A quick three days after the Beijing leg, the FINA World Cup resumed in Dubai on October 4-5 and managed to post fast swims despite thin participation.

Similar to the times posted in Beijing, Dubai showed us more of the same. Hungary's Katinka Hosszu was beaten once again by Ukraine's Daryna Zevina in the women's 200 backstroke, but this time by a large four-second margin of 2:04.65 to 2:00.97.

South Africa's Chad le Clos continued his butterfly dominance by once again sweeping his events. He hasn't lost a butterfly race yet since his frustrating showing in the Rio Olympics.

The 50 and 100 backstroke races have been exciting throughout the series. Aussies Bobby Hurley and Mitchell Larkin, Pavel Sankovich of Belarus, Takeshi Kawamoto of Japan, and Russia's Stanislav Donets, all have been within tenths of seconds from first to fifth in every stop. This is a far cry from many of the other races in the series that occasionally can't fill a full heat. So far, Larkin has the fastest 100 of 49.62 and Jeremy Stravius has the top 50 at 22.88. However, that 50 back time, posted in Chartres, France, was Stravius' only race of the whole series. 

In a sport where there are undeniable favorites, following the backstrokes of the World Cup has been a merry-go-round of victors.

In the breaststroke races, much akin to Beijing, Russia's Vladimir Morozov came away with a crown in the 100 breast, half a second faster than Brazil's Felipe Lima, who crushed Morozov by the same margin in the 50. It's an interesting dynamic that Morozov can't seem to give Lima a close race in the 50 but consistently wins the 100. That could be because Morozov's 50 breast was right after his 100 free. The 100 breast was Morozov's first event of Day 2, and he looked fresh.

Former Texas A&M standout Alia Atkinson of Jamaica came within a snap of Jessica Hardy's 50 breast world record, going 29.02, just off Hardy's 28.80 from 2009. In the 100 breast USA's Katie Meili snagged the title away from Atkinson, winning 1:03.26 to 1:03.32, with Russia's Yulia Efimova a blink behind in 1:03.43.

Up next is a jump across the Persian Gulf, where the athletes will find themselves in another desert city, Doha, on October 9-10. That means three stops in 10 days with air travel in between each stop. I'm exhausted just typing it.

By Adam Mania