Tashkent Recap: Shaine Casas & Kasia Wasick Keep Winning

Two stops in, and our athletes are still collecting medals. At the second stop of the 2026 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup in Tashkent, Uzbekistan (October 8–10), Shaine Casas and Kasia Wasick added two golds, a silver and two bronzes to their series haul.

There were comebacks, a finish decided by inches, and one entry nobody saw coming. Here's how it went down.

Shaine Casas: the comeback in the 200 IM

200 IM — Gold, 1:51.81. This was the race of the weekend. Luke Barr, who won the 200 IM in Baku and beat Shaine in the 100 IM the night before, went out hard from lane 9 and led through 150 meters. Shaine turned for home almost three-tenths behind.

Then came the freestyle leg. Shaine split 26.86 on the last 50 to run Barr down and take the win, ahead of Carson Foster (1:52.21) and Canada's Finlay Knox (1:52.33). Barr faded to 5th. It's Shaine's second gold of the series, after his 200 free win in Baku.

100 IM — Silver, 51.59. Barr was untouchable in this one, winning in 51.05 after a dominant breaststroke leg. Shaine used a strong opening 25 and a strong closing 25 to take silver, holding off Knox (51.65) by six-hundredths. It's his second straight World Cup silver in this event, after missing gold by 0.01 in Baku.

200 Free — Bronze, 1:43.04. Shaine rounded out his weekend with another podium in the event he won at stop one.

Kasia Wasick: two for two in the 50 free

50 Free — Gold, 23.63. Kasia came to Tashkent as the woman to beat, a two-time World Cup triple-crown winner in this event. Canada's Taylor Ruck didn't make it easy. Ruck had the fastest reaction off the blocks (0.62) and led at the turn in 11.37.

The final 25 was decided by inches. Kasia closed it out to win in 23.63, just five-hundredths ahead of Ruck (23.68), with Russia's Daria Klepikova third (23.94). That's two golds from two stops, and her World Cup winning streak in the 50 free is still alive.

1500 Free — 7th, 19:03.41. Yes, really. One of the best sprinters in the world started her final day with 60 lengths of the pool. Kasia surprised everyone by entering the 1500 free and swimming it all the way to the wall.

100 Free — Bronze, 52.50. Then, later that same day, she came back and won bronze in the 100 free. A 1500 and a 100 free medal on the same day is not normal sprinter behavior, and that's exactly why we love it.

What competitive swimmers can take from Tashkent

The race isn't over at the last turn. Shaine was behind with 50 to go in the 200 IM and won it on the freestyle leg. Carson Foster went from 5th at the final turn to silver. Train your back half like it decides the race, because in Tashkent it did.

Go out with a plan you can hold. Luke Barr led the 200 IM for 150 meters and finished 5th. Leading early only matters if you can carry it home.

Close races are won on details. Kasia won the 50 free by five-hundredths after trailing at the turn. In a race that short, the turn, the breakout and the finish are everything.

Get uncomfortable on purpose. Kasia swam a 1500 the same day she medaled in the 100 free. Racing outside your specialty builds fitness and toughness you can't get from your best event alone.

The series so far, and what's next in Astana

The World Cup wraps up with its third and final stop in Astana, Kazakhstan, October 15–17. It's the last big test before the World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m).

Shaine hasn't locked in his events yet, so expect him to keep everyone guessing. 

Kasia is expected to race the 50 free, the 100 free and the 50 fly, though if Tashkent taught us anything, it's that a surprise entry is never off the table.

Follow along on our channels and track the series ranking on World Aquatics.