Marrit Steenbergen, Egor Kornev Among Headliners Expected for World Cup Circuit
Less than a week remains before the start of the three-leg World Aquatics World Cup, which will be held along the Silk Road. Action kicks off in Azerbaijan from Oct. 1-3 and will then unfold in Tashkent, Uzbekistan (Oct. 8-10) and Astana Kazakhstan (Oct. 15-17). A prize pool of $1.2 million will be provided to athletes, with additional $10,000 bonuses awarded for world-record performances and three-leg event sweeps, also known as Crowns.
World Aquatics has released the names of some of the most notable swimmers scheduled to compete during the World Cup Tour. On the women’s side, the Netherlands’ Marrit Steenbergen will compete, along with Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey and Belgium’s Roos Vanotterdijk. Steenbergen is coming off a sensational long-course season in which she set a world record in the 100-meter freestyle.
Haughey is one of the most-decorated World Cup performers in history and will be joined along the Silk Road by Ireland’s Ellen Walshe, a European champion in the 200 individual medley and 400 IM, and the Netherlands’ Tes Schouten, the 2024 Olympic bronze medalist in the 200 breaststroke.
Australian Cam McEvoy, the reigning Olympic champion and world-record holder in the 50 freestyle, will headline the men’s entries. In addition to racing the 50 free, McEvoy will contest the 100 freestyle as part of his plan to make that event part of his program for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. McEvoy will be joined at the World Cup by American Shaine Casas, who is expected to contest multiple events. In the breaststroke, China’s Qin Haiyang and Caspar Corbeau will lead the way, Corbeau the world-record holder in the short-course version of the 200 breaststroke.
Russian sprinter Egor Kornev will be one to watch in the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle and South African backstroke star Pieter Coetze is scheduled to race, along with American multi-event standout Carson Foster.
