Marrit Steenbergen got her 2026 World Cup campaign underway in Baku with double gold at the first of three scheduled stops on the Silk Road Tour.
The 26-year-old Dutch swimmer won the 50m backstroke and 100m individual medley on the opening night of racing in the Azerbaijan capital, which also saw Poland’s 34-year-old Katarzyna Wasick maintain her unbeaten run in the women’s 50m freestyle.
Steenbergen, who retained her world 100m freestyle title last year and set a world record in the event in June of this year, began her evening in the women’s 50m backstroke – at which she is European record holder.
She clocked 25.75 to finish ahead of Mariia Osetrova on 26.59, with Belgium’s 21-year-old Roos Vanotterdijk third in 26.60.
Steenbergen then moved on to the 100m medley, another event where she is European record holder on 56.26, and earned a second victory by just 0.02 from Vanotterdijk, 56.82 to 56.84.
China’s Yiting Yu swam an Asian record of 56.99 in third place ahead of Britain’s Abbie Wood on 58.29.
Poland’s 34-year-old Katarzyna Wasick maintained her unbeaten record in the 50m freestyle, where she has won triple crowns at the last two World Cup series.
The European long and short course champion clocked 23.40, holding off the challenge of Hong Kong’s multiple Olympic and world medallist Siobhan Haughey, who recorded an Asian record of 23.48.
Elsewhere Steenbergen’s compatriot Caspar Corbeau – who became the first swimmer to break two minutes for the short course 200m breaststroke last October – was narrowly beaten in the 100m breaststroke by Kirill Prigoda, who won gold and bronze relay medals for NAB at the recent European Aquatics Championships.
Prigoda touched in 56.08 with Corbeau clocking 56.33 and China’s Qin Haiyang taking third place in 56.37.
Prigoda’s compatriot Egor Kornev, the European 50m freestyle silver medallist, clocked 20.26 to finish second behind Australia’s Olympic champion and long course world record holder Cameron McEvoy, racing in his first short course meeting since 2018. McEvoy won in a World Cup record of 20.22.
Britain’s Freya Colbert won the women’s 400 freestyle fastest heat in 3:59.91, while Belgium’s Lucas Henveaux was second in the men’s 400m freestyle fastest heat in 3:37.44 behind Carson Foster of the United States, who recorded a personal best of 3:36.07.
Ireland’s double European individual medley champion Ellen Walshe was second in the women’s 200m butterfly in 2:05.58 behind China’s 15-year-old Chang Mohan, who won in 2:04.15.
Evgeniia Chikunova, who won the women’s 200m breaststroke for NAB at this summer’s EA Championships, secured victory on this occasion in2:17.20 from Ireland’s Paris 2024 medallist Mona McSharry in 2:18.45.
Mike Rowbottom for European Aquatics
