What To Expect At The Singapore Swim Stars Meet

On Friday, September 5th Singapore will play host to a star-studded meet featuring some of the most talented swimmers in the entire world. The event will start on Friday at 7:00 pm local time.

As an added incentive, swimmers will receive prize money based on their performances. A first place finish in the 50 or 100m freestyle earns a swimmer $10,000, a second place finish $5,000, a third place finish $2500, and a fourth place finish $1250. In other events, $5000, $3000, $1500, and $750 will be awarded respectively. For the first world record set at this meet the swimmer will earn a bonus $20,000.

Francesca Halsall will lead an extremely talented 50m freestyle field here in Singapore with her current seasonal best of 23.96. Following her will be Ariana Vanderpool Wallace who was a 24.34 in 2014. Other notable swimmers in the field are Jessica Hardy, Britt Elmslie, Rute Meilutyte, and Melanie Schlanger. With all these current swim-stars present, it will make for an exciting race.

The men’s 50m freestyle field might be just as impressive as the women’s as it features some of the top swimmers in the world without a doubt. Having the middle lane will be Shinri Shioura going in with a seed-time of 21.51 just ahead of Anthony Ervin’s 21.55. Ben Proud from Great Britain, Nathan Adrian from the United States, Matt Abood from Australia, Josh Schneider from the United States, and Roland Schoemann from South Africa put the icing on the cake of an amazing start list for a 50m freestyle final. Although the championship season is over, this race should be quick considering the fierceness of the competition.

Melanie Schlanger is the fastest seed in the women’s 100m freestyle although with the depth in that field, it’s unwise to say that it would be an easy win for her. On either side she’s got Jeanette Ottesen and Pernille Blume, two very fast freestyle sprinters. Halsall will also be present in this final along with two more Australians: Elmslie and Bronte Barratt. Vanderpool Wallace and Katinka Hosszu will be the remaining two in the final. Hosszu’s not particularly known for her sprint freestyle, but is known to be able to grind it out with the top swimmers in the world in almost any event so there’s no doubt that she’s in this race.

The 100m freestyle will feature Nathan Adrian leading the charge as he goes into the race as the top seed. He’ll have his hands full with 50m freestyle top seed Shioura of Japan and Fabien Gilot of France on his other side. Anthony Ervin, Ben Proud, and the Abood brothers (Matt and Andrew) will be the other forces in the race. Just like the 50, this one should come down to the wire considering the depth in the field.

Emily Seebohm of Australia will go in as the fastest seed in the 100m backstroke. With only five other swimmers to contest with it could be a fairly tight race. Georgia Davies of Great Britain has been having an amazing season and will be right beside Seebohm. The iron lady Katinka Hosszu will be in this race as well. It would be unruly to count her out as she’s been nothing but spectacular on the world cup circuit as of late and will have no problem contesting the double.

David Plummer of the United States will have a chance to beat a close to world-class field as he goes in as the top seed in the men’s 100m backstroke. He’ll be flanked by Liam Tancock and Ashley Delaney, two swimmers with plenty of experience. Josh Beaver who’s had an outstanding season will also be in the field along with Plummer’s American teammate Eugene Godsoe.

The women’s 100m breaststroke final will feature some of the current breaststroke stars who all have enough international experience in this stroke to turn it into an incredible race even if they are not close to their season bests. Rute Meilutyte, Jessica Hardy, and Rikke Pedersen will be side-by-side-by-side in the final, shaping this race up to be one of the most anticipated of the meet.

Adam Peaty of Great Britain will have a chance to show the world that he’ll continue his dominating ways from this year’s breakout season as he’ll be beside Cameron Van Der Burgh in the 100m breaststroke. You can bet this race will be personal as Peaty took down Van Der Burgh’s world record in the 50m breaststroke at the European Championships not long ago in August. Glenn Snyders who’s been on fire at the New Zealand Short Course Championships will also be present along with Scottish star Ross Murdoch.

Halsall, Elmslie, and Ottesen will all face off yet again, this time in the 100m fly. Halsall will be the fastest seed like the 50m freestyle however with swimmers like Hosszu and Seebohm in the field there’s too much talent to call anyone the clear winner.

Along with the competition there will be multiple clinics run by some of swimming’s stars for the remainder of the three-day event, along with an open water race.

For all information about the meet click here.

Full start lists: