Rio Olympics medley relay gold medallist Tom Shields will lead a young American team at next month's Swimming World Cup in Singapore.
The 26-year-old is set to renew his rivalry with Chad le Clos at the OCBC Aquatic Arena, having just beaten the South African in the 200m butterfly at the Hong Kong leg over the weekend.
Victory over le Clos, the 200m fly short-course world-record holder (1min 48.56sec), earned him the LumaLanes Performance of the Week accolade by the respected Swimming World magazine on Tuesday.
According to the Swimming World website, the Californian, who touched home in 1min 49.62sec, was under world-record pace through 100m.
He also collected a silver in the 50m fly (behind le Clos) and a bronze in the 100m individual medley (behind Russia's Vladimir Morozov and Hong Kong's Kenneth To) at the Victoria Park Swimming Pool.
Le Clos leads the men's ranking with 234 points, with Shields (147) some distance behind in second and Morozov (138) in third.
In Singapore, Shields will not just be racing but also mentoring his younger compatriots at the Nov 18-19 meet.
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of the 10 Americans who will compete in Singapore took part in the World Junior Championships in August.
Fresh off a dominant showing at the World Junior Swimming Championships, the United States is sending its top youth swimmers here. Eight of the 10 rising stars to compete here featured in August's World Junior Championships team, including the likes of Michael Andrew and Andrew Abruzzo, who won three golds apiece.
Also part of the squad is backstroke prodigy Regan Smith, the youngest member of the senior national team that went to the Fina World Championships in Budapest in July.
The 15-year-old continued to shine at the World Junior Championships in Indianapolis, setting a world junior record of 59.11sec in the 100m backstroke and also winning the 200m back.
The world-class talent on display in Singapore will also include top names like Hungary's Katinka Hosszu and Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom.
Sjostrom (353) and Hosszu (272) hold the top two spots in the World Cup rankings respectively after the Hong Kong leg.
The Netherlands' Ranomi Kromowidjojo is third on 155 points.
The fifth leg of this year's Swimming World Cup in Doha, Qatar, wraps up today, with the competition moving on to Beijing and Tokyo before concluding in Singapore, the eighth and final leg.
WORLD CUP, DOHA
Day 2: Singtel TV Ch109, 11pm
