FINA WORLD CUP, BERLIN: LIVE RECAP OF NIGHT TWO FROM BERLIN

BERLIN, Germany, RENANG INDONESIA-October 21. THE second night of competition is underway at the FINA World Cup stop in Berlin, Germany. Hit refresh for the latest coverage and analysis from the session!

For a quick refresher course, the FINA World Cup is a global circuit of two-day meets all swum in short course meters (25m) setups. Swimmers vie for cash earnings with first-place individual winners earning $1,500, while second place wins $1,000. Third place in each event also takes home $500. Relays are not money races.

The overall circuit winners for the men and women by the end of the eight-meet series next month will win $100,000 each. Chad Le Clos and Therese Alshammar both banked six-figure paydays last year with Le Clos topping out at $145,500, including nearly $50k in just race winnings alone. Thus far this year, Katinka Hosszu and Kenneth To lead the overall standings after the fourth stop in Berlin, Germany. 

Men's 1500 free
Hungary's David Verrastzo punched the wall in 14:51.29 to open night two in Berlin with a win. That swim kicked his winnings in Berlin up to $2,000, his only stop on the tour thus far. Poland's Mateusz Sawrymowicz finished second in 14:55.02, while Slovakia's Richard Nagy also cleared 15:00 with a third-place 14:58.91 to round out the podium. Swimmers on the tour have a lot of ground to make up to catch last season's best effort of 14:29.81 by Sawrymowicz at the Euro Short Course Championships.

Women's 100 free
Germany's Britta Steffen has been printing money on the tour via her sprint freestyle prowess. She raced to victory in the 100, sweeping the 50 and 100 again, with a scorching 52.88. USA's Jessica Hardy took second in 53.00, while Australia's Jessica Morrison returned to the podium for the first time since Stockholm with a 53.31. Steffen jumped her winnings up to $15,000 with the triumph, and did some by clearing 53 seconds for the third time on the tour. Her best time came with a 52.46 to win in Stockholm. Hardy, meanwhile, smashed her previous circuit best of 53.38 also from Stockholm, and now has won $9,000 on the tour.

Men's 200 free
France's Yannick Agnel went from third to first in the final 50 meters en route to his first victory on the circuit. He clocked a sterling 1:42.10, surfacing from a tight contest. Germany's Paul Biedermann placed second in 1:42.71, while South Africa's Darian Townsend touched third in 1:42.79. The previous best time on the tour heading into tonight had been a 1:42.71 from Townsend to win in Dubai. Biedermann had the fastest time a year ago with a 1:42.42 also at the Berlin stop, typically one of the fastest stops on the tour. Townsend now stands third among the men in overall winnings with $14,000 in prizes.

Women's 50 breast
USA's Jessica Hardy returned to the pool just minutes after her runner-up effort in the 100 with a winning time of 30.13 in the sprint breaststroke event. She now has $10,500 in winnings after ringing up $5,000 in Berlin. Great Britain's Kathryn Johnstone touched second in 30.89, while Margarethe Hummel earned third-place honors in 31.09. While Hardy's time is pretty fast, she still has some time to make up to catch the sizzling 29.96 Ruta Meilutyte posted in Stockholm for the win.

Men's 100 breast
In just his third stop on the tour, Italy's Fabio Scozzoli is definitely filling in for the missing Cameron van der Burgh, who stopped the circuit to return home to train. Scozzoli is now up to $6,500 in winnings with just breaststroke event wins. He won the 100 tonight in 57.61, while New Zealand's Glenn Snyders took second in 57.89. Snyders is racking up the cash as well with $8,000 as he has competed on all five stops thus far. Brazil's Henrique Barbosa rounded out the podium with a third-place 58.50. Van der Burgh still owns the best time on the circuit this year with a 57.22 to win in Doha.

Women's 400 IM
After a bit of a hiccup on night one, during which she only won $750 after breaking records with $11,000 meets, Hungary's Katinka Hosszu moved back into the win column in the distance medley with a 4:28.88. That win is her 26th individual gold medal of the circuit, and pushed her winnings to $43,250, closing in on Chad le Clos' total race winnings of $45,500 from all of last year with three more stops to go. Hungary's Zsuzsanna Jakabos turned in a second-place 4:29.78 for $20,250 overall in winnings, while U.S. Junior National Teamer Becca Mann snared third-place honors in 4:37.03. Hosszu nearly cleared her fastest time of the tour, a 4:28.10 from the Stockholm stop. She hasn't lost in the 400 IM yet on this circuit, now up to five straight wins.

Men's 100 fly
He's been swimming on every stop of the tour, but he finally broke through with an international gold medal tonight as California's Tom Shields blasted a 50.03 en route to victory. He touched out Russia's Evgeny Korotyshkin in the process as the Russian placed second in 50.14. Russia's Nikolay Skvortsov completed the podium with a third-place 50.89. Shields neared the top time on the tour of 49.60 set by Chad le Clos on the Doha stop, and would have ranked third in the world a year ago with his 50.03. Shields' blistering effort shot him to 16th in the world all time, and is the second-fastest American all time behind Ian Crocker's 49.07. (swimmingworld)