By Dan Dingman on SwimSwam

SwimSwam’s daily swimming workout series is a collection of workouts written by coaches from a variety of backgrounds. All daily swimming workouts have been written using Commit Swimming. The workouts themselves are not indicative of SwimSwam’s or Commit’s views on training. They strictly reflect the opinions of the author swim coach.

Workout Context

• Purpose:  Speed and Power
• Target age group:  9-12 years old, 13-14 years old
• Target level:  Age Group (Intermediate), Age Group (Advanced)
• Weeks until target meet:  7 weeks
• Team Location:  Europe
• Course:  25 Meters
• Shared workout link:  Click here to view this workout on commitswimming.com

The Workout

WarmUp
    200 easy
    4×200 tubo fins pale sl 150 swim 50 scull
    4×100 25 fast ps w dive 50 easy 25 fast ps (focus arrivo)
    2x
        4×75 kick 50 a2 sl 25 sprint ps
        2×75 drill ps
    4×25 fast partenza in virata
    100 easy
    
Main #CatR
    2x
        4×100 sl b2 @2:00
        1:00
        4×50 c1 ps @1:15
        100 easy
        
    1x fins pale
        4×100 sl b2 @2:00
        1:00
        4×50 c1 ps @1:15
        100 easy

Main #EsA
    1x
        4×100 sl b2 @2:00
        1:00
        4×50 c1 ps @1:15
        100 easy
    
    1x
        4×100 sl A2 @2:00
        1:00
        4×50 a1 sl @1:15
        100 easy
    
    1x fins pale
        4×100 b2 @2:00
        1:00
        4×50 c1 ps @1:15
        100 easy
        
SwimDown
    50 easy
    100 D ps
    50 D sl
    200 easy

Coach Notes

The swim coach was asked to define any shorthand he or she used in this workout. Their notes should provide some additional context to this swimming workout.

A1/easy = zone1
A2/ b1 = en1/2
B2/fast = en3
C1-2 = Sp1-2
C3/sprint = Sp3

Tubo = snorkel
Pale = paddle

Ps = personal stroke

Partenza in Virata = start with turn

Manuele Trezzi
Trainer, Canottieri Milano

SwimSwam’s daily swimming workout is powered by Commit Swimming.

Swimming news for swim coaches and swim teams, courtesy of Commit Swimming. Click here to view all daily swimming workouts on SwimSwam.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Daily Swim Coach Workout #698

By Braden Keith on SwimSwam

Australian swimmer Shayna Jack successfully underwent surgery on Sunday back home in Australia, and will rejoin the team in three weeks in Spain.

Jack fractured her 4th metacarpal (hand bone) earlier this week in the training pool at the World Championships in Barcelona in what is being called a “freak accident.”

Jack was swimming into the wall in the warmup pool when the swimmer in front of her turned and pushed off. Jack’s finger was caught in the other swimmer’s suit, pulling her finger back.

The break has been described as a ‘clean break,’ meaning a more straightforward surgery and recovery.

Jack posted a post-surgery picture on her Instagram on Sunday morning, as well as an X-Ray showing that doctors have implanted a screw to help the broken bone heal.

While most of the Australian team that is doing the Worlds-Commonwealths double will stay in Europe in-between the two events, Jack flew home to Australia for surgery.

The surgery was done at St. Andrews War Memorial Hospital in Queensland. Jack says that she plans to rejoin the Australian team in Chartres, France on July 15 for final preparations for the Commonwealth Games. The Commonwealth Games begin on July 28 in Birmingham, England.

The 2022 World Championships were Jack’s return to the international stage after a 24-month anti-doping suspension. Jack tested positive for the banned anabolic agent Ligandrol and was initially suspended for four years. Upon appeal, she successfully convinced arbiters that she did not ingest the substance intentionally, and had that suspension reduced to two years.

