Swim stars promise to return to Bergen Swim Festival

Winners of the best performance awards at Bergen Swim Festival: Rikke Møller Pedersen (DEN), Daniel Gyurta (HUN), Katinka Hosszu (HUN), Cameron van der Burgh (RSA), Michael Jamieson (GBR), Jeanette Ottesen (DEN).
(Photo: Kjell Eirik Irgens Henanger, BSF)

The Bergen Swim Festival was particularly star studded this year, due to it being the Alexander Dale Oen memorial.

A short course meet in late april is not ideal, but the swim stars were unanimous: They want to come back to Bergen.

Whether or not they were influenced by the emphatic crowd in the old pool that facilitates the BSF is hard to say, but most of the stars expressed a desire to return the next time the competition is arranged - even if by then it will not be a memorial meet.

The meet, established in 2007, will make the highly anticipated transition into a long course meet during the next year or so, as the City of Bergen (approx. 250.000 inhabitants) gets its first long course pool.

"Its not ideal with a short course meet now, as it is long course season basically" said Katinka Hosszu who used the meet as an intense training session swimming all 15 events - prelims and finals.

"When they get the long course pool here, this will be an ideal preparation for the upcoming summer-championship," said frequent guest Cameron van der Burgh swimming his fourth Bergen Swim Festival.

Photo: Kjell Eirik Irgens Henanger

Alexander Dale Oen will probably be close to the action although the meet will no longer bear his name. Whispers about the pool bearing Norways first, and only, long course world champions name are getting stronger.

This year, as it normally is at BSF, the mens 100 meters breaststroke was the main attraction. Cameron van der Burgh won in a meet record of 57,82, ahead of Daniel Gyurta.

"It was a tough and emotional race for me, but its nice to get a chance to honor Alexander by racing guys like Daniel Gyurta and Michael Jamieson. Not so much competing with them, but racing together in Alex's spirit", said van der Burgh immideately after the race.

See Norwegian TV 2s interview with him directly after the final here.


One of the things that makes the meet attractive is the Festival's festive setting for the finals session. With the pool being brought to complete darkness a smoke, and light show is put on while an announcer presents the swimmers. At the same time the public goes mad. This is what attracts the swimmers.

"Stefan Nystrand once said to me that noone else makes meets like these ones" said international liaison Jan Allers.

He confirmed that most international competitors had signaled a desire to return to the meet.

"Its not often you get to feel like a boxer preparing for a swim. It makes it a bit more exciting", said van der Burgh.

The meet organizers have lofty ambitions for the meet as they enter into the brand new national arena.

"We want to put Bergen on the international swimming map. In the long term we want it to be the biggest swim meet in Europe" said head of the organizing comittee Gjert Dahl.

A total of 19 meet records were set during the three days of competition. In addition Estonian backstroker Ralf Tribuntsov set three national records. One in the 50 backstroke (24,33) and two on the double distance (52,33 and 51,97).

Katinka Hosszu kicks off Bergen Swim Festival with two meet records

 Katinka Hosszu at Bergen Swim Festival. Photo: Kjell Erik Irgens Henanger

Katinka Hosszu impressed the audience setting two meet records during day one of the Bergen Swim Festival - Alexander Dale Oen memorial in Bergen, Norway. The competition is being swum in short course metres.

Despite it being prelims, and the fact she led both events by a country mile, the Hungarian swim princess went at it with all guns blazing setting a meet record in the 100 meters breaststroke (1:08.98) and the 200 meter freestyle (1:55.35).

She also qualified first for the 50 meters freestyle and the 100 meters backstroke finals, while she was second in the sprint butterfly behind Jeanette Ottesen. Hosszu is going to swim all 15 events this meet, and you would forgive her if she did not go all-out in all races.

Undoubtedly the danish breaststroke ace Rikke Møller Pedersen will give Hosszu more of a fight in the breaststroke final tomorrow. Pedersen's 1:10 Friday effort did not look too hard on her.....

Alexander Dale Oen Memorial.
Photo: Kjell Erik Irgens Henanger

In other races the favourites all qualified for the mens 100 meters breaststroke-event which will be the highlight of the meet in terms of quality across the field. Martti Ajland (EST) with the best time in the first session 1.00,77, narrowly edging Cameron van der Burgh. Also in that field: Daniel Gyurta, Michael Jamieson and Andrew Willis.

"I think I can do a 57 in the final", says van der Burgh who left the South-African Championships to participate in the memorial meet.

The best Norwegian finished tenth in the prelims, an event in which Norway is suffering in after losing Alexander Dale Oen, and Aleksander Hetland going into retirement.

The meet features some swimmers, like Hosszu and the breaststrokers, which really shows Norwegian swimmers where the international level is. It's quite a stretch for some.

See all results and livetiming at livetiming.no.

The meet continues at 8 AM GMT Saturday with finals commencing at 4 PM GMT.

Several media reports leading up to the meet has been focusing on the swim stars, and the breaststrokers in particular, and their relationships with Alexander Dale Oen.

TV 2 made a story from when Cameron van der Burgh visited Dale Oens grave. 

They also made a clip from when van der Burgh, Daniel Gyurta and Michael Jamieson visited their studio.

Top 50 Swimmers of 2012 - The Top 10

The second annual Speed Endurance Top 50 Swimmers of the Year is upon us. There is no set-in-stone criteria, but as you would expect, this year the Olympic Games carried the most weight in the decision making process. Other outstanding achievements away from London were also acknowledged, but it took an extraordinary feat to better an Olympic medallist. Also worth noting, relay medals alone were not valued highly, however race-changing relay contributions were.

Top 50 (50-41)
Top 50 (40-31)
Top 50 (30-21)
Top 50 (20-11)
Expert Poll: Top 10 Swimmers of 2012

This is it. The final instalment takes us from 10 to 1.

10. Cameron van der Burgh - 2012 Highlight - Dominating the 100 breaststroke final, winning in a new world record and finishing the job that his close friend Alex Dale Oen had started

Until this year van der Burgh was considered to be a speed merchant who didn't quite have the endurance to win a global title over 100m. That all changed in London. Van der Burgh went out in a lightning fast 27.07 first 50m, but what was even more impressive, on the way home only Christian Sprenger split faster than the South African. This in a final that included 200 breast champion Daniel Gyurta, Kosuke Kitajima and Brendan Hansen. Some sentimentality also comes with this pick, due to van der Burgh's dedication of his victory to Alexander Dale Oen who tragically passed away just 3 months before the Olympic final. For anyone who would like to see the South African dropped lower down the list because of his admission of illegal fly kicks, rewatch the final. He was certainly not alone.

9. Camille Muffat - 2012 Highlight - Becoming Olympic champion in the 400 freestyle in 4:01.45, leading from start to finish

It says a lot about Muffat's year that London didn't rank as one of her most impressive performances of the year ... and yet she still came away with an individual gold and silver medal. Muffat makes the Top 10 for consistent brilliance across for the entire year. Her 4:01.13 from French Olympic trials was spectacular. Her consistency of swimming 1:55s and 1:56s in the 200 freestyle all year long was incredible, with her fastest effort of the year a 1:54.66 from Olympic trials. She also had some of the most incredible splits we've ever seen. A 8:23.60 effort in the 800 free with splits of 4:18.7 and 4:04.8 as well as a 4:02.97 swim in the 400 free with splits of 2:04.4 and 1:58.5. She rounded out the year with total dominance of women's short course freestyle with world records in the 400 free (3:54.85) and 800 free (8:01.06) as well as a 1:51.65 for good measure in the 200 free.

8. Rebecca Soni - 2012 Highlight - Stamping her authority on the 200 breaststroke by breaking the world record twice in two days en route to gold

Rebecca Soni had been knocking on the door of Annamay Pierse's 200 breast world record since 2010, in London she took out that frustration by breaking it twice. Firstly in the semi-final she crept under the mark by 0.12 seconds, she then took the record down another 0.41 seconds to 2:19.59 in the final. Despite excellent swims from the other medallists in London, Soni still finished first in her final by over a second. Soni came very close to doubling up in the 100 breaststroke, but couldn't quite get past Ruta Meilutyte in the final. She also threw down a 1:04.82 relay split on the USA's world record breaking 4x100 medley relay. Had a young Lithuanian not emerged in London, Soni would have been vying for a Top 5 spot.

7. Dana Vollmer - 2012 Highlight - Saving her best swim of the year for the 100 butterfly Olympic final where she won gold in a new world record of 55.98

Of all swimming events in 2012, male or female, nobody dominated their event like Dana Vollmer and the 100 fly. Not only did Vollmer take the event to uncharted territories by breaking the 56 second barrier, she set the new standard without the aid of her competitors snapping at her heels. Peppering the world rankings with 56 and 57 second swims she was in a league of her own this year. Her heat, semi and final times from US Trials and the Olympics were all faster than the next fastest swimmer this year in the 100 fly. In the Olympic final she turned in third before turning on the jets with the only sub-30 second final split to win by 0.89... and here's a terrifying prospect for her rivals, she had an awful finish. I would also argue that her 55.48 relay split was the key leg in the world record breaking USA 4x100 medley relay.

