Shanghai, China, October 20, 2024: The World Aquatics Swimming World Cup in Shanghai concluded on Sunday, October 20 with China securing a total of six gold, 11 silver and seven bronze medals.
Tang Qianting and Tang Muhan each claimed a gold medal on the final day of the 25m short-course competition.
Chinese swimmers excelled in the women's 800m freestyle, sweeping the podium with gold, silver and bronze medals. Tang Muhan finished first with a time of 8:15.34, followed by Gao Weizhong and Kong Yaqi.
Shanghai’s very own Tang Qianting broke the Asian record in the women’s 50m breaststroke, swimming 28.76 to move up to third all-time after she swam 28.82 in September to hold the previous record. Tang, age 20, dominated the field by nearly a full second over Italy’s Benedetta Pilato (29.73).
Tang, a native of Shanghai, grew up racing in this venue. She expressed gratitude in winning both the 100m and 50m breaststroke this weekend as the Olympic silver medalist broke two Asian records.
“I want to take a moment to express my heartfelt gratitude to my friends and the audience who have come all the way to support me throughout this whole journey,” Tang said.
“As I approach the final competition at this stop, I truly appreciate everyone’s encouragement and belief in me. I hope I can give you even more surprises and exciting moments as I try my best in the following stops. Let’s create unique and memorable moments together.”
With two gold medals, Tang Qianting tied with breaststroke star Qin Haiyang for the most golds among Chinese swimmers.
World champion Qin Haiyang took silver in the men's 200m breaststroke, finishing the World Cup with a total of two golds and one silver.
Yu Yiting earned two silvers in the women's 100m butterfly and 200m individual medley. Additionally, Switzerland's Noe Ponti broke the world record in the men's 50m butterfly during the morning heats with a time of 21.67.
Hong Kong, China’s Siobhan Haughey is also in the mix of the overall World Cup title with her win in the 100m freestyle at 51.89 as she is third overall with 53.2 points. The 100m freestyle swim came just a few minutes after she was third in the 50m breaststroke.
“I am pretty happy with the win,” Haughey said. “There’s not a lot of time between events and that’s tough. It’s early in the season and I am just back into training so I am not expecting any fast times, so anything decent and I am happy with that.”
The 2024 Swimming World Cup features three legs. After the Shanghai event, the competitions will be held in Incheon from October 24 to 26 and in Singapore from October 31 to November 2. The three World Cup events will also serve as qualifiers for the Short Course World Championships in Budapest in December.