Jack’s meet started off well – she won gold in the 400 free relay and silver in the mixed 400 free relay. That included a 52.65 anchor on the women’s 400 free relay and a prelims split of 52.92 on the mixed 400 medley relay. Jack was injured before the start of the individual 100 free, where she was a strong medal contender. Her 52.60 in the 100 free, done in March, still ranks her #2 in the world this year, behind only her countrymate Mollie O’Callaghan.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Shayna Jack Undergoes Successful Surgery in Australia on Broken Hand

By Braden Keith on SwimSwam

Most of the ‘double duty’ Australian swim team will camp in Spain for two weeks between the World Championships and Commonwealth Games before joining their compatriots in Chartres, France for final preparations.

With the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England now only a month away, most of the Australian team has opted to stay in Europe after the World Championships rather than take the grueling 26+ hour flight home to Australia, just to turn around and return in a few weeks.

Most of the Australian team will spend two weeks in Spain (landing in Barcelona), then head to Chartres, France. There, they will meet up with the open water swimmers, para-swimmers, and other athletes coming over from Australia rather than Budapest.

The two major exceptions are Australia’s two swimmers with ongoing health issues. Sprint freestyler Shayna Jack returned to Australia to undergo surgery on her broken hand and will rejoin the team in Chartres, while Lani Pallister remains in Budapest in quarantine after a positive test for COVID-19. Pallister’s plan is to remain in Budapest until she clears quarantine, and then to travel straight with the Australian open water team to Chartres.

Of the 34 Australian swimmers who swam in the pool at the 2022 FINA World Aquatics Championships, all but three are scheduled to swim at the Commonwealth Games as well. The exceptions are Jack Cartwright, Moesha Johnson, and Leah Neale.

They will be joined by 15 other poolswimmers in Chartres in preparations for the Commonwealth Games. That includes swimming stars Emma McKeon, Ariarne Titmus, Holly Barratt, and Mina Atherton, plus pop star Cody Simpson, who will make his international debut for Australia in the 100 fly. Also joining the group will be Ben Armbruster, Chelsea Hodges, Bronte Job, Taylor McKeown, Alexandria Perkins, Kieren Pollard, Flynn Southam, Samuel Williamson, Josh Wong, and Bradley Woodward.

Along with a group of Para-swimmers, Australia will send an integrated team of 76 to the Commonwealth Games.

A short-handed Australian team, made shorter by health issues, still wound up 2nd on the medals table at the World Championships. They won 6 gold, 9 silver, and 2 bronze medals, placing them behind on the United States’ 17/12/16. Even without a number of their stars, Australia had more gold medals in Budapest than they did at the last LCM World Championship meet in Gwangju in 2019 (albeit fewer total medals).

Australia has historically been the dominant team in swimming at the Commonwealth Games. In 2018, they won 28 out of 50 gold medals on offer, more than all other nations combined, and 73 out of 149 total medals offered. Each country can enter three swimmers in every event at the Commonwealth Games, as compared to just two at the World Championships.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: ‘Double Duty’ Australians Will Camp in Spain Before Meeting Team in France

By Retta Race on SwimSwam

2022 FINA WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

• June 18-25, 2022 (pool swimming)
• Budapest, Hungary
• Duna Arena
• LCM (50-meter format)
• Full Aquatics Schedule
• How To Watch
• Psych Sheets
• Meet Central
• Live Results

Although the continent of Asia enjoyed multiple medal-winning days here in Budapest, the key nations of China, Japan and South Korea came up empty-handed to close out the 2022 World Championships.

On the 8th and final day of competition, the highest-placed Asian athlete was represented by Qianting Tang, who finished in 4th place in the women’s 50m breaststroke.

Her compatriot Zhang Yufei was also in an individual final on the last day, placing 5th in the women’s 50m fly. Japan’s double Olympic champion Yui Ohashi also finished 5th in the women’s 400m IM on the final day.

Regarding relays, China’s men’s medley was the 8th place finisher while the Chinese women were also off the podium in 6th.