6. Michael Phelps - 2012 Highlight - Winning the 200 IM in 1:54.27, well clear of long time rival Ryan Lochte

The greatest of all time hung up his goggles in London and did so with an extra four gold medals and two silvers to add to his hefty collection. For that reason alone Phelps will top many people's lists this year, but not mine. Let's look at what Phelps didn't do in 2012. He didn't set an Olympic record, a textile best time or a world record this year. Every other swimmer in the Top 10 set at least one of these. He also failed to medal in the 400 IM and lost the 200 butterfly to Chad le Clos. That's not to say he had a bad year. His 200 IM victory was clinical, as was his 100 butterfly to a slightly lesser extent. As always Phelps showed up in the relays too. In the 4x100 free relay, had Yannick Agnel not raced to his out of this world split of 46.74, we would have been talking more about Phelps' 47.14 second split that put the USA in a great position to win. His 1:44.0 200 free split was the second fastest of the entire relay, again behind Agnel, and his 50.73 fly split in the 4x100 medley relay took the USA from 2nd to an unassailable gold medal winning position. Phelps is the greatest swimmer and greatest Olympian of all time, but that doesn't automatically make him the best swimmer of 2012.

5. Ye Shiwen - 2012 Highlight - Unleashing a spectacular freestyle split to win the 400 IM in a new world record time of 4:28.43... and surviving the media furore that followed

Ye Shiwen entered London as a 16 year old known in the swimming community for her fast finishes and 200 IM world title. She left as one of the most talked about athletes of 2012, sadly not enough of the discussion was focused on the positives... her two superb IM swims. Her 400 IM was sensational, after tracking Elizabeth Beisel for 300m, she came home in a spectacular final 100m time of 58.68. Employing the same tactics in the 200 IM, she swept past Alicia Coutts to win in a new textile best time of 2:07.57. Ye Shiwen couldn't have done any more in her two swims in London and she missed out on a Top 3 spot by the narrowest of margins. Ultimately swimming only two events in London without any relay heroics dented her chances.

4. Missy Franklin - 2012 Highlight - Leading from start to finish in the final of the 200 backstroke in London, setting a new world record in the process

Franklin was the most successful female swimmer in London from a medal standpoint. She left with 4 golds (2 individual + 2 relay) as well as bronze in the 4x100 free relay. As well as her individual world record in the 200 back, she also led off USA's world record setting 4x100 medley relay. London was a sensational first Olympic Games for Franklin, and she is well on her way to becoming the biggest name in American swimming. She had a couple of disappointments in London as she finished 4th in the 200 freestyle, missing bronze by 0.01, an event many had predicted her winning in the build up to the Olympics. She was also outside the medals in the 100 freestyle with a 5th place finish. Those two swims were just enough to keep her out of the Top 3, but like Ye Shiwen, by the narrowest of margins. This year Franklin also confirmed her status as the friendliest person to ever enter a body of water.

3. Ranomi Kromowidjojo - 2012 Highlight - Winning the 50 free in a new textile record and Olympic record of 24.05, her second individual gold medal of the Olympic Games

All Olympic swimming events are equal... but some events are more equal than others. Kromowidjojo just so happened to take part in three of the most iconic Olympic races (50 free, 100 free, 4x100 free relay) and was sensational in all of them. In her individual races Kromowidjojo set new Olympic records to win both the 50 free and 100 free, emulating her compatriot Inge de Bruijn's achievements from 2000. Not only did she win them, she won them by some distance. In the 50 free a stunning start took her clear of the field before winning by 0.23 seconds. In the 100 free she turned in fourth, but a superb turn and second 50m gave her victory by 0.38 seconds. The best swim from Kromowidjojo came in the 4x100 freestyle relay, even though the Dutch had to settle for a silver medal behind Australia. Kromowidjojo, swimming the last leg, started 1.36 seconds down on Australia but produced a sensational relay split of 51.93 to make things interesting. Had she been up against a lesser swimmer than Mel Schlanger, she might just have done it. Kromowidjojo also set a new textile best time of 52.75 in the 100 free back in April. Looking back over the last 12 months, Kromowidjojo is the undisputed fastest woman in water.

