The 2008 FINA Swimming World Cup kicked off October 10-12 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. On the first of the seven-stop series, National Teamers Randall Bal and Tara Kirk each picked up two gold medals.

Bal, who was the 2007 overall winner of the Series, won both the 50m and 200m backstroke. Bal turned in a time of 23.87 in the sprint event. He earned his second victory of the meet with a time of 1:54.11 in the 200.  

Olympian Kirk turned in the fastest time of 1:06.71 in the 100m breast. She also stopped the clock first in the 200m with a time of 2:27.00. Kirk’s teammate Brooke Bishop also won an individual event when she posted a time of 24.66 in the 50m free.

Brazil leads the event with 11 gold medals, followed by Australia with six. The US and South Africa are tied both countries have five victories). The next stop on the series will take place on October 17-18 in Durban, South Africa.

To view the FINA World Cup, tune in to Universal Sports TV and UniversalSports.com. For viewing times, check the TV schedule below: