Kenneth To, who achieved fame when he scuppered Ian Thorpe's Australian 200m individual medley record, Saturday goes into the second leg of the eight-gala series in Doha, Qatar, atop the standings.

Le Clos and To (pronounced "toe") each won two races in Dubai, the first leg of the World Cup, at the beginning of the week, but To amassed 25 points to lead second-placed Le Clos by five points on the overall rankings.

The Australian, just three months younger than 20-year-old Le Clos, won the 100m freestyle impressively, beating 2000 Olympic 50m freestyle champion Anthony Ervin as well as South Africa's Roland Schoeman and Darian Townsend.

To also finished first in the men's 100m individual medley, came third in the 200m medley, and ended out of the placings in the 200m freestyle.

Le Clos took gold in the 100m and 200m butterfly, as well as silver in the 50m butterfly.

It remains to be seen whether the local superstar, who beat Michael Phelps at the Olympics, also attempts some of the medley races along the way.

"We'll see how Chad is going," said his coach, Graham Hill, who will hook up with his protégé when the series heads to Europe later this month.

"It's going to be a tough series," warned Hill.