To will fight to keep top spot as World Cup heads to Asia
Swimming Australia
Published: Nov 2, 2012 09:28:29 AM Updated: Mar 19, 2013 09:38:18 AM
Following his success over the European legs of the 2012 FINA World Cup, Australia’s pocket rocket Kenneth To will go through to Beijing this weekend as the highest ranked male from the series so far.
Twenty-year-old To from NSWIS is sitting 18 points ahead of Trinidad and Tobago swimmer George Bovell,with 110 points and a total of six gold medals to his name.
To will no doubt be keen to maintain his top spot, but will face tough competition from Bovell and Japan’s Daiya Seto, currently ranked third, who will be racing in front of a home crowd in Tokyo.
A group of 33 Australian swimmers will join To for the Asian legs of the series, starting on Friday in Beijing, including short course specialists Robert Hurley, Rachel Goh and Grace Loh.
London Olympic medallists Christian Sprenger and Melanie Schlanger and up-and-coming swimmers Alanna Bowles and Mack Horton will also join the Asian tour team as part of the youth development program.
After recently being selected to compete at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival, State Team short course standout,Bowlesand Junior Pan Pacific gold medallist, Hortonwill use the World Cup tour to gain valuable international racing experience ahead of the Festival in January.
Olympic debutants and training partners Cameron McEvoy and Chris Wright will fight for a win in their respective races across the tour as well as going head-to-head in the men’s 50m butterfly event.
With such a large group of swimmers making the trip over for the Asian legs, Australia will have strong representation in all events across the three stops.
The following swimmers will be in action: Shane Asbury, Lennard Bremer, Ashley Delaney, Tomasso D’Orsogna, Ben Edmonds, Mack Horton Robert Hurley, Justin James, Robert Jovanovich, Jarrod Killey, Ben Lindsay, Travis Mahoney, Cameron McEvoy, Jeremy Meyer, Kyle Richardson, Ryan Steenkamp, Christian Sprenger, Kenneth To, Chris Wright, Angie Bainbridge, Alanna Bowles, Laura Crockart, Leah Cutting, Amelia Dahlitz, Sally Foster, Rachel Goh, Sarah Katsoulis, Grace Loh, Sam Marshall, Kotuku Ngawati, Melanie Schlanger, Kelly Stubbins, Jacqui Staples and Emily Thorn
Beijing (November 2-3) will be the first stop, followed by Tokyo (November 6-7) and then Singapore (November 10-11) with live results available at www.fina.org
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