Matthew Sates ends World Cup on a winning note, but loses his series title

Matthew Sates ended off his World Cup campaign with victory in the 400m individual medley in Indianapolis on Saturday night (Sunday morning SA time), but as expected he lost his title as top male swimmer. 

The overall prize went to sprinter Dylan Carter of Trinidad and Tobago, who scooped $100,000 (R1.8m) for topping the rankings as well as another $30,000 (R537,000) for bagging the 50m freestyle, 50m backstroke and 50m butterfly crowns at all three stops of the series. Throw in the $30,000 in prize money and he walks away with the equivalent of nearly R2.9m. 

Sates won his race by almost three seconds, clocking 4 min 04.12 sec with Canada’s Finlay Knox edging Yuki Ikari of Japan by four-hundredths of a second to finish second in 4:07.09.

It was decent consolation for the Pietermaritzburg swimmer, the series winner in 2021 who had lost his shape over the last week or so, struggling in the second and third legs in Toronto and the US after a good start in Berlin. 

Sates pulled out of the 200m freestyle to focus on the 400m IM, and even so his winning time was his slowest across the three legs, having gone 4:02.95 and 4:02.65 over the previous two weekends.

Still, it was enough to secure Sates a $10,000 (R179,000) bonus for the triple crown on top of the  $14,000 (R251,000) he earned for finishing fifth on the series rankings. Added to the nearly R400,000 he pocketed in prize money, his turnover exceeds more than R800,000. 

Countryman Chad le Clos finished third overall after taking second place behind Carter in the 50m butterfly on Saturday, pocketing $40,000 (R716,000) in bonuses — $30,000 for his series placing and $10,000 for three straight wins in the 100m butterfly. His prize money of R313,000 pushed his total haul north of R1m.

Le Clos, a four-time series winner in 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2017, clocked 22.27 sec in lane one behind favourite Carter in 21.99. 

American Beata Nelson was the top women’s swimmer for the series, ahead of Hong Kong star Siobhan Haughey. 

Both Le Clos and Sates should draw confidence from the World Cups as they gear up for the world short-course championships in Melbourne from December 13 to 18. 

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