2. Sun Yang - 2012 Highlight - Lowering his own 1500 freestyle world record by 3 seconds to win his trademark event in London

Sun Yang was spectacular in London. He got the ball rolling by winning the 400 freestyle in 3:40.14, just 0.07 shy of Paul Biedermann's world record (and 0.08 seconds shy of Ian Thorpe's textile best time). By doing so he was also able to beat his Korean rival Park Tae Hwan into second and get some revenge for his defeat in Shanghai at Worlds the year before. In the 200 freestyle he tied with Park Tae Hwan for silver in a new national record, beating Ryan Lochte and Paul Biedermann in the process. Then came his 1500 free masterclass. His slowest 50 of the entire race was a 29.54 as he dropped his rivals one by one, then came the fireworks at the end of the race. His final 100m was a 53.49, his final 50m a 25.68. This came after 1400m of racing. The only slight disappointment of his Olympic efforts was his 1:45.55 split in the 4x200 free relay (0.6 seconds slower than his individual final), although he did move from 5th to 3rd to secure a bronze for China. Had this list been focused on the Olympics alone, Sun Yang would have been number one.

1. Yannick Agnel - 2012 Highlight - Overtaking Ryan Lochte in the final 10m of the 4x100 free relay to become a national hero back in France

Yannick Agnel takes the number one spot for two of the most stunning moments from London as well as his brilliant end to the year in the short course pool. Agnel did not return with the medals of some of the others on this list, he also did not set a LC world record. On the surface he seems like an odd choice for the top spot, but then you just need to cast your mind back to Sunday 29 July and the men's 4x100 freestyle relay. After France lost out to the USA in the same race on the back of Jason Lezak's heroics in Beijing, it was a memory that haunted an entire nation for four years. In the intervening years they unearthed Yannick Agnel and tested him on the final leg of several relays, each time he performed well. As all attention shifted to theAustralia vs USA showdown, the French knew they had a weapon they could deploy on the final leg. Even so, the race looked over as Agnel dived in over half a second behind superstar Ryan Lochte, a proven commodity in relays. He also had James Roberts and Danila Izotov just behind him. After the takeover Lochte extended his lead before Agnel closed the gap at the turn to 0.30 seconds. The American's turn opened up the gap again to Agnel, before the Frenchman managed to draw level with Lochte with 10m to go. In the next 10m Agnel delighted a nation and ended 4 years of hurt. His split time of 46.74 was Lezak-esque. In fact, Agnel Lezak'd the USA. That wasn't the end of Agnel's stunning Olympics either. The 200 freestyle was all set to be a clash of the titans. Lochte, Biedermann, Sun Yang, Park Tae Hwan and Agnel. Only Michael Phelps was missing. A race too close to call ended up being a procession for Agnel who won by 1.79 seconds to set a new textile best time of 1:43.14. He also just missed out on a medal in the individual 100 freestyle by 0.04 seconds finishing in 4th. His final contribution in London was the fastest 200 freestyle split of the entire 4x200 free relay (0.8 seconds faster than Phelps), to lead France to silver in the relay. It wasn't just London that sealed the top spot for Agnel. Throughout the early part of the year he was dropping incredibly fast swims, alongside team mate Camille Muffat they were two of the early stars of 2012. He also didn't slow down post-Olympics becoming the first man to break a Paul Biedermann suited world record with his 400 free time of 3:32.25 as well as just missing the 200 freestyle mark by 0.33 with his 1:39.70. As a comparison, the respective world titles in Istanbul were won in 3:39.15 by Paul Biedermann nearly 7 seconds slower than Agnel and 1:41.70 by Ryan Lochte, 2 seconds down on Agnel's time.

So there you have it, the Speed Endurance Swimmer of the year goes to France's Yannick Agnel



Speed Endurance Top 50 Swimmers of 2012

50. Brendan Hansen
49. Oussama Mellouli
48. Yulia Efimova
47. Aya Terakawa
46. Cesar Cielo
45. Yevgeny Korotyshkin
44. Katinka Hosszu
43. Melanie Schlanger
42. Lu Ying
41. Vladimir Morozov
40. Nick Thoman
39. Thiago Pereira
38. Cullen Jones
37. Ryan Cochrane
36. Takeshi Matsuda
35. Christian Sprenger
34. Anastasia Zueva
33. Rebecca Adlington
32. Elizabeth Beisel
31. Ryosuke Irie
30. Satomi Suzuki
29. Alicia Coutts
28. Park Tae-Hwan
27. Emily Seebohm
26. Mireia Belmonte Garcia
25. Michael Jamieson
24. Aliaksandra Herasimenia
23. Akihiro Yamaguchi
22. James Magnussen
21. Tyler Clary
20. Florent Manaudou
19. Jiao Liuyang
18. Nathan Adrian
17. Ruta Meilutyte
16. Allison Schmitt
15. Katie Ledecky
14. Matt Grevers
13. Daniel Gyurta
12. Ryan Lochte
11. Chad le Clos
10. Cameron van der Burgh
9. Camille Muffat
8. Rebecca Soni
7. Dana Vollmer
6. Michael Phelps
5. Ye Shiwen
4. Missy Franklin
3. Ranomi Kromowidjojo
2. Sun Yang
1. Yannick Agnel

