Day 3 Finals - 22 October 2023

Men’s 400m IM

Matthew Sates - RSA 

That was a tough race.  I am broken, I am really broken.  I am so happy to be finished with World Cup racing this season.  Yeah!  I’m in the top 3 (men’s performers) right now.  

Mentally it was really tough, of course physically this is a challenge,  but mentally this is also really hard.  

I know that I am known for breaststroke dominance in the IM’s but he caught me, because honestly I couldn't feel my legs in the breaststroke.  Thankfully I had a strong finish.

 Thanks to World Aquatics for putting on such a great event.  Thanks to those in the audience supporting us.

First, it was a PB, and it was faster than I swam at the World Championships.  This audience brings so much energy.  In the warm-up, I felt pretty average.  I am really excited to race on the way to our Olympic trials.  I think races like this where it's a bit of fun with the people around me are valuable.  But it reminds me of the standard that I have to live up to.   I have learned how I think I want to approach my training going forward. It's been a really really fun meet.  I think I will be racing again in December in a few different events.  I am really excited to swim over the next 8 to 10 months heading into the summer and hopefully Paris.  

 

Women’s 100m Butterfly

Zhang Yufei - CHN   CROWN WINNER

Butterfly is really hard, the 200 is always much harder. 

I really liked racing the world cup events, and was happy to win. The 200 is so much worse, but I am happy to win the 100 in Budapest.  I hope to come back and race here again in the world cup.

 

Men’s 50m Butterfly

Michael Andrew - USA 

It's good to be winning again,  It's great to be swimming fast again. It was great to get a win in the last race. My 50 fly has been a little off. I think the time is still slower than I wanted, maybe I miscalculated where I am at.  It all came together at the finish. The field is so tight, I did my best to put the blinders on and not think about who was swimming next to me.  I haven't been out touched in the last two weeks and all I focus on is getting to the wall first. `

I think I am stuck in 4th in the men’s overall World Cup point scoring, but we will see how the chips land.  This sets me up to be able to win at this level has been somewhat fruitful.

Women’s 200m Backstroke 

Kaylee McKeown - AUS    World Cup Record  CROWN WINNER

I really wasn’t expecting this result. It's lovely and it's a great experience to take away from these world cups.  It gives me extra motivation and some money from those last PBs.  My coach said to be sure not to get in my own way just pick yourself up in that third 50.  Its really nice to bring these results back home to Australia.  We can't always be thinking about the Olympics because it can be overwhelming, so I often wake up thinking about training. 

My confidence level is probably where it was after this summer's world championships. I still have a lot to do mentally and physically. If you are not learning you are not growing so I have to look for those 1% percenters that make a difference in my swimming.  

 

Men’s 100m Backstroke 

Thomas Ceccon - ITA  CROWN WINNER

It was always good to be racing with friends as part of the World Cup.

I am really happy with another crown, but this was a good experience also. I’m happy after three weeks of racing to swim a bit faster.  I’m also happy the series is over, here for 3 weeks and at altitude in Sierra Nevada for 3 weeks before the World Cup, so that’s a long time to be away.  I need some rest and stay at home and train also.

Of course, I am happy with the good results.  It really gives me some confidence. But when I am chasing for a crown I don’t always get to swim the other events that are fun for me.  

 

Women’s 50m Breaststroke 

Benedetta Pilato - ITA

It was a very beautiful race.  I am not really that fast at this event but I am happy with the result.  I am training for the 100 breaststroke in order to qualify for the Paris Olympics.

 

Men’s 200m Breaststroke 

Qin Haiyang - CHN  World Cup Record - CROWN WINNER  

I am really tired. Yesterday I had some regrets that I did not set a world cup record, so today I was motivated for a winning time that was also a world cup record. This gives me greater confidence.  I am pleased with the time. I am going tell my family that I appreciate them supporting me.  I am focused on swimming at the world championships and in the Olympic Games. 

 

Women’s 100m Freestyle 

Siobhan Haughey - HKG    CROWN WINNER

This past month has been an amazing time in just a month of racing.  It's been really tiring, but it's the last stop in Budapest and I was able to swim some best times.  I think I am in a better position than I thought I would be.  It definitely gives me confidence and it sets me up really nicely for next year in my some of my big races.

I am taking a week off and enjoy my time out of the pool and by the time I come back I will be recharged.  

Overall second place, I knew it would be really close, and I wasn't thinking too much about it, but my coaches were telling me, ‘If you do this…” and I said that’s too much, please just let me focus on my racing. You get to see old friends and meet new friends and take some time and go sightseeing.  I am happy that I am done racing

 

Men’s 200m Freestyle 

Maximilian Giuliani - AUS 

A year ago my best time wasn't faster than 150, so this time, a new PB is really great.  I lived in Tasmania my whole life, and I thought I was training properly down there, but I knew that I needed to do something different if I was going to swim faster.  I needed to become more committed.  This is my first proper international meet and my first time in Europe.  I love to be racing with these boys, living it, I can’t complain, best time ever. It’s pretty exciting, I could not be happier to win a World Cup event. Only about 6 weeks of work before this World Cup series.  

I am looking forward to getting back home, back into the grind, get fit, get strong, and then it's on to trials, and hopefully Paris if all goes well.

Women’s 200m IM 

Marrit Steenbergen - NED

It was my first World Cup win.  I had to wait a long time, until the very end of the series to finally get there. But it's amazing.  I saw that they were getting close to me in the breaststroke and I said to myself that it would take all that I had to win. 

The field was very good and this was a good time for me, this early in the season  I was very happy with my racing tonight, and to get my fastest time of the three meets was good.  I raced back-to-back events (100 free and 200 IM) in Berlin and it didn't go so well, but it went way better here. I surprised myself tonight.

I haven't done an entire World Cup series before, and it's fun, but it's also tough to be flying across Europe and racing back-to-back weeks.  It's great to share these experiences with other world-class athletes  It's early in the season and we didn't train all that long before we got here, so it's good to be swimming these times it gives me a lot of confidence.

 

Contributing: Gregory Eggert, World Aquatics Correspondent