Friday, October 1, 2021
U.S. Opens FINA Swimming World Cup with Two Gold, Seven Total Medals
Archive photo of Leah Hayes
The first leg of the 2021 FINA Swimming World Cup kicked off today in Berlin with a seven-medal performance by U.S. swimmers across 12 finals sessions. The seven total medals puts the U.S. at the top of the total medal table and at a tie with Germany, The Netherlands and Australia as the only countries to capture two gold medals in the session.
The opening day’s finals session started with the women’s 400-meter freestyle, which saw a silver-bronze finish from Long Island Aquatic Club’s Cavan Gormsen (4:01.77) and Nation’s Capital Swim Club’s Erin Gemmell (4:05.61), respectively. The pair entered the final as the two youngest swimmers in the final at just 16 years old. Gormsen is now the fifth fastest swimmer in the world in the event this year, while Gemmell ranks 12th.
The next medal to come in for the U.S. came in the men’s 100m butterfly, when Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 medalist Tom Shields (California Aquatics) added more hardware to his impressive summer, capturing gold this time around in 48.67. Shields was the only swimmer in the field to break :49, leading to a finish above fellow Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 butterfliers Chad Le Clos (RSA) and Szebasztian Szabo (HUN), who finished second and third, respectively, in today’s final.
Momentum carried into the next event as the U.S. finished 1-2 in the women’s 200m butterfly. Long Island Aquatic Club’s Tess Howley captured gold in 2:06.09, followed by Charlotte Hook, of TAC Titans, in 2:06.15. The duo becomes just the second and third teenagers in the world this year to go 2:06 in the event.
U.S. National Junior Team and Fox Valley Park District Riptides product Leah Hayes had a strong swim of her own, going 1:00.04 in the 100m individual medley to capture bronze while despite being the youngest swimmer in the field by three years. Hayes’ bronze-medal performance is just the second finish inside the top three that the 15-year-old has ever posted at a senior-level meet.
Blake Pieroni, of Sandpipers of Nevada and Indiana Swim Club, followed suit with a 100m I.M. bronze of his own, going 53.53 to give the U.S. its seventh and final medal on the day.
Additional U.S. swims on day one of finals included:
• Zhier Fan (Metroplex Aquatics) — 4th, 100m breaststroke, 58.12
• Quintin McCarty (Pikes Peak Aquatics) — 4th, 100m I.M., 53.69
• Zoe Dixon (NOVA of Virginia Aquatics, Inc.) — 5th, 200m butterfly, 2:10.94
• Sam Hoover (North Carolina Aquatic Club) — 5th, 100m I.M., 53.74
• Lydia Jacoby (Seward Tsunami Swim Club) — 5th, 200m breaststroke, 2:24.99
• Nick Simons (Sandpipers of Nevada) — 5th, 200m backstroke, 1:55.55
• Caleb Maldari (Bluefish Swim Club) — 6th, 200m backstroke, 1:55.67
• Quintin McCarty (Pikes Peak Aquatics) — 7th, 50m freestyle, 21.68
• Gracie Weyant (Sarasota Sharks) — 7th, 200m breaststroke, 2:26.32
Competition resumes tomorrow with prelims at 10 a.m. local/4 a.m. ET and finals starting at 6 p.m. local/noon ET. All information on the first leg of the 2021 FINA Swimming World Cup can be found at https://www.fina.org/competitions/1380/fina-swimming-world-cup-2021.
The first leg of the 2021 FINA Swimming World Cup kicked off today in Berlin with a seven-medal performance by U.S. swimmers across 12 finals sessions. The seven total medals puts the U.S. at the top of the total medal table and at a tie with Germany, The Netherlands and Australia as the only countries to capture two gold medals in the session.
The opening day’s finals session started with the women’s 400-meter freestyle, which saw a silver-bronze finish from Long Island Aquatic Club’s Cavan Gormsen (4:01.77) and Nation’s Capital Swim Club’s Erin Gemmell (4:05.61), respectively. The pair entered the final as the two youngest swimmers in the final at just 16 years old. Gormsen is now the fifth fastest swimmer in the world in the event this year, while Gemmell ranks 12th.
The next medal to come in for the U.S. came in the men’s 100m butterfly, when Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 medalist Tom Shields (California Aquatics) added more hardware to his impressive summer, capturing gold this time around in 48.67. Shields was the only swimmer in the field to break :49, leading to a finish above fellow Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 butterfliers Chad Le Clos (RSA) and Szebasztian Szabo (HUN), who finished second and third, respectively, in today’s final.
Momentum carried into the next event as the U.S. finished 1-2 in the women’s 200m butterfly. Long Island Aquatic Club’s Tess Howley captured gold in 2:06.09, followed by Charlotte Hook, of TAC Titans, in 2:06.15. The duo becomes just the second and third teenagers in the world this year to go 2:06 in the event.
U.S. National Junior Team and Fox Valley Park District Riptides product Leah Hayes had a strong swim of her own, going 1:00.04 in the 100m individual medley to capture bronze while despite being the youngest swimmer in the field by three years. Hayes’ bronze-medal performance is just the second finish inside the top three that the 15-year-old has ever posted at a senior-level meet.
Blake Pieroni, of Sandpipers of Nevada and Indiana Swim Club, followed suit with a 100m I.M. bronze of his own, going 53.53 to give the U.S. its seventh and final medal on the day.
Additional U.S. swims on day one of finals included:
• Zhier Fan (Metroplex Aquatics) — 4th, 100m breaststroke, 58.12
• Quintin McCarty (Pikes Peak Aquatics) — 4th, 100m I.M., 53.69
• Zoe Dixon (NOVA of Virginia Aquatics, Inc.) — 5th, 200m butterfly, 2:10.94
• Sam Hoover (North Carolina Aquatic Club) — 5th, 100m I.M., 53.74
• Lydia Jacoby (Seward Tsunami Swim Club) — 5th, 200m breaststroke, 2:24.99
• Nick Simons (Sandpipers of Nevada) — 5th, 200m backstroke, 1:55.55
• Caleb Maldari (Bluefish Swim Club) — 6th, 200m backstroke, 1:55.67
• Quintin McCarty (Pikes Peak Aquatics) — 7th, 50m freestyle, 21.68
• Gracie Weyant (Sarasota Sharks) — 7th, 200m breaststroke, 2:26.32
Competition resumes tomorrow with prelims at 10 a.m. local/4 a.m. ET and finals starting at 6 p.m. local/noon ET. All information on the first leg of the 2021 FINA Swimming World Cup can be found at https://www.fina.org/competitions/1380/fina-swimming-world-cup-2021.