World Aquatics World Cup #1 – Baku
Welcome to the first day of the 2026 Swimming World Cup on the Silk Road! Our first stop brings us to Baku, Azerbaijan, as we prepare for the meet’s first finals session. Today’s events will feature the women’s and men’s 400 freestyle, women’s 50 backstroke, men’s 200 backstroke, women’s 200 butterfly, men’s 100 fly, women’s 200 breaststroke, men’s 100 breaststroke, women’s and men’s 50 freestyle, and the women’s and men’s 100 IM.
Headlining our 400 freestyles will be Freya Colbert for the women and Carson Foster for the men. Colbert enters as one of only two women under 4:00 in 3:56.71; Foster sits as the top entry time by about two and a half seconds on the men’s side in 3:56.52.
Dutch sprinter Marrit Steenbergen topped the women’s 50 back in the prelims, blasting a 26.08, the fastest time in the heats by about a half second. Blake Tierney delivered the top performance in the men’s 200 backstroke this morning in 1:50.69, ahead of China’s Guannan Tao (1:51.78) and Pieter Coetze (1:53.71).
Ellen Walshe comes in as the top entrant in the 200 butterfly in 2:02.36. This will be the first 200 fly race of the meet, as events with 10 or fewer entries are swum only at finals, rather than both prelims and finals. Juner Chen logged the only sub-51-second time in the prelims of the men’s 100 fly to claim the top seed for finals in 50.34.
Evgeniia Chikunova leads all qualifiers in the women’s 200 breast through the prelims in 2:17.35, about a second quicker than Mona McSharry in 2:18.27. Caspar Corbeau and Michael Houlie will face off for the first men’s 100 breast crown of the World Cup, with Corbeau holding a slight edge out of the prelims in 56.68, three tenths ahead of Houlie in 56.98.
Katarzyna Wasick and Egor Kornev topped the men’s 50 free prelims results in 23.56 and 20.73, respectively. Kornev will have a monstrous battle with Cam McEvoy, who also finished under 21 seconds in the prelims in 20.96.
The women’s 100 IM will feature a superstar-filled final, including Roos Vanotterdijk (57.63), Steenbergen (58.38), and Yu Yiting (58.49). The men’s race is also loaded, with Luke Barr as the top seed (51.91), along with Brian Benzing (52.49), Shaine Casas (52.90), Finlay Knox (52.72), and Kliment Kolesnikov (53.74).
Women’s 400 Free – Fastest Heat
- World Record: 3:50.25 – Summer McIntosh (CAN), 2024
- World Cup Record: 3:51.87 – Lani Pallister (AUS), 2025
GOLD: Freya Colbert (GBR) – 3:59.91
SILVER: Anna Peplowski (CLB) – 4:00.47
BRONZE: Yan Tiaoshan (CHN) – 4:00.70
Freya Colbert led early, flipping at the 100 mark in 56.77, about three-quarters of a second ahead of Anna Peplowski. Colbert came in with the fastest lifetime best in the field, and her experience showed as she grew her lead to nearly two seconds at the halfway point.
At no point was she really contested, flipping in 2:58.74, still more than a full body length and a half at the 300 mark.
Pepolwski tried to make a charge at the end, chipping away bit by bit in the final 100, but she ran out of room and settled for 2nd in 4:00.47, behind Colbert’s winning time of 3:59.91.
China’s Yan Tiaoshan also turned in a sub-4:01 performance to claim the bronze in 4:00.70.
Men’s 400 Free – Fastest Heat
- World Record: 3:32.25 – Yannick Agnel (FRA), 2012
- World Cup Record: 3:32.77 – Paul Biedermann (GER), 2009
GOLD:
SILVER:
BRONZE:
Women’s 50 Back
- World Record: 25.23 – Regan Smith (USA), 2024
- World Cup Record: 25.35 – Kaylee McKeown (AUS), 2025
GOLD:
SILVER:
BRONZE:
Men’s 200 Back
- World Record: 1:45.12 – Hubert Kos (HUN), 2025
- World Cup Record: 1:45.12 – Hubert Kos (HUN), 2025
GOLD:
SILVER:
BRONZE:
Women’s 200 Fly
- World Record: 1:59.32 – Summer McIntosh (CAN), 2024
- World Cup Record: 2:00.20 – Regan Smith (USA), 2025
GOLD:
SILVER:
BRONZE:
Men’s 100 Fly
- World Record: 47.68 – Josh Liendo (CAN), 2025
- World Cup Record: 47.68 – Josh Liendo (CAN), 2025
GOLD:
SILVER:
BRONZE:
Women’s 200 Breast
- World Record: 2:12.50 – Kate Douglass (USA), 2024
- World Cup Record: 2:12.72 – Kate Douglass (USA), 2024
GOLD:
SILVER:
BRONZE:
Men’s 100 Breast
- World Record: 55.28 – Ilya Shymanovich (BLR), 2021
- World Cup Record: 55.55 – Caspar Corbeau (NED), 2025
GOLD:
SILVER:
BRONZE:
Women’s 50 Free
- World Record: 22.83 – Gretchen Walsh (USA), 2024
- World Cup Record: 22.93 – Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED), 2017
GOLD:
SILVER:
BRONZE:
Men’s 50 Free
- World Record: 19.90 – Jordan Crooks (CAY), 2024
- World Cup Record: 20.31 – Josh Liendo (CAN), 2025
GOLD:
SILVER:
BRONZE:
Women’s 100 IM
- World Record: 55.11 – Gretchen Walsh (USA), 2024
- World Cup Record: 55.77 – Gretchen Walsh (USA), 2025
GOLD:
SILVER:
BRONZE:
Men’s 100 IM
- World Record: 49.28 – Caeleb Dressel (USA), 2020
- World Cup Record: 49.92 – Leon Marchand (FRA), 2024
GOLD:
SILVER:
BRONZE:
