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For McEvoy, age 32, his swim on Friday night won him the Triple Crown at 20.19 over his biggest challenger Egor Kornev of Russia at 20.59. McEvoy’s swim was not a best time, as his 20.13 last week had many believing he could become the second man ever to beat the 19-second barrier but, that may have to wait until December at the World Swimming Championships (25m) in Beijing.

“I feel good,” McEvoy said.

The Crown is always nice. Another $10k bonus. But yeah, overall, a quicker time than I expected. 20.19 is the second-fastest time I’ve ever done. I did believe I’d be a bit slower off the back of the 100 Freestyle.

“At the other two stops, the 50 Freestyle was on day one, so I thought I’d carry fatigue, but I didn’t. So that’s a really good learning piece of data moving forward because I’m playing around with the idea of adding the 100 for the relay for bigger competitions. I’m still unsure, but getting the data tonight that I can maintain my 50-metre speed while a little bit tired from the 100, maybe it’s possible. So I’d like to go home and have a think about it.”

It’s the third win in a row for McEvoy, who also took away Kornev’s Crown attempt in the 100m Freestyle yesterday.

For Wasick, age 34, she won her ninth straight 50m Freestyle at the World Cup on Friday, having not lost a 50m Freestyle final in short course meters since the 2022 World Championships. Wasick held off a potential upset pick in Marrit Steenbergen of the Netherlands, who didn’t race this event in Baku or Tashkent, as Wasick won at 23.30 to Steenbergen’s 23.41.

“I feel amazing, honestly,” Wasick said. “To be able to win so many times, so many years, at my age, it’s not easy, definitely not easy. But I’m happy I’m able to keep my form and just keep improving. Every stop I was faster, so that makes me really happy.”

Steenbergen consolidates at the top of the women’s field

While Steenbergen was unable to spoil Wasick’s 50m Freestyle party, she claimed her second Triple Crown of the weekend with a win in the 100m Individual Medley (IM) after she claimed one yesterday in the 50m Backstroke and busted another in the 200m Freestyle.

Steenbergen swam 56.54 in the IM for her third straight win, making easy work ahead of Belgium’s Roos Vanotterdijk in second at 58.04. The win puts Steenbergen in the driver’s seat to win the overall World Cup Crown tomorrow.

“I’ve been keeping an eye on (the points standings), but it’s not my main priority,” Steenbergen said. “I try not to think about it too much because then I will just be thinking about the money while I’m here to race. But I think I’m pretty secure (with) it now. So yeah, I’m really happy with that.”

Steenbergen currently has 175 points ahead of Vanotterdijk’s 163.1, as she won her own Triple Crown tonight in the 100m Butterfly.

Vanotterdijk, one of the most versatile swimmers in the world, swam 54.80 to win, setting a new national record which puts her seventh on the all-time list. She held off a hard charging Yu Yiting of China, who raced this event for the first time all tour and finished second at 55.17.

“I really like to get the competition out of me to push myself. I’m very happy with this. I’m also very happy to be able to race people, because that’s the fun of all of this,” Vanotterdijk said. 

Yu is currently fourth overall with 146.8 points behind the likes of American Anna Peplowski (155.5), who won the 400m Freestyle tonight at 4:00.25, matching her time to the hundredth from Tashkent last week.

Peplowski had originally not committed to swimming this week in Astana, but had a change of heart after the first two weeks in Baku and Tashkent.

“Halfway through the second stop, I was like, ‘I really want to do the third one,’” Peplowski said. “There’s a lot of money on the line. Just great competition here for me… I’ve gotten more excited each stop, just getting to race and getting back into the routine for the few days beforehand, and then just getting back up on the blocks. It’s been really fun.”

Peplowski also returned in the 200m Backstroke final where she was second at 2:03.81 to Canada’s Taylor Ruck, who retroactively had her Triple Crown attempt busted way back in Baku when she finished second to Peplowski. It was the second straight win in the event for Ruck, who won tonight at 2:02.29, her fastest swim since 2017.

“It was tough, honestly,” Ruck said. “I’m just doing my favourite distance, but it’s also every time pain, every time it’s hard.

“It’s for me a good experience. I never swam in World Cup, so for me it’s just unbelievable emotion. And I’m really, really happy to swim there with really the strongest woman. So this is unbelievable.”

Ruck is currently fifth overall with 144.2 points.

Russian Evgeniia Chikunova was also a Triple Crown winner in the 200m Breaststroke on Friday, much to the delight of the Russian fans in the stands who made the short trek over to Kazakhstan. Chikunova swam 2:16.57, her fastest swim in two years.

Luke Barr leads the men’s race

In a stunning turn of events over this World Cup tour, it’s been the unheralded American Luke Barr, who leads the overall World Cup standings with one day remaining. His 51.91 in the 100m IM on Friday night secured a $10,000 Triple Crown win for him as the 23-year-old American has been the surprise of the Silk Road tour.

As a student at Indiana University, he was 39th in the 100m Breaststroke at the 2024 Olympic Trials and scored in three B-finals at the NCAA Championships in 2024 and 2025. Now with one day remaining, he leads the overall World Cup standings with 161.6 points ahead of South Africa’s Pieter Coetze with 153.3.

“Going into this meet, or the three meets, I was just using this as an opportunity to train short course,” Barr said. “So I don’t get to do that in the U.S. And to be able to travel to some countries that I’ve never been to and probably never would have gone to outside of swimming, and just to be able to make enough money to cover my expenses here. And to be able to do that just in the first stop and cover the expenses was awesome.

“It put a little less pressure on myself. So yeah…to be able to get a medal in the first meet, carry that through the second meet, and then here, still hold on and have a chance at the podium is amazing. And I couldn’t have dreamed of that.”

Coetze won his own Triple Crown tonight with a win in the 200m Backstroke at 1:48.08, moving himself up to 15th all-time as his previous best came from the World Cup two years ago when he was 1:49.12. Coetze led the entire race, taking down Shaine Casas (1:49.48), who sits right behind him in the overall points standings with 151.5.

“I came into the World Cup unrested, but I know I did, so I think that made a difference because, as I raced more and maybe rested a bit more based on my training schedule, I’m a bit more rested now,” Coetze said.

“And the venues have been awesome. I think it exceeded most of our swimmers’ expectations so far.”

Corbeau and Henveaux among the Crown busters

While Coetze and Barr celebrated Triple Crowns, a couple more were busted on Friday night, starting with World Record holder Caspar Corbeau in the 200m Breaststroke.

Corbeau looked like his 2025 self in swimming a 2:01.94 to thwart Barr's Triple Crown attempt in that event. Corbeau was long and strong the entire race to take down yesterday’s 100m champ Kirill Prigoda (2:02.41) and Barr (2:03.27). It was also Corbeau’s first win of the 2026 tour.

“That was a tough race,” Corbeau said. “I’m happy to (get) that one. (I’m) feeling a little bit under the weather, so to show up when it matters under some tough circumstances, I’m really happy with it.

“These are the guys you see at the World Championships that are constantly on the podium…so that’s pretty special, to be on the top of the podium.”

Belgium’s Lucas Henveaux was also able to bust Carson Foster’s Triple Crown attempt in the 400m Freestyle. Henveaux won in the final race of the evening at 3:36.01 for a new national record to put him 19th all-time.

“I’m stoked,” Henveaux said. “I’ve had three amazing weeks of racing with Carson and some of the other boys. To finish it off with quite a big PB for me and a great time, it gives me a lot of confidence moving into the rest of the season, moving into the Short Course Worlds.”

Foster was leading through 275 meters and looked comfortably on his way to a third straight win but he fell apart on the back half, falling to second at 3:38.11, his slowest on the tour.

Henveaux secured a $2500 Crown buster bonus with his win after he was second to Foster in Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan.

“Obviously I was thinking about it, not for the money, but because we’ve had three really good races with Carson. Before that, he’s beaten me every time, so I want to get revenge, obviously. But I mean, props to him. He’s won a bunch of different events, and he’s done really great in all of them. So yeah, I mean, I hope we can have a lot of other battles in the future.”

China’s Chen Juner was also a Triple Crown winner in the 100m Butterfly at 49.59 after he lost his Triple Crown attempt yesterday in the 200m. It’s a lifetime best for Chen, who moves to tied for 44th all-time.

The last day of the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup 2026 will be tomorrow with the heats starting at 10:00am local time with finals following at 6:00pm.