Hosszu, also known as the Iron Lady, went into the opening day of the meet after consistent performances in Moscow and Paris-Chartres, which saw her lead the points table on 162 ahead of Australia’s Emily Seebohm on 111.

Seebohm was the only swimmer able to break Hosszu’s stranglehold on the women’s finals, claiming the 50 metres backstroke title in a time of 27.90sec and earning herself 912 points in the process.

Holly Barratt completed an Aussie one-two at the expense of Hosszu, who was completely dominant on all other fronts.

The women’s finals got underway with a star-studded line-up in the 200m freestyle, including 200m backstroke world record holder Missy Franklin of the United States.

Hosszu won by a comfortable two-and-a-half lengths, with Franklin touching in 1min 56.38sec, and she was back in the pool two races later in the 100m butterfly final, finishing in 59.31 ahead of China’s Shuang Li and home favourite Hang Yu Sze. 

Following her third-place finish in the 50m backstroke, Hosszu got back to winning ways in the 200m individual medley. continuing her hot streak in the wake of the FINA World Championships in Kazan, where just five weeks ago she claimed a world record time of 2:06.12.

Hosszu was first off the wall in the 200m backstroke final and the Iron Lady didn’t stop there, claiming her final gold of the night in the 800m freestyle.

The Hungarian’s superb performance was appreciated by the crowd, but the loudest cheer of the night came for hometown hero Geoffrey Cheah, who claimed the men’s 50m butterfly title.

The young sprinter has just returned from a lay-off and hadn’t expected to be able to perform in the Victoria Park Swimming Pool.

The men’s finals in Hong Kong saw overall competition leader Cameron Van Der Burgh of South Africa extend his lead over compatriot Chad Le Clos, who sat out this round of the World Cup.

Van Der Burgh powered away in the 50m breaststroke, the third event of the night, winning in a very competitive 27.23sec to claim 939 points.

The opening event of cluster two of the FINA World Cup saw Japan’s Katsumi Nakamura win the men’s 100m freestyle with a time of 49.48, in a blanket finish across the pool.

Yuki Shirai continued a solid night for Japan with a gold medal in the men’s 100m backstroke, touching out two Australians, Ash Delaney and Josh Beaver, in another blanket finish. 

Akihiro Yamaguchi, also of Japan, won the closest event of the evening as he edged out team-mate Ippei Watanabe by a hundredth of a second in the men’s 200m breaststroke with a time of 2:13.13.

Japan’s other gold medal came courtesy of Masato Sakai in the men’s 200m butterfly, while David Verraszto took Hungary’s top-honours tally to six with a winning time of 4:18.06 in the men’s 400m individual medley.

Dan Smith won the men’s 400m freestyle, immediately after which fellow Australians, sisters Cate and Bronte Campbell, shared the top of the podium in the women’s 50m freestyle.



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