By James Sutherland on SwimSwam
World Aquatics World Cup #1 – Baku
October 1-3, 2026 Baku Aquatic Palace, Baku, Azerbaijan SCM (25 meters) Meet Central Results Psych Sheet How To WatchThe opening preliminary session of the 2026 World Cup in Baku ran this morning with a pared-down number of events, as both the women’s 200 fly and 200 breast will go straight to the final due to having 10 or fewer entrants.
In the events that did take place, there were plenty of big names doing what they needed to do to advance to the evening session, including an exciting battle on tap in the men’s 50 free.
Two of the fastest men in the long course event this past summer, world record holder and Commonwealth champion Cameron McEvoy and European Championship silver medalist Egor Kornev, set the stage for a showdown in the SCM final after posting the top two times of the session.
After McEvoy clocked the first sub-21 of the session from Heat 2 in 20.96, Kornev answered by blasting a time of 20.73 in Heat 4, claiming Lane 4 for the final.
Kornev owns a personal best time of 20.39, set last year, while McEvoy’s best showing was the 20.75 he produced way back in 2015. He’s almost been as fast in long course, breaking the world record earlier this year in 20.88.
On the women’s side, Marrit Steenbergen and Roos Vanotterdijk are set for a pair of head-to-head battles in finals after trading top seeds in the 50 back and 100 IM.
Steenbergen qualified 1st into the 50 back final in a time of 26.08, with Vanotterdijk in 3rd (26.59), while Vanotterdijk led the 100 IM field this morning in 57.63, with Steenbergen the #2 qualifier in 58.38.
Steenbergen won gold and set a new European Record of 56.26 in the 100 IM at the 2025 European SC Championships, with Vanotterdijk claiming silver (56.80), while in the 50 back, Steenbergen set a new European Record leading off the Dutch women’s 200 medley relay in 25.47, while Vanotterdijk’s PB of 26.43 was set at the 2025 World Cup stop in Westmont.
OTHER EVENTS
Men’s 200 Back – Canadian Blake Tierney paced the field into the final in a time of 1:50.69, setting a new personal best time by nearly a second, with South African Pieter Coetze lurking behind, tying for 3rd overall in 1:53.71. Men’s 100 fly – China’s Chen Juner was the lone man sub-51 in the prelims of the 100 fly, clocking 50.34 to come within four-tenths of his 49.95 best time from 2022. Men’s 100 breast – In what was a relatively large field with 29 swimmers, World Cup Record holder Caspar Corbeau posted the top time in the 100 breast in 56.68, with speedster Michael Houlie joining him under 57 seconds in 56.98. Corbeau won this event at two of the three World Cup stops last year, setting a series record of 55.55 in Toronto. American Luke Barr (57.05), China’s Qin Haiyang (57.20) and Russia’s Kirill Prigoda (57.53) were other notable finalists. Women’s 50 free – Kasia Wasick, who won the Triple Crown in this event at last year’s World Cup, led the prelims in a time of 23.56, with Siobhan Haughey (23.94) and Taylor Ruck (23.97) showing strong form by also cracking 24 seconds. Men’s 100 IM – Luke Barr was back in action shortly after the 100 breast in the 100 IM, posting an impressive time of 51.91 to lead the field into the final, with fellow American Brian Benzing the #2 qualifier in 52.49. The final will be stacked, with Finlay Knox (52.72), Corbeau (52.79), Shaine Casas (52.90), Coetze (53.04), Ivan Girev (53.45) and Kliment Kolesnikov (53.74) also advancing. Casas won the Triple Crown in this event at last year’s World Cup, posting a best time of 50.28 in Toronto, while Kolesnikov owns a best time of 50.63, set en route to winning the 2018 SC world title.Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2026 World Cup – Baku: Kornev, McEvoy Set Stage For 50 Free Battle In Day 1 Prelims
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