Hungary’s Hubert Kos set a men’s 200m backstroke world record of 1:45.12 in the final leg of the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup leg in Toronto.
The 24-year-old world and Olympic champion – who missed the short course record by 0.02 at last year’s WA Swimming Championships (25m) in his home city of Budapest – maintained his unbeaten run in this competition as he lowered the 2015 mark of 1:45.63 set by Australia’s Mitch Larkin.
“It’s kind of unbelievable,” Kos told World Aquatics. “You can’t really process these things straight away and it’s just going to take me some time, especially since I’m still processing the Olympic gold, so who knows how long this will take to process.
“I knew I could be pretty close, but I also knew that I could be pretty far too, like, it could have been between 1:45 or 1:50.”
After achieving the first of a possible three triple crowns this weekend Kos is the only swimmer with a chance of completing a series clean sweep, having won all his backstroke events in the previous two World Cup stops at Carmel and Westmont in the United States.
He will contest the 50m backstroke on day two and the 100m backstroke on Saturday.
Earlier in the day at the Toronto Pan American Sports Center Switzerland’s Noe Ponti lost his 100m butterfly world record to home swimmer Joshua Liendo.
Liendo, who trained in this pool until he moved to the University of Florida in 2022, delighted the home crowd by recording 47.68 to take 0.03 off the world record Ponti set last year.
The 24-year-old Swiss athlete, who had been seeking a triple crown in the 100m event, finished third behind Liendo’s compatriot Ilya Kharun in 48.38.
“(Ponti and Kharun) cooked me on that first stop,” said Liendo, who was fourth in Carmel in 50.20. “I got a little bit of rest under my belt and was feeling good this stop.”
Poland’s 33-year-old Kasia Wasick completed the triple crown in the women’s 50m freestyle in 23.21, the second fastest time of her career.
Caspar Corbeau lowered the Dutch men’s 100m breaststroke record to 55.55 as he finished ahead of Britain’s 30-year-old multiple world and Olympic champion Adam Peaty, competing in his first big event since taking silver at the Paris 2024 Games.
Mike Rowbottom for European Aquatics