National Records Through Day 8

• South Korea: men’s 4×100 free relay – 3:15.68; Hwang Sunwoo, men’s 200m free – 1:44.47; men’s 4 x 200 free relay – 7:06.93; Ji Yu-Chan, men’s 50m freestyle – 22.03
• Malaysia: Khiew Hoe Yean, men’s 400m freestyle – 3:48.72
• Kyrgyzstan: Denis Petrashov, men’s 50m breaststroke – 27.89
• China: Tang Qianting, women’s 50m breaststroke – 30.10 (Asian Record); Pan Zhanle, men’s 100m freestyle – 47.65; Zhang Yufei, women’s 50m butterfly – 25.32
• Singapore: Gan Ching Hwe, women’s 1500m freestyle – 16:32.43
• Japan: Naoki Mizunuma, men’s 100m butterfly – 50.81

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Asia Recap, Day 8: Continent Shut Out Of Final Day Medals

By Braden Keith on SwimSwam

2022 FINA World Aquatics Championships – Open Water Swimming

• June 18-July 3, 2022
• Lake Lupa, Budapest, Hungary
• Open Water Results
• Open Water 6K Relay Results

The first open water race of the 2022 World Championships was chaos at FINA’s new preferred open water venue.

The former home of open water in Barcelona at Baloton has been eschewed for the more convenient Lake Lupa – an artificial body of water made out of an old quarry.

The 4×1500 meter mixed relay, a 6k in total, is a new event at the World Championships, and so far, it has made a big impression.

Germany’s Florian Wellbrock broke away from the pack late in the final leg of the race to give his team the inaugural gold medal in the event. The German team included Lea Boy, Oliver Klemet, Leonie Beck, and Wellbrock on the anchor. Wellbrock came straight out of the pool, where he won a silver medal in the 800 free and a bronze medal in the 1500 free last week.

The Germans won by about 2.5 seconds ahead of a literal photo finish for 2nd place. Hungary and Italy recorded matching winning times of 1:04:43.0. After review, it was decided that Hungarian anchor Kristof Rasovsky touched the pad just before Italian anchor Gregorio Paltrinieri to take the gold.

The Hungarian relay was made up of Reka Rohacs, Anna Olasz, David Bethlehem, and Rasovzsky. Italy’s relay included Ginerva Taddeucci, Giulia Gabbrielleschi, Domenico Acerenza, and Paltrinieri on the anchor.

Almost every country finished their relay with a man (though there were a few exceptions, including South Africa), but there doesn’t seem to be settled strategy here yet like there is in the pool. Germany swam F-M-F-M, Hungary swam F-F-M-M, and Italy swam F-F-M-M.

Where that gets interesting is that there is a much more substantial ebb-and-flow to the race, which means there aren’t always well-defined packs, and there can be confusion.

To that end, four relay teams were disqualified post-race for going off course: South Africa, Korea, Spain, and Greece.

A group of first-leg swimmers from South Africa, Korea, and Greece took a bad angle and missed the third buoy on the course. Spain’s leadoff Maria De Valdes followed that group, rather than the other group, missing the buoy.

On the day before the competition started, a storm blew through Budapest, which cut-short teams’ final race course preparations. Spanish open water head coach Sergi Garcia said that “it is not an excuse, but what happened yesterday did not play in our favor.”

In the Mixed 4x1500m it came down to the last sprint for the podium finish

By Giusy Cisale on SwimSwam

2022 FINA WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

• June 18-25, 2022 (pool swimming)
• Budapest, Hungary
• Duna Arena
• LCM (50-meter format)
• Full Aquatics Schedule
• How To Watch
• Psych Sheets
• Meet Central
• Live Results

The lights have gone out in Budapest’s Duna Arena, and in our eyes we still have the excitement of the latest feats seen on the eighth day of the competition.

Our last photo album could only begin with King Greg (forgive me American friends, I am Italian!).