Olympic breaststroke champions to Norway in memory of Alexander Dale Oen

Daniel Gyurta and Cameron van der Burgh have both signaled to the organizers of Bergen Swim Festival that they intend to travel to Norway's second largest city in order to compete at the event held in mid-April.

The Bergen Swim Festival, BSF for short, is an annual event held at old Sentralbadet - a 25 meter pool opened in 1960. The meet, which had its first edition in 2007, has gathered quite a reputation in most Scandinavian countries, due to its nice prize money and also it's modern outlook. It's meant to have a more party-like feel to it, than most swim meets, normally.

Last year the meet was planned for the 4th-6th of May, just a few days after the death of Alexander Dale Oen. It got cancelled, but this year it is back on the schedule with the full name Bergen Swim Festival - Alexander Dale Oen Memorial.

The meet has attracted Nordic Swim stars as Jeanette Ottesen and Stefan Nystrand in the past, in addition to international swimmers like Oleg Lisogor, Cameron van der Burgh and Aschwin Wildeboer.

This year van der Burgh returns to the city where he once trained with his friend Alexander Dale Oen. Where he got hammered in training by Alexander Dale Oen. After his Olympic Gold he dedicated the medal to the Norwegian.

 This year he is joined by Daniel Gyurta, the 200-meter champion from London who said that he wanted to present Dale Oens family with a replica of his Olympic Gold Medal, saying the Norwegian deserved it.

According to the largest newspaper in the country, VG, Dale Oens family will be presented with the replica at "Idrettsgallaen" (Norwegian Sport Awards) on the 12th of January. Some part of the ceremony will serve as a remembrance for the swimming ace.

Now they both are coming to Bergen in memory and honour of the Shanghai World Champion.

The organizers make no attempt in hiding that the factor of Norway's greatest ever swimmer has a lot of bearing in the decisions of the swim stars to swim in Bergen.

– Of course, Alexanders personality and their connection to him is what matters the most when they decide to come to Norway, says BSFs international liaison Jan Allers to Norwegian TV 2.

They are however joined by a team of strong Danes. All of the locally based danish swimmers will make the trip to Norway, including three of the four World Champions from the 4x100 medley relay in Istanbul. The Danes have been regular visitors to the meet, although awkwardly placed for a short course-meet.

The organizers are hoping this years meet will set a standard for the meet to be at for the forthcoming years, where they will make the transition into a 50 meter pool.

– In the long term we want Bergen Swim Festival to be a big international swim meet, but the conditions will improve once we have the new pool ready, says leader of the organizing committee Gjert Dahl.

Next year the new national center for Swimming and Diving (pictured) will be finished in Bergen, with a state of the art 50 meter pool as the main focal point. The city of 250.000 people have no 50 meter pool as of yet, and strong forces are advocating for it to be named after the deceased Dale Oen. The organizers of BSF hope to have it operating for the 2014 edition of the meet.

This year however the main attraction will be, as it always has been, the 100 meter breaststroke for men. Alexander Dale Oen vs. Cameron van der Burgh vs. Oleg Lisogor were thrillers in the past. For this edition it will be a lot more subdued and undoubtedly a strange feeling for those involved, but still with high quality swimmers in the pool.

– It will be the roughest, hardest and most emotional race of the whole meet. We will try to make a frame around it worthy of the occasion, says Dahl.

If you want to read more about Bergen Swim Festival - Alexander Dale Oen Memorial, you can visit their homepage: http://www.bsf.no/en

Top 51 Swimmers of 2011 - 51 to 42

As another year of great swimming comes to a close, here is a rundown of the Top 50 Swimmers of 2011. There is no set criteria, but clearly the World Championships in Shanghai carried a big weight in the decision making process. That being said, outstanding achievements away from Shanghai were still acknowledged (looking at you number 44).


Thanks for reading Speed Endurance this year. Next year should be something a bit special!

