The final round of the Swimming World Cup taking place in Toronto certainly lived up to the hype and expectations surrounding it. There was a bit of everything. World Records, Triple Crowns, handed out to swimmers who won the same event in all 3 rounds of the World Cup, and Triple Crown busters all on the first day alone.

Perhaps one the most notable swims from the final round was from Canadian Josh Liendo. Swimming in front of his home crowd, he set a new World Record in the Men’s 100 metre Butterfly of 47.68. Not only did this secure him a $10,000 bonus for the world record, but he also wins some extra prize money for busting the Triple Crown opportunity for Noe Ponti of Switzerland. Ponti had won this event in the previous 2 rounds of the World Cup and was hoping to secure the Triple Crown but was narrowly beaten by Liendo and Kharun. Liendo also had an impressive swim in the 100 freestyle to bust the Triple Crown attempt which was up for grabs for American Jack Alexy who had won this in the first 2 rounds. Although not a World Record Liendo secured himself another crown buster bonus with a very fast time of 45.30. Liendo has made steady progress throughout the 3 rounds of the World Cup setting him up nicely for the rest of the season.

Another very notable swim was from Hubert Kos of Hungary. He broke the World Record in the Men’s 200 metre backstroke, setting a time of 1:45.12. This also secured him the Triple Crown in this event earning a $10,000 bonus in addition to the $10,000 bonus for the World Record. Kos was heading into the 3^rd round with the opportunity to win a Triple Crown in all 3 backstroke events. He was able to achieve this feat and won the 50 and 100 metre backstroke to secure himself 3 triple crown events which placed him at the top of the overall rankings meaning he takes home the grand prize of $100,000 along with $10,000 for each Triple Crown and $10,000 for the World Record and further bonuses for finishing top of the rankings at all 3 round of the World Cup. He has dominated the backstroke events at all 3 stops getting faster at each of them. He will be hoping to continue this form into the long course season at the start of 2026. Kate Douglass took the women’s $100,000 grand prize finishing top of the rankings with her 3 Triple Crowns in the 100 and 200 metre breaststroke and the 100-metre freestyle, setting World Records in the 100-metre freestyle to show her versatility across multiple strokes and events.

Other winners of Triple Crowns included Americans Shaine Casas in the 100 and 200 metre individual medley, Luke Hobson in the 200-metre freestyle, Gretchen Walsh in the 50 and 100 metre butterfly along with the 100 individual medley, Regan Smith in the 200-metre butterfly, Alex Walsh in the 200-metre individual medley. Australians Lani Pallister in the distance freestyle and Kaylee McKewon in the 50 and 200 metre backstroke. McKeown also set a World Record in the 200 metre Backstroke securing herself a $10,000 bonus. Mollie O’Callaghan set another world record in the 200-metre freestyle on her way to her Triple Crown in the event. Katarzyna Wasick of Poland in the 50-metre freestyle. Caspar Corbeau of the Netherlands won the Triple Crown in the 200-metre breaststroke. Ilya Kharun had a very impressive World Cup securing Triple Crowns in the 50 metre and 200 metre Butterfly. All these swimmers have shown great form over the 3 rounds and will be taking home some serious prize money.

British swimming superstar Adam Peaty showed some serious improvement across the 3 rounds and across all 3 breaststroke events. While he is still on his way back to full fitness after his break following the Olympics in Paris his improvements are encouraging. It will be interesting to see what his competition schedule will look like heading into the long course season in 2026 with the Commonwealth Games held over the summer. He has indicated he would like to compete at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles following the edition of the 50-metre breaststroke to the schedule. British swimming fans will also be hoping he keeps going in the 100-metre breaststroke to try win another individual gold medal along with helping the medley relay.

Following the conclusion of this year’s World Cup, World Aquatics announced the venues for the 2026 edition of the World Cup. The venues are Baku in Azerbaijan, Tashkent in Uzbekistan, and finally Astana in Kazakhstan and has been dubbed the Silk Road Tour. These countries haven’t traditionally had much presence on the world stage of swimming, but the growth of the sport opens up new markets and engagement in new countries. It will be interesting to see if the World Cup heading to this part of the world can create more buzz and intertest in swimming in these countries. For now though the swimmers will have some time to recover before getting back into training in preparation for long course season at the start of 2026.