Gregorio Paltrinieri courtesy of Fabio Cetti

courtesy of Fabio Cetti (Gregorio Paltrinieri)

Gregorio Paltrinieri courtesy of Fabio Cetti

David Popovici cheering Gregorio Paltrinieri courtesy of Fabio Cetti

Italy men’s 4x100m medley courtesy of Fabio Cetti

Ryan Murphy,
Michael Andrew
Nic Fink
Ryan Held
courtesy of Fabio Cetti

Bobby Finke
courtesy of Fabio Cetti

Summer McIntosh courtesy of Fabio Cetti

Ruta Meilutyte
courtesy of Fabio Cetti

Lilly King
courtesy of Fabio Cetti

Justin Ress wins gold in men’s 50m back
courtesy of Fabio Cetti

Meg Harris
Erika Brown
Sarah Sjostrom
Kasia Wasik
courtesy of Fabio Cetti

Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2022 FINA World Swimming Championship: Final Night Photo Vault

By Braden Keith on SwimSwam

French swimmer Leon Marchand will skip the 2022 European Aquatics Championships after winning two World Championships last week in Budapest.

The 20-year old Marchand said in an interview with France TV on Sunday that he would skip the European meet in order to both take a break and because of his academic calendar at Arizona State.

Marchand will begin his second season at Arizona State University this fall, where classes begin on August 18. The European Championships run from August 11-21 in Rome, Italy.

Last season, Marchand won the NCAA title in the 200 yard IM in 1:37.69, the fastest time in history, and also won the 200 yard breast (1:48.20) and the 400 yard IM (3:34.08).

He says that he hasn’t taken a break in two-and-a-half years, and that he knows he needs a good break in order to fully recover and come back stronger.

“I don’t want to make the same mistake as before.”

Marchand plans to train for three-to-four weeks in France before heading back to Arizona.

Marchand won both the 200 meter IM (1:55.22) and 400 meter IM (4:04.28) at last week’s World Championships. That made him the first swimmer to double in those events since American Ryan Lochte in 2011.

Marchand also added an individual silver medal in the 200 fly (1:53.37).

Marchand is just the 2nd French man in history to win a long course Worlds medal in an individual medley race. The first was his father, Xavier Marchand, who won silver in the 200 IM at the 1998 World Championships.

See the full clip of the interview here, in French:

#natation@swimswamnews@fina1908#swimming@RowdyGaineshttps://t.co/fFiOHOTgcx

— Alexandre Boyon (@boyonalexandre) June 26, 2022

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Leon Marchand Will Skip European Championships, Take a Break Before NCAA Season

By Retta Race on SwimSwam

The men’s sprint breaststroke events at the 2022 FINA World Aquatics Championships were missing the reigning champion Adam Peaty of Great Britain. The 27-year-old father of one was sidelined by a foot fracture suffered in the gym just before Budapest, as we reported last month.

After six weeks out of the pool focusing on rehabilitation, the 3-time Olympic champion says he is nearly ready to defend his 100m breaststroke title at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham coming up in July.

“I am 90% sure now,” Peaty told BBC Radio 5 Live.“I am quite confident, with my training and team around me, that we will be there and able to put up a good fight.”

Sandwell Aquatics Center, the newly-built aquatics competition site for the Birmingham Games, sits just 50 minutes away from where Peaty was born and raised.

“I grew up 45-50 minutes away from Birmingham,” he added. “I am a Midlands man – I was born and will probably die in the East Mids. To race in that arena, it doesn’t get much closer to home than that. It gives me goosebumps thinking about it.”

Although he missed out on Budapest this year, with a chance to defend his 50m and 100m breaststroke world titles, Peaty said of his situation, “This broken foot is one of the best things that has happened to me.”

“It has slowed me down, reminded me what is important, which is family and the support around you. But it has given me that drive, I don’t want anyone else to have those titles.

“I believe in the bottom of my heart that world records can be broken again and I am not finished yet.”

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Adam Peaty: “Broken Foot Is One Of The Best Things To Happen To Me”

By Braden Keith on SwimSwam

World Record breaking swimmers Kristof Milak and Thomas Ceccon received their custom-minted NFTs, a physical print of the artwork from those NFTs, and their $50,000 checks on Saturday to conclude the swimming portion of the 2022 World Aquatics Championships on Saturday.

.@fina_president Captain Husain Al Musallam awarded Thomas Ceccon and

By Anya Pelshaw on SwimSwam

After entering the transfer portal at the beginning of April, 2021 NCAA B finalist in the 200 freestyle Sophie Housey has announced she will be transferring to Texas A&M.

Housey spent her first two years at Michigan and has at least two years of eligibility remaining. Housey also has the potential to take a fifth year as her freshman year was during the 2020-2021 season when the NCAA granted all athletes another year of eligibility due to COVID-19.

This past season, Housey competed in a total of three NCAA meets for Michigan. She spent most of the fall dealing with sicknesses and injury. Housey told SwimSwam that at the beginning of the fall she had an “internal health scare.” She then injured her shoulder and had “an unexpected family death happened in the midst of rehabbing my shoulder, which led to a further stretch out of the pool.” In addition to all of that, she then also got the flu which caused her to lose 15 pounds.

Despite her fall, she swam at the 2022 Big Ten Championships where she swam a best time in the 200 backstroke in prelims (1:55.16). She ended up 15th in the 200 backstroke (1:56.09), 15th in the 200 freestyle (1:47.58), and 23rd in the 200 butterfly (2:02.19). Housey told SwimSwam back in April that although she missed most of the fall season, she was fully healthy for the 2022 Big Ten Championships.

In her freshman season, Housey swam in the ‘A’ final at the 2021 Big Ten Championships in all three of her individual events. She went on to compete at 2021 NCAAs where she finished 14th individually in the 200 freestyle (1:45.74). She also led off Michigan’s 800 freestyle relay in a 1:45.45. That relay finished 10th.

Housey is a huge pick-up for the Texas A&M Aggies as the Aggies have gone from 13th to 39th at NCAAs over the past four years.

The Aggie women finished sixth out of 12 teams at the 2022 SEC Championships. Housey’s best time in the 200 freestyle would have finished seventh at the 2022 SEC Championships. In addition, her best time in the 200 backstroke would have been eighth, and her best 200 butterfly would have been 14th. In total, Housey’s best times would have provided an additional 58 individual points for Texas A&M at the 2022 SEC Championships.

Housey also has the potential to make a big impact to the Texas A&M relays. The team’s 800 freestyle relay finished sixth at the 2022 SEC Championships and were led by Chloe Stepanek who led off in a 1:42.40. Stepanek swam the only sub-1:46 split of the relay. Housey’s flat start best time of 1:45.45 would have been the second fastest on that relay only behind Stepanek.

Texas A&M went on to swim the 800 freestyle relay at 2022 NCAAs but they were ultimately disqualified. Notably, Stepanek scored the team’s only point at NCAAs as she finished 16th in the 200 freestyle swimming a time of 1:45.44. Like Housey, Stepanek is entering her junior year this fall.

Housey told SwimSwam that Texas A&M stood out to her because of “the school itself and the friendly staff.” She also said that her “credits transferred in well compared to other schools.”

Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2021 NCAA B Finalist Sophie Housey Announces Transfer to Texas A&M

By Riley Overend on SwimSwam

2022 FINA WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

• June 17-25, 2022 (artistic swimming)
• Budapest, Hungary
• Full Aquatics Schedule
• How To Watch
• Meet Central
• Live Results

Final Medals Table, Artistic Swimming

The last two artistic swimming competitions wrapped up on Saturday at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. 

Giorgio Minisini and Lucrezia Ruggiero began the final day by winning their second gold medal of the week in the mixed duet free, which helped Italy finish with the most points and earn the overall winner honor.  It’s the first gold in this event for Minisini, who took bronze in 2015 and silver at the past two Worlds. The duo scored 90.9667 points to top the podium, a little more than a point ahead of Japanese siblings Tomoka Sato and Yotaro Sato (89.7333). The Chinese pair of Haoyu Shi and Yiyao Zhang claimed bronze with 88.4 points, marking the nation’s first medal in a mixed duet event. The podium finish continued China’s streak of medaling in every event they competed in at Worlds. 

Ukraine also medaled in every event they competed, a streak that they capped with a gold in the last highlight routine final. The reigning European and world champions scored 95.0333 points to secure gold. 