Today we start with numbers 51 through to 42.

51. Miriea Belmonte Garcia – 2011 Highlight – Getting the better of Lotte Friis over 800m Free in December, where her time of 8:22.78 moved her to 3rd in the world rankings.

The breakthrough in the 800 puts her at the head of the chase for Friis and Rebecca Adlington. Belmonte also continued her dominance of the short course pool with European titles in the 400m Free, 200m Fly, 200m IM and 400m IM. Had an outstanding year, marred only by her failure to medal in Shanghai.

50. Brent Hayden – 2011 Highlight – Winning silver behind James Magnussen in the 100m Free in Shanghai (47.95). 

It is hard to know what to make of Hayden’s year, having pre-qualified for Worlds he showed his true hand only once during 2011. He is the only man to have been sub-48 seconds in both 2010 and 2011, and that consistency makes him a dangerous player in an unpredictable race like the 100m Free.

49. Yannick Agnel – 2011 Highlight – His 3:43.85 in the 400m Free at French Nationals.

The swim back in March showed what might have been in Shanghai had he not fallen ill during a vital part of his training cycle. Despite the illness the young Frenchman was still able to break the 1:45 barrier in the 200m Free in Shanghai, which sets up a fascinating 2012 for Agnel.

FINA/ARENA Swimming World Cup - Singapore 16-17 October

 

The third leg of the FINA/ARENA Swimming World Cup takes place in Singapore (16-17 October) with arguably the best field so far this year.

All eyes will be on Natalie Coughlin (USA) who makes her return to short course metre competition. Coughlin has been in good form so far in 2010 and with her world class starts and turns, expect some fast swimming from the American ace. Also representing a strong USA squad will be Jessica Hardy, Randall Bal, Peter Marshall, Julia Smit, Elaine Breeden and Madison Kennedy.

A host of medal winners from the recent Commonwealth Games will also be on show. Australia's team includes medalists Leisel Jones, Marieke Guehrer, Hayden Stoeckel and James Richardson. South Africa are also sending a strong team led by Roland Schoeman, Cameron Van Der Burgh, Lyndon Ferns, Darian Townsend, Graemme Moore and Kathryn Meaklim. Canada's team includes Victoria Poon, Genevieve Saumur and Audrey Lacroix as well as seasoned IM swimmer Brian Johns.

Europe has a number of medal contenders competing with strong challenges likely to come from Therese Alshammer, Stefan Nystrand, Lars Frolander (SWE),Dominik Meichtry (CHE), Steffen Deibler, Dorothea Brandt, Jenny Mensing, Kerstin Vogel (GER), Hanna Maria Seppala (FIN), Hinkelein Schreuder (NED), Arkady Vyatchanin, Grigory Falko and Sergey Fesikov (RUS).

Results & Start Lists - Here
Official Site - Here
For anyone in Singapore - Tickets can be found here

FINA/ARENA Swimming World Cup - Beijing

Action gets underway today at the FINA/ARENA Swimming World Cup 2010 in Beijing. The competition sees the return of international competition to one of the most iconic swimming pools in the world, the watercube.

Fresh from competing at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, South Africa have taken a strong team with their star swimmers Lyndon Ferns, Cameron Van Der Burgh, Roland Schoeman and Darian Townsend all competing. I'm sure they will be hoping for a more straight forward competition after the problems in India with Delhi Belly and the uproar caused by comments by Roland Schoeman, seemingly taken way out of context.

Other stars on display include Thiago Pereira, Guilherme Guido, Henrique Barbosa (BRA), Therese Alshammer, Lars Frolander (SWE), Steffen Deibler, Dorothea Brandt, Jenny Mensing (GER), Elaine Breeden, Peter Marshall, Julia Smit (USA), Arkady Vyatchanin, Grigory Falko, Sergey Fesikov (RUS), Gao Chang, Ye Shiwen (CHN), Hinkelein Schreuder (NED), Naoya Tomita (JAP)

Results & Start Lists - Here

UPDATE - First day finals recap - Here

Top point scorers from Day One
Women - Gao Chang - 50m Backstroke - 26.00 (966 points) Great time! Just missed Sanja Jovanovic' World Record of 25.70. More proof that the change of suits has affected Backstroke less than the other strokes.
Men - Naoya Tomita - 200m Breaststroke - 2:05.30 (893 points) Solid effort from Tomita, however I expect that points total to be beaten tomorrow. In Rio, Thiago Pereira led the men with 969 points for his 1:52.72 200m IM.