Superstars eye Fina honours in Dubai finale next month

Dubai - With Olympic qualification also on the line, the event promises to be one of the most fiercely competitive ever staged in Dubai in a 50m pool.

 An impressive list of World and Olympic champions head to Dubai once more, this time for the final round of the Fina/airweave Swimming World Cup on November 6 and 7 at the iconic Hamdan Sports Complex.
The strong field includes favourites and overall winners of the 2014 Swimming World Cup, Chad Le Clos of South Africa and Hungarian superstar Katinka Hosszu. For the first time Dubai will host the final deciding leg of the eight-leg competition, which will also see the overall male and female winners take home the $100,000 as prize money.
With Olympic qualification also on the line, the event promises to be one of the most fiercely competitive ever staged in Dubai in a 50m pool.
The event is contested over eight legs, held in three clusters. Cluster 1 was held in Moscow and Paris-Chartres in August, Cluster 2 in Hong Kong, Beijing and Singapore in September and October, and Cluster 3 will be in Tokyo and Doha in October and November, with the final event in Dubai. With three legs completed so far, the competition is proving as tough as expected.
Le Clos is in great form, having defended his 100m butterfly world championship title in the World Championships in Kazan, Russia last month. He won the overall Swimming World Cup in 2011, 2013 and 2014, and could make it three in a row, if he can overtake his countryman Cameron van der Burgh who is currently in first place on the rankings after taking the 50m/100m breaststroke double in the first three legs.
Katinka is one of the toughest competitors in swimming, earning an 'Iron Lady' status with some amazing performances and world cup triumphs for the past three years. Katinka dominated the competition in 2014, taking 51 of the total 119 gold medals on offer across the whole competition, and breaking five world records. She also defended both her 200m and 400m Individual Medley World Championship crowns in Kazan, and is on target to take the overall World Cup title again, having just won eight golds in the Hong Kong leg, and leading by as massive 123 points with five legs to go.
Ahmed Al Falasi, president of the UAE Swimming Association, said: "We are delighted to be welcoming the world's best swimmers to Dubai again next month. This is the fifth time this event has been held in Dubai, and we are honoured to be hosting the final and deciding leg of the Swimming World Cup this year. With the overall World Cup title and Olympic qualification on the line, the competition is guaranteed to be exciting and we encourage sports fans to come and witness the World and Olympic champions in action."