Alshammar and Le Clos eclipse rivals for World Cup success

Nota publicada en la página de la FINA

Russell McKinnon, FINA Press Commission Member

Swedish superstar Therese Alshammar won the FINA/ARENA Swimming World Cup crown for an incredible fourth time in Tokyo tonight. The 34-year-old veteran had a relatively quiet time for her in Tokyo but a gold medal in the final event — the 50m Butterfly — reaffirmed her status as the Queen of the World Cup pool. It was her sixth straight victory after missing the opening Dubai round. She was joined on the victory dais by South African revelation, 19-year-old Chad Le Clos, whose 22 World Cup victories led to a commanding win in the men’s section on the second day of the seventh and final FINA/ARENA Swimming World Cup meet at the Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Centre.

Alshammar topped the 2011 standings with 145 points, well clear of the USA’s Missy Franklin with 70 and Korea’s Choi Hye Ra with 60. Alshammar took out $US100,000 with Franklin $50,000 and Choi $30,000. Alshammar said that she thinks her season was better than last year. “What pleased me the most was winning all the Butterflys (50m) with four times under 26 seconds. By missing the first round there was less travelling. I have improved my strength and we have worked strongly on technique, making big improvements.”

Le Clos was ecstatic with his hefty $US100,000 first-place prize as he said he was a late replacement for the World Cup series. “I was lucky to be in the series and the great start in Dubai (six wins) gave me the possibility of making the top three and possibly winning." On the mental aspects of a draining seventh meet in such a short time, Le Clos said: “I knew it was going to be hard and that there were some wonderful Japanese and Chinese swimmers who are good at medleys, breaststroke and butterfly. They were gunning for me, as you could see."

Therese Alshammar & Chad Le Clos

“The best part of the series? Swimming against the best in the world and getting to swim against Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte. If you want to win Olympic gold, you have to beat those swimmers,” he said.

The final appearance by Australian Ian Thorpe saw him bow out of the 100m Butterfly with the 26th fastest time of the meet and now leaves him to reflect on his performances and what he needs to do before the Australian Olympic trials next year.

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