2022 FINA WORLD CUP – BERLIN
Dylan Carter’s red-hot run at the first World Cup series stop in Berlin was fueled by missing three major international medals by less than one-tenth of a second this summer.
At the World Championships in June, the 26-year-old from Trinidad and Tobago missed the podium in the 50-meter butterfly by just .06 seconds. At the Commonwealth Games in July, he was .01 seconds away from a bronze medal in the 50 fly and .08 seconds from hardware in the 50 freestyle.
Fed up with the string of close calls, Carter went back to the drawing board and returned “with a lot of fire.” That spark was on full display in Berlin as the sprint specialist made a statement with three gold medals in the 50 free, 50 back, and 50 fly.
“I wrote a goal down on my board in my room after having a tough summer,” Carter said. “ I missed out on three major medals. I was fourth at long course worlds. I finished fourth twice at the Commonwealth. I came out of that with a lot of fire. I wrote it down. I knew I wanted to come and be really, really good here. I did what I wanted to do.”
Carter’s first major international victories came against strong competition. He had to outduel Kyle Chalmers and Florent Manaudou in the 50 free, Thomas Ceccon in the 50 back, and an equally red-hot Chad le Clos in the 50 fly. Along the way, he set a pair of national records in the 50 free and 50 back.
“I’m trying to trust myself, and trusting oneself is what gets them through those anxious moments,” Carter said.
Quick Hitters
Shaine Casas is starting to make strides on his underwaters, which may have made the difference in his 100 back victory over Ceccon on Sunday. Casas went 49.54 to edge Ceccon (49.62) just about 10 minutes after swimming the 50 fly.
“I’ve always felt like my underwaters have always sucked, you know?” Casas said. “I guess I’ve broken through by working on it so much that it’s finally starting to show. I noticed I was getting him (Ceccon) a little bit on the turns.
“Short course, I’m performing pretty well,” 22-year-old American added. “For long course, I need to reinsert my name there because it’s been a while since I did anything impressive in the backstrokes. So, yeah, that’s definitely the next step for myself. Competition drives people. I got a little lackadaisical and some people came up and passed me. Now, I’ve got to step up and catch up and pass them again.”
Ruta Meilutyte put a scare into the world record on Sunday with a 28.60 in the 50 breast, just .04 seconds off the world record set by Alia Atkinson in 2018. The 25-year-old Lithuanian didn’t seem surprised by the result, and offered a great quote when asked if she was aiming to take down the world record.
“I am just trying to swim for swimming,” Meilutyte said.
🇱🇹 Ruta Meilutyte 0.04 far from setting a new World Record 🔥 in the 50m Breast!
⏱️28.60 #swimming #SWC2022 pic.twitter.com/V5mCXLrHRk— FINA (@fina1908) October 23, 2022
Matt Sates, the defending overall champion on the men’s side, has his sights set on another crown after returning to the top of the leaderboard after the first stop of the series.
“I’m happy, but the job’s not done,” the 19-year-old South African said. “We’re one-third of the way done, and there’s more to come.”