“It’s so special for us to represent our country, and we can show our performances and demonstrate our power,” said Maryna Aleksiiva. “It’s an incredible feeling to stand on the top of the podium after this final because it’s the biggest competition in the season and the past few months it was very hard for us. We had to leave our country and train abroad far away from home, so it’s so emotional and unique feeling winning a gold medal.”

The highlight routine gold gave Ukraine its seventh total medal — the most in the country’s history and tied for most this week with Japan — but China still outranked them both in the medals table thanks to four golds. Italy took silver in the highlight routine with a score of 92.2667, raking in the nation’s fifth medal of the meet. Spain rounded out the podium with a bronze, the country’s first medal of the week. 

In Friday’s team free final, the Chinese squad scored 96.7 points to break through with a gold medal after taking silver at the past three Worlds. Ukraine and Japan snagged silver and bronze, respectively. USA’s Anita Alvarez was ultimately ruled out of Friday’s team final after there was initially a possibility of her returning following her fainting and sinking to the bottom of the pool during Wednesday’s free solo final. The Americans placed 9th out of 12 teams. 

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Italy, Ukraine Cap Impressive Week of Artistic Swimming with Golds on Final Day

By Anya Pelshaw on SwimSwam

2022 FINA WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

• June 18-25, 2022 (pool swimming)
• Budapest, Hungary
• Duna Arena
• LCM (50-meter format)
• Full Aquatics Schedule
• How To Watch
• Psych Sheets
• Start Lists Book (pre-meet)
• Meet Central
• Live Results
• SwimSwam Pick ’em Contest
• Day 8 Finals Live Recap

MEN’S 50 BACKSTROKE – FINALS

• World Record: 23.71, Hunter Armstrong (USA) – 2022 U.S. Trials
• Championship Record: 24.04, Liam Tancock (GBR) – 2009 World Championships
• 2019 World Champion: Zane Waddell (RSA), 24.43

1. Justin Ress (USA) – 24.12
2. Hunter Armstrong (USA) – 24.14
3. Ksawery Masiuk (POL) – 24.49
4. Thomas Ceccon (ITA) – 24.51
5. Apostolos Christou (GRE) / Robert Glinta (ROU) – 24.57
7. Ole Braunschweig (GER) – 24.66
8. Isaac Alan Cooper (AUS) – 24.76

The final day of the FINA 2022 World Championships was not without drama. Justin Ress of the United States touched first at the wall in a 24.12 in the men’s 50 backstroke final before finding out he was disqualified for being fully submerged on his finish. The medal ceremony occurred with the second, third, and fourth place finishers while the review for the disqualification was still occurring. After the medal ceremony, it was ultimately decided that Ress’s disqualification would be overturned.

Ress spoke of his many emotions saying “It was shock the whole time. Twenty minutes I was just in the chair in the team room, paralyzed, shocked I got DQed. Obviously overturns rarely happened so I basically lost all hope. When they told me it got overturned, it was 20 more minutes of shock that it had been overturned! On top of that, there was all this sadness, anger –  you just never think – that’s the worst possible way a race could go. I could have went out there and gotten eighth and I would have been bummed to not get a medal or performed as good as I could have. I’ve learned it’s not about the results – it’s about the journey. When it goes down like that – thinking you’ve won for a couple minutes, then see the DQ, it’s kind of insane.”

This was Ress’ first individual gold medal at a World Championship. Ress also finished 0.02 seconds ahead of fellow American Hunter Armstrong making it the first time that two Americans were on the podium in the event.

