SINGAPORE, 28 OCTOBER 2024 – World records have been tumbling and things are heating up at the Swimming World Cup 2024 culminating in an exciting grand finale set to take place in Singapore from Oct 31 to Nov 2. The world’s top swimmers have arrived and fans will be able to catch exhilarating action from the likes of Olympic and world champions including Leon Marchand, Kate Douglass and Pan Zhanle at the OCBC Aquatic Centre.
The short course series kicked off in Shanghai before moving to Incheon last week and will end in Singapore. Each leg will see a male and female winner crowned based on points earned according to the Swimming World Cup 2024 scoring system. The overall series champion will be crowned in Singapore.
Four-gold Olympic champion Marchand leads the men’s rankings with 116.4 points ahead of Switzerland’s Noe Ponti who broke the 50m butterfly world record in Shanghai and the pair have been locked in fierce battle with each other in the 100m individual medley. Defending men’s overall champion Qin Haiyang of China is third with 112.6 points.
The battle for the women’s crown will be an even closer one with American Regan Smith (118.4) leading compatriot Douglass by just 0.1. Douglass has also been in fine form, smashing the 15-year-old 200m breaststroke world record in Incheon and clinching seven gold medals across the Shanghai and Incheon legs. Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey is third with 109.2 points.
Over 450 athletes from 38 countries are set to compete in Singapore, including a Team Singapore contingent of 40 swimmers comprising experienced and new faces. Local fans can support their favourite swimmers live, including SEA Games champions Teong Tzen Wei and Amanda Lim.
Eventgoers and members of the public are also welcome to visit the bustling event carnival located outside the OCBC Aquatic Centre on event days. The carnival will feature a wide variety of games and activities for families and children, including face painting, bouncy castle and ring toss. Patrons can also strike a pose at the 360-degree cameras set up at the carnival for a memento, creating the perfect fun-filled event for all. Swimming legends – such as Singapore’s first and only Olympic champion Joseph Schooling, Tao Li and Joscelin Yeo – are also set to make special appearances at the dunking booth and some members of the public may get the chance to attempt to dunk them. The carnival will be open from 9am-1pm and 430pm-830pm on event days.
The swimmers themselves are also looking forward to the final leg of the short-course World Cup series and with Douglass, Ponti, Teong, South Africa’s Chad le Clos and Great Britain’s Duncan Scott raring to go. The five swimmers took part in a media session on Oct 28 and expressed their excitement at competing in Singapore. Their quotes can be found below.
This will be the first time that international swimming action returns to Singapore since the 2019 Swimming World Cup and excitement has been building. At least 3,000 spectators are expected at the sold-out finals sessions each day, while over 1,500 are expected each day at the heats. Limited slots for the heats are available at https://www.sistic.com.sg/events/waswc1024.
Athlete quotes
“I think it’ll be my first or second time swimming in the World Cup in front of a home crowd. My previous time was maybe 2017, 2018 or 2019. Back then, I wouldn’t have been able to make the finals but hopefully I can make the finals again like what I did in Shanghai and Incheon, and put on a good show for the home crowd.”
–Teong Tzen Wei, Singapore
“It’s been a lot of racing, not really what I’m used to doing and kind of trying to figure out how to train through it has been a little bit of trial and error. I feel like that’s why I’m optimistic that maybe I’ve kind of figured out how to train properly for this kind of racing and maybe this weekend I’ll be able to go for some best times. It’s just been a lot of fun, it’s been a great experience for me starting off my professional swimming career and figuring out how to do this sort of thing on my own. Obviously I want to swim my best and it’s fun how close the race is between Regan and me. She’s one of my best friends and we both got to talking that stressing about winning the overall prize or the most money is not really worth it. It’s better to not think about that and have fun while you’re swimming. Because I think if you’re stressing out about how the meet is going to end, it kind of takes away from the fun of it all. We’re just having fun competing and trying to swim our best races.”
–Kate Douglass, USA
“For now, I’ve only seen the pool and hotel and it’s awesome. We don’t have many pools like that in Europe and it’s awesome to be here and I’m really excited for the next couple of days. I’m looking forward to some sightseeing as well and I’m just excited to be here with everyone and it’s going to be fun. Everyone who breaks a world record should be the happiest person ever. It was my first world record and coming into Shanghai, I wanted to have fun. I knew it would come eventually so I’m super happy with that. I executed the race well and it’s hard to explain what you feel when you break a world record because you’ve dreamt about it for so long and all your life. The moment you break it, it’s like I got a personal best that’s a world record and that’s crazy. I’ve been having lots of fun these two weeks and I’m in one of my best mental states ever and I’m just enjoying the moment, not really thinking about the outcome or results. I’ve just been loving racing these guys, so I’m looking forward to it again this week. You never know what’s going to happen in the pool, every race is different. Hopefully the 50 fly will be good, maybe even better, I’m also looking forward to the medley — the 100m medley — with Leon (Marchand) and Thomas (Ceccon). It’s been fun the past few legs. I’m just looking forward to the race and hopefully it’s going to be fun for me and all the other guys as well.”
–Noe Ponti, Switzerland
“There are many amazing sights here and I’ve only been here for less than a day so this afternoon and tomorrow, I’ll try to get a feel of the city and I’m looking forward to it. The thing I love about these World Cups is in every single race, it’s so tight across the board. I’ve loved competing in Shanghai and Incheon and I’m really looking forward to the final leg here in Singapore as well. Every time you see the start list here, you think I should be all right and then you’re looking down at names who are Olympic and world champions and world record holders. It’s really exciting who’s coming along to these World Cups this year and it’s a great to be a part of it. The 200m free was something that I swam really well a few days ago in Incheon. So looking back at that, margins of breaking 1min 40sec so that’s something I’d like to achieve in the last leg. This is my last racing opportunity of the year so I’m just treating every one like it’s my last and I’m having a couple weeks off which will be quite nice. So I’m just going to go out there and have a bit of fun.”
–Duncan Scott, Great Britain
“It’s my sixth time coming back and this is honestly one of my favourite cities in the world. It’s beautiful and there are many amazing restaurants. Coming for the Youth Olympic Games in 2010 was one of the highlights of my career because I was the first YOG champion from South Africa.
I also won the Swimming World Cup in 2017 here and broke my first world record here, so this place will always hold a significant place in my heart and I feel really privileged to be back. I want to do things and continue my short course legacy. The butterfly events are really strong, especially on the men’s side. Noe’s absolutely killing it so if I can get a bit closer in the 100 fly that would be amazing. (I’d like to) get on the podium in the 50 fly — I don’t know what’s happening with me but I need to change everything about my 50 fly to get in that final. And in the 200 fly, I’d like to win. I haven’t picked up a victory yet, I’ve got three silvers and a bronze and it’d be the first time since 2009 that I haven’t picked up a victory in the World Cup if I don’t do it this weekend, so no pressure for me. The guys know I like to be on the top of the podium if I can. It’s obviously getting tougher, I’m 33 next year. But like I said, I’ve always tried my best to win. Sometimes it doesn’t always go your way but we’ll throw the dice this weekend and try to close the gap on these guys. A big thanks to everyone, really excited to be here. All the athletes are very excited to be back in Singapore so thank you guys.”
–Chad le Clos, South Africa
Credits: World Aquatics Swimming World Cup Singapore 2024