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Qin Haiyang wins men's 50m breaststroke gold with 2nd World Cup record
CGTN
Qin Haiyang of China competes in the men's 50-meter breaststroke event at the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup in Berlin, Germany, October 7, 2023. /CFP
Qin Haiyang of China competes in the men's 50-meter breaststroke event at the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup in Berlin, Germany, October 7, 2023. /CFP

Qin Haiyang of China competes in the men's 50-meter breaststroke event at the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup in Berlin, Germany, October 7, 2023. /CFP

Qin Haiyang of China won the men's 50-meter breaststroke gold medal at the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup in Berlin, Germany, on Saturday, setting a new World Cup record in the event at 26.29 seconds.

This was Qin's second title in Berlin and the second World Cup record he broke after finishing the men's 100-meter breaststroke event in 57.69 seconds on Friday. Qin beat the silver medalist Arno Kamminga of the Netherlands and the bronze medalist Adam Peaty of Britain in the 50-meter race on Saturday.

"I am tired, but I feel very lucky to have won this race. I would like to return to the podium and to win all three of the breaststroke races," Qin said after the victory.

Sarah Sjoestroem of Sweden competes in the women's 50-meter butterfly event at the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup in Berlin, Germany, October 7, 2023. /CFP
Sarah Sjoestroem of Sweden competes in the women's 50-meter butterfly event at the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup in Berlin, Germany, October 7, 2023. /CFP

Sarah Sjoestroem of Sweden competes in the women's 50-meter butterfly event at the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup in Berlin, Germany, October 7, 2023. /CFP

Qin's teammate Zhang Yufei took home the silver medal in the women's 50-meter butterfly event in which Sarah Sjoestroem of Sweden secured the gold by setting the new World Cup record of 25.06 seconds, 0.08 seconds faster than Zhang. Torri Huske of the U.S. got the bronze medal with 25.85 seconds.

"It felt good. I didn't expect it to be that fast," Sjoestroem said. "I am here without my coach, but I have done this enough to know how to prepare. Maybe it helped that I was a bit more focused in my morning routines. I was swimming easy in the warm-up tonight, and I did more activation stuff and was a bit more professional before the final."

Siobhan Bernadette Haughey claimed the first gold for China's Hong Kong by finishing the women's 200-meter freestyle event in 1:55.10, which refreshed the event's World Cup record. She beat silver medalist Erika Fairweather of New Zealand and bronze medalist Lani Pallister of Australia by more than one second.

Kaylee McKeown of Australia competes in the women's 100-meter backstroke event at the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup in Berlin, Germany, October 7, 2023. /CFP
Kaylee McKeown of Australia competes in the women's 100-meter backstroke event at the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup in Berlin, Germany, October 7, 2023. /CFP

Kaylee McKeown of Australia competes in the women's 100-meter backstroke event at the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup in Berlin, Germany, October 7, 2023. /CFP

"My time was okay. I was hoping for a little faster time, but it's the first stop on the World Cup series, and I expect to swim faster," Haughey said. "I just came off the Asian Games, and it was really fun, and I was really happy with my swims there. 

I swam a lot of events, and I was really pleased with the support that I received. I am treating the three World Cup stops like training, and I am working on my race strategies. I like to race a lot, and when I race, I notice things that I can work on. By the time we get to Paris, everything should be in place."

Kaylee McKeown of Australia won her second gold and set her second World Cup record after finishing the women's 100-meter backstroke race in 57.95 seconds. Kylie Masse and Ingrid Wilm of Canada had the silver and the bronze medals, respectively.

"There are a lot of people chasing, and I am still chasing Olympic qualification," McKeown said. "My strategies are between my coach and me. We have to put all of them in the bag. In warm-up, my legs felt heavy, and I wasn't expecting to go 7.9; I thought I would go 8 low."

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