The second leg of the FINA/ARENA Swimming World Cup gets underway this weekend in Moscow with an impressive line-up. From South Africa, George Du Rand, Katheryn Meaklim, Cameron van der Burgh and Roland Schoeman; from the US, Jessica Hardy and Peter Marshall; from Ukraine Igor Borysik; from Australia Marieke Guehrer, Felicity Galvez and Leisel Jones; and from Sweden Therese Alshammar, Stefan Nystrand and world champ flyer Sarah Sjostrom.
After the first leg of the series, held in Durban (RSA) on October 16-17, the provisional leaders of the cup series are Marshall and Alshammar. The cup is witnessing the dying days of shiny suits, with times on the clock, including the latest flush of world records that bear no comparison with the pre-2008 era, all but irrelevant.
Cameron van der Burgh (RSA) and Marieke Guehrer (AUS) are respectively the defending cup champions. After Moscow, Michael Phelps makes a rare world cup appearance when the American races in Stockholm and then Berlin on November 11 and 12 and the 14th and 15th respectively, before the series concludes the following weekend in Singapore.