The 50 backstroke was Ress’ only individual event of the meet. Ress also swam on the United States men’s 4×100 freestyle relay splitting a 47.48 in finals. That relay finished in a 3:09.34 for gold.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Justin Ress Describes Emotions After DQ Overturn as “20 More Minutes of Shock”

By Adrian Mancebo on SwimSwam

MUNDIAL DE NATACIÓN FINA BUDAPEST 2022

• 18-25 junio 2022 (natación en piscina)
• Duna Arena, Budapest, Hungría
• LCM (piscina de 50m)
• Web oficial
• Calendario oficial
• Listas de entrada
• Resultados en directo

FINAL 4×100 estilos masculino

• Récord del mundo: 3:26.78, USA (2021)
• Récord de los campeonatos: 3:27.28, USA (2009)
• Campeón olímpico en Tokio: USA – 3:26.78
• Campeón mundial 2019: Reino Unido – 3:28.10

1. Italia – 3:27.51
2. USA – 3:27.79
3. Reino Unido – 3:31.31
4. Australia – 3:31.81
5. Francia – 3:32.37
6. Alemania – 3:32.63
7. Austria – 3:32.80
8. China – 3:34.62

La última sesión de los Campeonatos del mundo 2022 fue maravillosa para Italia. Comenzó con la plata de Benedetta Pilato en los 50 braza femeninos, su segunda medalla en estos campeonatos. A continuación, el legendario fondista Gregorio Paltrinieri realizó una actuación realmente estelar en los 1500 metros masculinos, dominando la prueba desde el principio y marcando el segundo mejor tiempo de la historia. La sesión de Italia, y los Campeonatos Mundiales, terminaron con la mayor explosión posible: una sorprendente victoria en el relevo masculino de 4×100 estilos.

Italia no sólo se impuso a los actuales campeones olímpicos, Estados Unidos, sino que además consiguió el primer título mundial de su historia en esta prueba. Con un tiempo de 3:27.51, los italianos igualaron el récord de Europa que tiene el Reino Unido desde los Juegos Olímpicos de Tokio. Fue la manera perfecta de culminar un Campeonato mundial estelar para Italia, en el que ganó 5 medallas de oro y 9 medallas en general.

Sobre el papel, el relevo masculino italiano tenía una pinta fenomenal de cara a la carrera. Tenían las dos primeras postas más rápidas del mundo, ya que Thomas Ceccon estableció un nuevo récord mundial en 100 espalda en los primeros días de competición, y Nicolo Martinenghi también fue medalla de oro en 100 braza en estos Campeonatos. Estaba claro que Italia tenía la capacidad de estar a la cabeza en el ecuador de la prueba, pero que iba a ser una batalla ardua para defenderse de los estadounidenses en la segunda mitad.

Sí, el relevo estadounidense echaba de menos a Caeleb Dressel, pero Michael Andrew remontó en la posta de mariposa, con un tiempo de 50.06. Al igual que Andrew, el italiano Federico Burdisso nadó el mejor parcial de toda su carrera. Burdisso hizo un parcial de 50.63, mitigando el daño hecho por Andrew y dejando 0.40 segundos de ventaja a la última posta, Alessandro Miressi.

El tiempo de Burdisso fue tan impresionante porque ha tenido un año difícil. No se clasificó para el mundial en 200 mariposa, y en los 100 mariposa terminó 10º en las semifinales del sexto día, con un tiempo de 51.45. También tuvo un año un poco flojo en la NCAA esta última temporada, terminando 21º en los 200 mariposa, 32º en los 100 mariposa y 51º en los 50 libre. Anoche consiguió el segundo mejor tiempo de todos en la posta de mariposa.

Burdisso cedió el testigo a Miressi, que se vio superado por el estadounidense Ryan Held en los primeros 50 metros, pero luchó por la victoria y llegó a la pared con 0.28 segundos de ventaja sobre Held. Miressi hizo un tiempo de 47.48, mucho más rápido que los 48.31 que nadó en la final de los 100 libres hace unos días.

El anterior récord de Italia estaba en 3:29.17 y fue establecido por el mismo cuarteto en los Juegos Olímpicos de Tokio 2020 el verano pasado. Italia consiguió la medalla de bronce en Tokio con ese tiempo. En la tabla mostramos la comparación de parciales de Italia de anoche, el anterior Récord de Italia, el Récord de Europa del cuarteto británico que empataron, y el Récord del Mundo que Estados Unidos estableció en Tokio el verano pasado.

