Watch WORLD AQUATICS “Legends of Fukuoka”
World Championships, Day Eight Finals: United States Breaks Through With Dominant Men’s Medley Relay Win
American backstroker Ryan Murphy — Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
by DAVID RIEDER – SENIOR WRITER
30 July 2023, 05:55am
World Championships, Day Eight Finals: United States Breaks Through With Dominant Men’s Medley Relay Win
The top of the podium has proved elusive for the United States thus far at the World Championships. The Americans have won a substantial share of medals, tying the second-most-prolific performance in the pool in Worlds history in terms of overall count, but they had won only four gold medals entering the meet’s final day. Significantly, they had missed winning all previous relays, earning silver or bronze on each occasion despite solid performances.
But the U.S. foursome in the men’s 400 medley relay broke that pattern in dramatic fashion, with some California Golden Bear and New Jersey flair. Poised to face a challenge from upstart China, fueled by triple breaststroke gold medalist Qin Haiyang handling that stroke, the U.S. team never trailed.
On backstroke, Ryan Murphy jumped out to a lead of more than one second. He touched in 52.04, ahead of his winning time of 52.22 from the individual 100-meter final. In comparison, China’s Xu Jiayu, likely fatigued after earning bronze in the 50 back final earlier in the evening, swam a time of 53.39 that was three-quarters of a second behind his time from the individual final, where he placed fourth in 52.64.
Qin went to work on breaststroke to close the gap on American Nic Fink, but the 30-year-old who finished in a three-way tie for silver in the 100 breast did not yield. He split 58.03, the quickest mark of his career, so Qin only narrowed the margin by seven tenths with his 57.43 split. The Americans owned an eight-tenth lead at the halfway point, giving way to a pair of rookies, both New Jersey-natives like Fink and both representing Cal, Murphy’s alma mater, in collegiate competition. Both men were finishing off extremely impressive senior international debuts this week in Fukuoka.
In his first international relay final one day after claiming bronze in the individual 100 fly, Dare Rose shined on his leg with a 50.13 split. A pair of swimmers surpassed Rose on that leg, with France’s Maxime Grousset blasting a 49.27 that only Caeleb Dressel has ever surpassed and Australia’s Matt Temple went 50.10. But butterfly was China’s weakest leg, with Wang Changhao splitting 51.56, allowing Rose to give the Americans a lead of more than one second.
“It was super special,” Rose said of his swim and the entire race. “I knew we had two veterans on the team, so obviously didn’t want to let them down. Obviously wanted to do something special at the same time. I just put my head down at the wall, made sure I touched.”
As Jack Alexy entered the pool to anchor, the U.S. team was in an ideal spot. Alexy broke out in Fukuoka with a pair of unexpected individual silver medals in the 100 free and 50 free along with a relay silver and bronze entering the final day, and Alexy would not be caught here, splitting 47.00 to bring the Americans home with a convincing victory.
The final time for the Americans was 3:27.20, the second-fastest relay performance ever, behind only the Americans’ world record of 3:26.78 set at the Tokyo Olympics. They beat the championship record of 3:27.28 set by the U.S. during the polyurethane-suit World Championships in 2009.
The win was the first world title for the Americans in this event since 2017 after a pair of dramatic finishes left the U.S. with silver. Last year, Italy rode a strong front half to a world title (before surprisingly failing to make the final this year) while Great Britain was victorious in 2019 thanks to Adam Peaty’s breaststroke brilliance and Duncan Scott posting the second-quickest freestyle split ever.
“I love finishing that way. Going into that race, we take a lot of pride in racing for the U.S. and really having great swimmers over all four strokes, that gives us a lot of confidence behind the blocks,” Murphy said. “I think it’s a really resilient group. Coming out of the meet, we all know that there’s room to improve for next year, and I think everyone’s leaving this meet really hungry and really motivated. At the same time, it’s nice to have that little confidence boost at the end of the meet and we can take that excitement and build on it.”
Fink added that even though Rose and Alexy were each swimming in this position for the first time, he believed in their capabilities to secure this gold medal based on their track records of performance throughout the week.
“I think they were confident enough. They’re good enough to where they stepped up big this week,” Fink said. “I don’t think they were relying on us to get them a big lead. They knew what they had to do and we knew what we had to do. In that sense, we were all going into it knowing we had a job to do, and we were able to accomplish the job.”
China, with Pan Zhanle anchoring with the field’s quickest split at 46.62, grabbed silver in 3:29.00. The achievement was China’s first-ever medal in the men’s 400 medley relay. Australia ended up earning bronze as Kyle Chalmers came home in 46.62, joining Bradley Woodward, Zac Stubblety-Cook and Temple to swim a time of 3:29.62. The men’s medley was seemingly Australia’s weakest relay, but this foursome got onto the podium to ensure a podium finish in all four events.
France, with Yohann Ndoye-Brouard, Leon Marchand and Hadrian Salvan joining Grousset, placed fourth in 3:29.88, while Great Britain ended up fifth in 3:30.16 after a strong 46.93 anchor leg from Matt Richards.
World Championships, Day Eight Finals: Team USA Delivers Golden Finale In Women’s 400 Medley Relay
GOLDEN START: Regan Smith gave the USA a gold medal start in the 4x100m medley relay. Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick.
Editorial content for the 2023 World Aquatics Championships is sponsored by FINIS, a longtime partner of Swimming World and leading innovator of suits, goggles and equipment.
by IAN HANSON – OCEANIA CORRESPONDENT
30 July 2023,
World Championships, Day Eight Finals: Team USA Delivers Golden Finale In Women’s 400 Medley Relay
Team USA has finished the 20th World Championships on a golden high, winning the women’s 4x100m medley relay for the ninth time since 1978 and its fourth straight crown in six years – as the Americans enjoyed its best night of the week winning three gold.
The US girls – Regan Smith (backstroke), Lilly King (breaststroke), Gretchen Walsh (butterfly) and Katie Douglas (freestyle) put on a show to lead from the opening leg to touch first in 3:52.08.
Australia with Kaylee McKeown, Abbey Harkin, Emma McKeon and Mollie O’Callaghan chased the US home to take the silver in 3:53.37 with the Canadian quartet Kylie Masse, Sophie Angus, Maggie McNeil and Summer McIntosh holding on for a brave bronze in 3:54.12.
Former 100m backstroke world record holder, Smith, gave the Americans the best possible start, beating Australian nemesis McKeown for the first time in a final this week with an opening split of 57.68 – just 0.23 off McKeown’s world mark – and the US were never headed.
Smith gave Lilly King clear water and the breaststroke queen delivered like she has in every relay since 2017, touching in a stunning 1:04.93 and followed by Walsh who hung tough in 57.06 before the versatile Douglas delivered the gold on a platter, splitting 52.41.
King has been the one constant over the last four world championship wins and Smith, who set her first world record leading off in the team’s 2019 victory has stood on the podium alongside King for the last three in Gwangju, Budapest and now Fukuoka.
They will now set themselves to wrest the Olympic title back from the Australians who surged to the gold in Tokyo in 2021 but who were no match for the Americans today.
For the Aussies, it was triple backstroke world champion here, McKeown touching in second in 57.91, followed by Harkin holding third with a breaststroke split of 1.07.07, with McKeon touching fourth in the fly in 56.44.
Two-time 100 and 200m world champion here, Mollie O’Callaghan taking the Dolphins into the silver medal position with the fastest freestyle split of the day, touching in 51.95.
The Canadians were in second place for the first three legs, led off by the Masse in 58.74, followed by Angus in 1:06.21, Olympic butterfly champion McNeill in the second fastest time of the day in 55.69 before McIntosh finished in 53.48 to put the Canucks on the podium.
Sarah Sjostrom Looking at Return to 100 Butterfly for 2024 Olympic Games in Paris
by JOHN LOHN – EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
31 July 2023, 03:40am
Sarah Sjostrom Looking at Return to 100 Butterfly for 2024 Olympic Games in Paris
Meeting with reporters on the final night of the World Championships, Swedish star Sarah Sjostrom indicated that a return to the 100-meter butterfly is likely for next year’s Olympic Games in Paris. Sjostrom managed a scaled-back program in Fukuoka, contesting only the 50-meter butterfly and 50 freestyle on an individual basis.
Sjostrom certainly maximized her events, as she won a fifth consecutive world crown in the 50 fly and posted the fastest-two times in history in the 50 freestyle. In the semifinals of the 50 free, Sjostrom rocketed to a time of 21.61. She followed that effort with a clocking of 21.62 for the gold medal, the record 21st individual medal of her World Champs career.
China’s former world no. 1 Feng Shanshan retires from professional golf
A different schedule will be embraced by Sjostrom when the Olympics are held in the French capital. Sjostrom told media in Fukuoka that she would compete in the 50 and 100 freestyle and was likely to compete in the 100 butterfly. The 100 fly put Sjostrom on the international map when she won the world championship and set a world record in the event at the 2009 World Championships in Rome.
Sjostrom is the world-record holder in the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle and 100 butterfly.
World Championships: Leon Marchand, Kaylee McKeown Named Swimmers of the Meet
by JOHN LOHN – EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
30 July 2023, 06:28am
World Championships: Leon Marchand, Kaylee McKeown Named Swimmers of the Meet
On the strength of three individual titles each, Australia’s Kaylee McKeown and France’s Leon Marchand were named World Aquatics’ Swimmers of the Meet at the World Championships in Fukuoka. The recognition is based on power points accumulated in individual events throughout the eight-day competition.
Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
As Australia led the gold-medal count, McKeown swept the backstroke events – winning over 50, 100 and 200 meters. The meet got off to a rough start for the 22-year-old, as she was disqualified for an illegal turn in the semifinals of the 200 individual medley. McKeown obviously bounced back. The 50 backstroke was won in an Oceania record of 27.08 while she set a championship record of 57.53 in the 100 back.
Marchand flourished from the start, setting a world record of 4:02.50 in the 400 individual medley on the opening day of the meet. That performance broke the nearly 15-year-old standard of Michael Phelps from the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Marchand followed by claiming gold in the 200 butterfly (1:52.43) and 200 individual medley (1:54.82), both events making him the No. 3 performer in history.
While McKeown and Marchand left Japan with Swimmer of the Meet recognition, there were other candidates for the honor. Australia’s Mollie O’Callaghan (100 freestyle/200 freestyle), Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom (50 freestyle/50 butterfly) and Lithuania’s Ruta Meilutyte (50 breaststroke/100 breaststroke) each won a pair of individual events and set a world record. O’Callaghan broke her global standard in the 200 freestyle while Sjostrom lowered the world record in the 50 free. Meilutyte first tied the world record in the 50 breaststroke, and then lowered it.
American Katie Ledecky (800 freestyle/1500 freestyle) and Canadian Summer McIntosh (200 butterfly/400 individual medley) each posted two victories while Ariarne Titmus of Australia set a world record in the 400 freestyle, was the silver medalist in the 200 free in the No. 3 time in history and earned bronze in the 800 free.
On the men’s side, Marchand was joined as triple-event champion by China’s Qin Haiyang, who swept the breaststroke events. Qin set a world record in the 200 breaststroke and became the No. 2 performer of all-time in the 50 breaststroke and 100 breaststroke.
Tunisia’s Ahmed Hafnaoui also warrants recognition. Hafnaoui was the gold medalist in the 800 freestyle and 1500 freestyle and the silver medalist in the 400 free.
Caeleb Dressel, Wife Meghan Announce Pregnancy
Photo Courtesy: Meghan Dressel via Instagram
by DAN D’ADDONA — SWIMMING WORLD MANAGING EDITOR
26 July 2023, 05:52pm
Caeleb Dressel and wife Meghan Dressel announced the couple’s first pregnancy.
“Mom and Dad. Baby Dressel coming February 2024,” Meghan Dressel posted.
Caeleb’s post included a joke: “It’s ok, you can put comments about my good swimmers.”
The couple was married in 2021 on Valentine’s Day weekend in Florida.
Dressel won three individual Olympic gold medals in Tokyo, then took nearly a year away from the pool before returning at the U.S. National Championships last month in Indianapolis.
“I have always said that, since the first time I gave a talk – you gotta take a break. That is my main message to every age-group swimmer,” Dressel said at nationals. “I was that kid who took two months and did not think anything of it. I would go play soccer or football or run track. It’s healthy. It is hard to see that when you get higher up in the sport, but I needed it.”
He finished tied for 22nd in the 50 freestyle prelims. His time of 22.72 came up 1.68 seconds behind his own American record of 21.04. Dressel chose to scratch the C-final. But Dressel finished third in the 50 butterfly (23.35), in a tie for fifth in the 100 fly (51.66) and 19th in the 100 free (49.64), with none of his times close to his career-bests.
But the bigger victory was the return.
“I had a smile on my face racing. There is a difference between being scared of embarrassing yourself and having a joy of racing, and I haven’t had that joy in a long time,” Caeleb Dressel said. “I got it back. The times weren’t fast – they weren’t bad – but they weren’t fast. If I can have the mindset I had in this meet next year and years after this, I can have a very long and very successful career.”
And that will include one more in the family.
World Championships, Day Six Semifinals: After Leading 50 Butterfly, Sarah Sjostrom Knocking on History’s Door
by JOHN LOHN – EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
28 July 2023
World Championships, Day Six Semifinals: After Leading 50 Butterfly, Sarah Sjostrom Knocking on History’s Door
Sarah Sjostrom is one swim away from history.
The Swedish superstar dominated the semifinals of the 50-meter butterfly at the World Championships on Friday night, popping a time of 24.74, the fourth-fastest in history. If the 29-year-old can follow up with a podium finish in the final, she will tie American legend Michael Phelps for the most individual medals in World Champs history at 20. Sjostrom also has the 50 freestyle ahead, meaning the record could belong to her alone before the weekend is out.
For Sjostrom, equaling Phelps figures to be a formality.
Like Katie Ledecky in the 800 freestyle and 1500 freestyle and Adam Peaty in the 100 breaststroke, Sjostrom has ruled the 50 butterfly. Including her most-recent performances at the Marine Messe Hall, she owns the 26-fastest times in history. More, she is the only woman to crack the 25-second barrier in the event, having accomplished the feat on 16 occasions. Her world record sits at 24.40.
A future Hall of Famer, Sjostrom is operating in another world when it comes to one lap of butterfly. As she covered her 50 meters, she immediately bolted to the front of the field and continuously separated herself from the opposition. Really, most world-class swimmers would love the times of Sjostrom for their 50 freestyle.
The 50 butterfly is one of just two individual events Sjostrom is contesting at the World Championships, along with the 50 freestyle. She opted to bypass the 100 freestyle and 100 butterfly. Because of her scaled-back program, Sjostrom had to wait until Day Six to race on an individual basis.
“Usually, I do a lot of events,” Sjostrom said. “This is a nutty kind of year. I wanted to try a lighter program, and I feel very good about it, especially now when I finally start racing. I’m just flying in the water.”
China’s Zhang Yufei advanced to the final as the second seed, following a mark of 25.17. Zhang won the 100 butterfly earlier in the week and also helped China claim gold in the mixed medley relay. Zhang was followed by American Gretchen Walsh (25.48) and France’s Melanie Henique (25.70).
In what can only be described as the latest chapter in a feel-good story, Japan’s Rikako Ikee qualified fifth for the final in 25.72. Ikee is a Leukemia survivor who has built herself back to global factor after beating her illness.
World Championships, Day Five Finals: Leon Marchand Pops European Record On Way to Gold In 200 Medley
by JOHN LOHN – EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
27 July 2023, 05:23am
World Championships, Day Five Finals: Leon Marchand Pops European Record On Way to Gold In 200 Medley
Call it a performance that was expected. Call it an effort that was desired. Call it an outing that officially sends Leon Marchand into the Olympic year as the most-dominant male athlete in the sport.
