Shields, Atkinson Set Sights On World Cup Dubai

Even though the second cluster of the FINA World Cup has not yet begun, two stars have been confirmed as attending the final leg of the series.  United Arab Emirates (UAE) Swimming has announced that Jamaican superstar, Alia Atkinson, and American butterfly stud, Tom Shields, will both be attending the Dubai stop of the World Cup slated for November 6th and 7th.

Atkinson broke the international swimming scene wide open with her short course world championship title last year in the women’s 100m breaststroke with her time of 1:02.36, the fastest of 2014. Already in 2015, Atkinson is ranked 4th in the world in the long course version of the event, with her mark of 1:06.21 from prelims at the long course world championships.  She would ultimately earn the bronze in the event in Kazan with a time of 1:06.42.  Atkinson also snagged a silver at worlds in the 50m breaststroke event (30.11), touching just behind Sweden’s Jennie Johansson.

For his part, Shields fell shy of the podium in both of his individual events in Kazan, where he registered a time 1:56.18 for 8th place in the 200m butterfly and 51.06 for 4th in the 100m butterfly.  But, Shields scored gold as part of the men’s 400m medley relay to come home with some hardware. Shields does have an impressive World Cup history, finishing in 3rd place overall for the men at the end of the 2014 series. Over the course of last year’s stops he totaled 6 first place finishes, including a 200m butterfly win in Dubai.

Below are the confirmation announcements from UAE Swimming’s Twitter account:

Dubai Welcome International Swimming Stars النجوم قادمون Tom Shields كأس العالم للسباحة ٦&٧ نوفمبر ٢٠١٥م @HamdanSCpic.twitter.com/oCxWtWq50b

— UAEswimming (@UAESwimming) September 16, 2015

النجوم قادمون  Alia Atkinson – Jamaica Return to Dubai كأس العالم للسباحة بدبى ٦ & ٧ نوفمبر ٢٠١٥ @ HSC pic.twitter.com/YblElioH2q — UAEswimming (@UAESwimming) September 16, 2015