World's best swimmers land in Dubai

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  • Time on my mind: Chad le Clos is looking to make a splash in Dubai.

    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. 

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