On the back of earlier titles in the 400-meter individual medley and 200 butterfly, Marchand established a European record of 1:54.82 in the 200 individual medley at the World Championships on Thursday night. That performance made the French star just the third man in history to break the 1:55 barrier, joining Americans Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps. It also erased the 2009 Euro record of Hungarian Laszlo Cseh, who held the mark at 1:55.18.
Marchand executed a well-designed race, moving through the butterfly leg in third place and moving up to second on the backstroke leg. As expected, Marchand turned to his breaststroke to pull away from the field. At the 150-meter mark, Marchand was just .03 behind the world-record pace of Lochte. At least for now, the global standard of 1:54.00 proved out of reach, but it gives Marchand something to target in the days ahead.
It was a British sweep of the silver and bronze medals, thanks to the efforts of Duncan Scott and Tom Dean. Contesting his only individual event of the meet, Scott touched for second place in 1:55.95. En route to the bronze medal in 1:56.07, Dean put together a furious charge on the freestyle leg, as his split of 27.12 moved him up from seventh. The American duo of Shaine Casas (1:56.35) and Carson Foster (1:56.43) were fourth and fifth.
Opting to bypass the 200 breaststroke until a future day, Marchand’s individual program came to an end at the Marine Messe Hall. Relay duty still awaits over the next few days, but the solo work is complete and it could not have gone any better. Three events. Two world records. A third personal best. Really, it was 2,000 meters of excellence, a confidence-building step onto the road to a home Olympiad in Paris.
When Lochte set the world record at the 2011 edition of the World Championships in Shanghai, he had Phelps to push him through all four laps. While Lochte produced a mark of 1:54-flat, Phelps was just behind in a career-best of 1:54.16. While Marchand trailed early, he did not have a rival to challenge him over the back half of the race.
Once Marchand completes his relay responsibilities in Fukuoka, he’ll eventually return to the Arizona State University campus and his junior year in Tempe. The Mona Plummer Aquatic Center will be the laboratory, and coach Bob Bowman will don his white coat and resume his role as an always-tinkering scientist. What can be done to have Marchand in optimal form for his second Olympic Games? It’s a simple question, albeit a query with detailed answers.
Bowman has been down this road on multiple occasions, overseeing the preparation of several athletes for Olympic success. The blueprint for Marchand will be partially gleaned from Bowman’s experiences with Phelps and how to prep an athlete for a multi-event program and the non-athletic demands of the Olympic Games – media requirements, doping control, dietary needs and pressure. Without question, Bowman will not overlook an element of readiness.
“I think (Marchand) has one really good thing in his corner and that’s Bob,” Phelps said in an exclusive interview with Swimming World. “I mean, Bob watched every step of my career, and I think he’s in a better spot now than he was then. He’s more relaxed, more laid back. But Bob is the maestro. He’s probably been planning for this for years. He’s not going to miss a step and he’ll probably do it in a more productive way than we did it. And I don’t mean that in a bad way. We learned so much in the process.”
Scott and Dean provided a major bright spot for Great Britain. While Scott pushed the pace to give himself a chance at a medal, Dean accepted that he would face a deficit heading into the freestyle leg. But he also knew he could track down some foes with his closing speed.
“The last 50, I knew I was just going to have to take off,” Dean said. “The freestyle leg, it’s the same as the (200 free). That’s where all the action happens. It’s where you can get bodies and people die. With the training we were doing, I knew if I exploded down that last length, I could catch guys.”
It’s been an up and down week for Great Britain. On the opening day, a disqualification in the prelims of the 400 freestyle relay denied the Brits from chasing the title they were favored to win. But a gold-silver surge by Matt Richards and Dean in the 200 freestyle produced a positive.
Scott was forced to miss last year’s World Championships after a bout of Covid-19. Consequently, he was eager to return to the international stage.
“I was absolutely gutted to miss out on it last year,” Scott said. “What I love to do is compete on the highest stage, and not getting to do that last year was really upsetting. It’s the first time I’ve raced some of those boys. A lot of them are really young – Carson, Leon, and then the first time on an international stage with Dean-O. I was really happy to be back on the mix.”
Subscribe
July 26 Marks One Year to Opening Ceremony of Olympic Games in Paris
by JOHN LOHN – EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
July 26 Marks One Year to Opening Ceremony of Olympic Games in Paris
The countdown to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris is officially on, as July 26 marks one year to the Opening Ceremony in the French capital. When the Games open, it will only have been three years since the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, which were held in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
With the World Championships unfolding this week in Fukuoka, many of the leading names in the sport are getting in their final global championships before preparation begins full throttle for next summer. Some, however, will opt to race in February at the World Champs in Doha. Meanwhile, one of the expected faces of the Paris Games is providing a glimpse of why he’ll be one of the most-watched athletes of the 16-day gathering.
Frenchman Leon Marchand is going to be in the spotlight on the road to Paris, and the 21-year-old is showing why. Earlier this week, he produced one of the finest performances in history, going 4:02.50 for gold in the 400-meter individual medley. That effort sliced more than a second off the nearly 15-year-old record of Michael Phelps, who went 4:03.84 for the title at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
For the first time, the 33-event swimming competition will take place over nine days in Paris, an increase of one day in the program. Action is slated to start one day after the Opening Ceremony, running from July 27-August 4 at La Defense Arena.
In addition to Marchand as a headliner, Katie Ledecky – provided she qualifies – will chase a fourth consecutive gold medal in the 800 freestyle. Ledecky first won that event as a 15-year-old at the 2012 Games in London, and followed with titles in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo.
Michael Phelps: How Leon Marchand Can Break 4:00 in the 400 Individual Medley
by JOHN LOHN – EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
27 July 2023, 02:40am
Michael Phelps: How Leon Marchand Can Break 4:00 in the 400 Individual Medley
It’s been several days since Leon Marchand wowed the sport with an almost unfathomable world record in the 400-meter individual medley. The Frenchman’s time of 4:02.50 required digesting, as it wiped more than a second off the nearly 15-year-old standard of Michael Phelps, who went 4:03.84 in his opening event of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
Phelps has been in attendance at Marine Messe Hall throughout the competition and called Marchand’s race as part of NBC Sports’ coverage. The record was the last owned by Phelps, who cheered on Marchand and applauded his performance. But the 28-time Olympic medalist thinks there is more to come from the French 21-year-old, including a run at the four-minute barrier in the event.
“Erik Vendt and I talked a lot about going under four minutes in the 400 IM,” Phelps said in an exclusive interview with Swimming World. “(Marchand) going 4:02, there’s a possibility. He’s got to use his underwaters as much as he can. That’s a big strength. We saw it on the last wall (of the 400 IM).”
In his record-breaking outing, Marchand opened with a butterfly leg of 54.66 and followed with a backstroke split of 1:01.98. He then delivered a game-changing split of 1:07.64 on breaststroke, a time that put Marchand nearly three seconds clear of Phelps’ record pace. A freestyle split of 58.22 capped Marchand’s global mark.
Always a student of the sport, Phelps has already analyzed what it will take for Marchand to go sub-4:00, which would be an iconic showing – not that his swim earlier in the week wasn’t. Phelps, along with coach Bob Bowman, were never satisfied, and always sought improvements wherever they could be attained. With Bowman coaching Marchand, surely the master coach cannot wait to get back to work.
Phelps has ideas of what needs to happen.
“I think his backstroke has to be closer to a minute, but he has to be able to do it with no kick,” Phelps said, noting Marchand’s need to preserve his legs. “He’s got to be able to do it with all tempo and arms. And he has to finish (on the freestyle leg) in 56. Period. We always said you finish in what you go out in. I was out in 54 and I was back in 55. If he can get to that, there’s no doubt in my mind that he can break four minutes.”