Aussie pace- and trend-setter Cameron McEvoy was the first of six men in six male finals on day 2 at the last round of the 2026 World Cup to enter the fray chasing a $10,000 prize offered to all triple crown winners in each event.

Two of the six would not make it, while the women's finals also delivered four triple-crown celebrations:

Wasick Fends Of Steenbergen's Crown-Busting Challenge But Both Go Home With A $10k Triple-Crown Pay Day

World Cup, round 3, day 2 = Astana, Kazhakstan - women's events: Four women's finals end in a £10k triple-crown winner, Marrit Steenbergen landing one in the 100IM, Kasia Wasick holding her off in the 50 free for her own fine pay day

State Of Swimming +Craig Lord

Coached by Tim Lane at Somerville House Aquatics  in Brisbane, Queensland, McEvoy clocked 20.19 for his third victory, which did not set an Oceanian record as the result sheet indicates (he clocked 20.13 a week ago in Tashkent after having set the OC standard at 20.22 in Baku the week before that).

Egor Kornev piled the pressure on by racing the first length in 9.73, just shy of the 9.68 of his quarry, but McEvoy had much more left in his tank than the man less practised in there art of 9-point one short-course lap racing. By the close, the Australian had extended his lead to 0.4sec, a relative lake in such circumstances, the ocean also visible as the winner's teammate Isaac Cooper came home almost a second slower than the Olympic and World champion in the pool that rules them all (50m long):

The dominance of "The Professor" from Down Under (the OC incorrect, records not updated in the week between cup events):

So, that's six finals over 50m and 100m in the short-course pool for McEvoy, and a perfect step-0up record of personal bests in every single one of those races barring the last, and then only by 0.06.

Men's 200m breaststroke - Corbeau Leads The Bar On Barr's Triple

Next up in the hunt for a triple crown was Luke Barr, an American racing on tour for his club Texas Ford Aquatics in Dallas, Texas, in his coach's eponymous Coley Stickels' professional group.

Barr had not one, but two, races in which he might have lifted the triple crown prize. The first one did not go his way: having swum 2:01.73 and 202.40 a touch ahead of Caspar Corbeau's respective 2:01.78 and a much steadier pace last week, Barr struggled to stay in contention for the triple, and when the clock stopped for him at 2:03.27, he looked up to find Corbeau had won in 2:01.94, Kiril Prigoda second in 2:02.41.

In victory, Corbeau was first to do to Barr what Dutch teammate Marrit Steenbergen had done to Siobhan Haughey on day 1 when she blocked the Hong Kong ace from the triple crown in the 200m free.

Barr would yet celebrate a fine pay day, however...

Men's 100m butterfly - Chen's Triple Crown

There were no 900-plus swims in the final, but Chen Juner's third win in three for the $10k prize, was his fastest effort of the tour, a 49.59 after 49.70 in Baku and 49.75 in Tashkent on the way to the Silk Road finale in Astana.

Given the point scores with times that would challenge for podiums at world level in the long-course pool but lag the leading pace in the 25m pool by 2 seconds, Juner faces a very steep climb if he's to convert the triple crown to the 'expansion' prize of $15k by claiming gold at World s/c championships in Beijing.

Men's 200m backstroke - Coetze's Second Triple Crown In As Many Days

Pieter Coetze landed the triple in the 100m back yesterday, and followed that up with a second $10k pay day today, his 1:48.08 his first and the only sub-1:49 of the tour delivering a dominant victory. In terms of Beijing World s/c titles, Coetze must also axe a chunk off his cup best to be in contention for the $125 'expansion prize' the WR line over a final with just one 900-points performance showing why:

Men's 100m Medley - Barr Bags The Big One

Luke Barr parked his third place in the 200m breaststroke final that offered his first shot at the triple crown, and headed to the medley final to take on his second shot with most imagining he might show his high bar on breaststroke. But no. Not that his breaststroke split of 15.47 was the stuff of slouches of course, but it was the backstroke length that nailed it for him in a battle with Canadian Finlay Knox and fellow American Shaine Casas.

The ebb and flow:

The last final of the day brought us another crown-buster...

Men's 400m freestyle - Henveaux Finally Gets A Hand To The Wall Ahead Of Foster

Lucas Henveaux trailed American all-round ace Carson Foster in the first two rounds of the cup over 400m freestyle, but today, he clocked the .U.S .-based Belgian produced the fastest eight-length freestyle time of the series: 3:36.01, a Belgian record inside his own 3:36.71 from 2024 when he was well into cutting his international teeth at Loughborough University in the UK.

Foster clocked 3:36.07 for a 1.37sec win over Henveaux in Tashkent last week and entered the final today with a solid shot at the $10k triple prize. The Belgian ace, these days based at he University of California, Berkeley (Cal) with coach Dave Durden, had sharpened his back-end knife, however: he trailed Foster at close quarters to half way before piling on the pace and pressure.

The American stuck to his opponent like glue for another 150m but could not respond when Henveaux put his foot down for the sprint home, the Belgian's last 50m 0.57sec faster that Foster's.

The Tour and 2026 series will conclude tomorrow.

• RESULTS IN FULL AT OMEGA