorial content for the 2017 FINA World Cup is sponsored by TritonWear. Visit TritonWear.com for more information on our sponsor. For full Swimming World coverage, check event coverage page.

The first cluster of the 2017 FINA World Cup came to a close this week with two more stops in Berlin and Eindhoven and many more world records coming down during the four days of fast swimming. Catch up on all the results from those meets and all the news from the week in The Week That Was.

The Week That Was #5 – Ryan Mallam Leaves ASU For Reno Aquatic Club

Photo Courtesy: Ryan Mallam

Reno Aquatic Club has announced that Ryan Mallam will be taking over as the head coach of the club in Nevada effective September 1. Mallam has spent the last two seasons at Arizona State University under head coach Bob Bowman, where the two helped drive a resurgence to the men’s and women’s teams. Prior to coaching at ASU, Mallam was the Associate Head Coach at Texas A&M (2013-15) and the Head Coach at NJCAA powerhouse Indian River State (2010-13). While Mallam is the Head Coach for the Mallam Swim Clinics, this will be his first head coaching role at the club level.

The Week That Was #4 – Team Energy Standard Raises 26,000 Euros For Charity

Photo Courtesy: Instagram @energystandard

The first ever Energy for Swim – Champions for Charity event saw four teams (USA, Australia, Italy, and Energy Standard) fighting to raise money for their respective charities. Team Energy Standard came away with the overall win, totaling 453 points over the two days of competition, to raise 26,000 euros for their charity Tabletochki, an international fund that helps provide treatment for blood cancer in the Ukraine. Team USA was second with 401 points, followed by Italy (315) and Australia (284). While the event took place shortly after World Championships and during the FINA World Cup Circuit, many high level athletes participated including World Champions Sarah Sjostrom, Chase Kalisz and Chad Le Clos. You can catch up on all the results for the meet here.

The Week That Was #3 – Junior Nationals Showcases Rising US Swimmers

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

The 2017 USA Swimming Junior National Championships was held last week at the Nassau County Aquatic Center in East Meadow, N.Y., showcasing some of the top rising talent in the United States. Carson Foster was one of the breakout stars of the meet, with the 15-year-old grabbing four individual event titles in the 100 (55.61) and 200 back (1:59.13), 200 fly (1:58.47), and 200 IM (2:01.97). Rising senior Alex Zettle who has already committed to the Texas Longhorns, broke future teammate Townley Haas’ meet record en route to winning the 400 (3:51.44) freestyle while also picking up a win in the 200 (1:49.13). King Aquatics Daniel Roy won the 200 breast in the fastest 18 & under American time (2:11.25) other than Kevin Cordes, while three young women posted 2:09’s in the 200 fly: Olivia Carter (2:09.02), Lindsay Looney (2:09.22) and Worlds team member Dakota Luther (2:09.58). For a full breakdown of all the action check out our recap of the top performances of the meet or head over to our Event Landing Page.

The Week That Was #2 – Todd DeSorbo Named Head Coach At Virginia

Photo Courtesy: University of Virginia Athletics

The search for the new head coach at the University of Virginia concluded this week, with UVA announcing Todd DeSorbo would be taking over as head coach of both programs. DeSorbo will come to Virginia from NC State, where he served as Associate Head Coach for the past six seasons and worked with the program’s formidable group of sprinters, including Ryan Held, Simonas Bilis and Justin Ress. During DeSorbo’s time at NC State the Wolfpack won three straight ACC men’s titles, while the women’s team actually ended a nine-year conference win streak for UVA this season. Both teams also saw a rise to prominence on the national level, with the men (fourth) and women (seventh) producing their highest NCAA finishes in history this year. DeSorbo will succeed former head coach Augie Busch, who left for Arizona last month.

The Week That Was #1 – Sjostrom, Kromowidjojo Continue Assault On Short Course Records

Photo Courtesy: Gian Mattia D’Alberto / lapresse

The last two stops of the first cluster of the FINA World Cup Circuit lived up to the hype following the first stop last week in Moscow, with more world records coming down in Berlin and Eindhoven. Ranomi Kromowidjojo opened the Berlin stop by taking back the 50 free world record from Sjostrom, becoming the first woman under 23 seconds in the 50 free when she touched in 22.93. Sarah Sjostrom improved her personal best when she touched just behind in 23.00, and she would go on to end the first cluster of the World Cup in the same way she started. The Swedish Olympian continued to take down records, lowering her new 100 free world record to 50.58 in Eindhoven before she closed the cluster with her sixth world record of 2017, taking down her own 200 free record with a 1:50.43. Katinka Hosszu and Mireia Belmonte also added new world records during the circuit, with Hosszu lowering the 100 IM record to 56.51 and Belmonte breaking Hosszu’s old record in the 400 IM when she touched in 4:18.94. You can catch up with all recaps from the FINA World Cup Circuit on our Event Landing Page.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use