Todos los miembros del equipo italiano han mejorado sus tiempos de la final de los Juegos Olímpicos, excepto Miressi, que se ha quedado a 0.01 segundos de su tiempo de Tokio. Al comparar la actuación de anoche de los italianos con el récord europeo que ahora comparte con el Reino Unido, Italia tiene una enorme ventaja la posta de espalda, y Reino Unido fue más rápido en el resto de postas.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Italia cierra el mundial con triunfo en 4×100 estilos sobre Estados Unidos

By Braden Keith on SwimSwam

Most of the ‘double duty’ Australian swim team will camp in Spain for two weeks between the World Championships and Commonwealth Games before joining their compatriots in Chartres, France for final preparations.

With the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England now only a month away, most of the Australian team has opted to stay in Europe after the World Championships rather than take the grueling 26+ hour flight home to Australia, just to turn around and return in a few weeks.

Most of the Australian team will spend two weeks in Spain (landing in Barcelona), then head to Chartres, France. There, they will meet up with the open water swimmers, para-swimmers, and other athletes coming over from Australia rather than Budapest.

The two major exceptions are Australia’s two swimmers with ongoing health issues. Sprint freestyler Shayna Jack returned to Australia to undergo surgery on her broken hand and will rejoin the team in Chartres, while Lani Pallister remains in Budapest in quarantine after a positive test for COVID-19. Pallister’s plan is to remain in Budapest until she clears quarantine, and then to travel straight with the Australian open water team to Chartres.

Of the 34 Australian swimmers who swam in the pool at the 2022 FINA World Aquatics Championships, all but three are scheduled to swim at the Commonwealth Games as well. The exceptions are Jack Cartwright, Moesha Johnson, and Leah Neale.

They will be joined by 15 other poolswimmers in Chartres in preparations for the Commonwealth Games. That includes swimming stars Emma McKeon, Ariarne Titmus, Holly Barratt, and Mina Atherton, plus pop star Cody Simpson, who will make his international debut for Australia in the 100 fly. Also joining the group will be Ben Armbruster, Chelsea Hodges, Bronte Job, Taylor McKeown, Alexandria Perkins, Kieren Pollard, Flynn Southam, Samuel Williamson, Josh Wong, and Bradley Woodward.

Along with a group of Para-swimmers, Australia will send an integrated team of 76 to the Commonwealth Games.

A short-handed Australian team, made shorter by health issues, still wound up 2nd on the medals table at the World Championships. They won 6 gold, 9 silver, and 2 bronze medals, placing them behind on the United States’ 17/12/16. Even without a number of their stars, Australia had more gold medals in Budapest than they did at the last LCM World Championship meet in Gwangju in 2019 (albeit fewer total medals).

Australia has historically been the dominant team in swimming at the Commonwealth Games. In 2018, they won 28 out of 50 gold medals on offer, more than all other nations combined, and 73 out of 149 total medals offered. Each country can enter three swimmers in every event at the Commonwealth Games, as compared to just two at the World Championships.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: ‘Double Duty’ Australians Will Camp in Spain Before Meeting Team in France

By Anya Pelshaw on SwimSwam

TAC Triangle Classic

• June 16-19, 2022
• LCM (50 meters)
• Cary, NC

Some of the top athletes from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia traveled to Cary, North Carolina last weekend for the TAC Triangle Classic at Triangle Aquatic Center.

Highlighting the boys side of the meet was 30 year old Jorge Murillo swam a 1:02.63 in the 100 breaststroke. Murillo represented Colombia at the 2016 Rio Olympics. In Rio, he swam a 59.93 to set a national record in prelims. He advanced to semi-finals where he swam a 1:00.81 to finish 16th. Murillo’s swim of 1:02.63 was slightly off of his season best of 1:02.10 which he swam in April. In addition to competing, Murillo is also listed as a coach for the TAC Titans with their Silver 2 group.

12 year old Jonny Palamar also represented host team TAC Titans. Palamar swam a 2:23.15 in the 200 backstroke. That was a best time for Palamar and slightly over two seconds faster than his best time from last summer as he swam a 2:25.32 then.

Also highlighting the meet was 14 year old Sam Marsteiner(WAVE). Marsteiner earned best times in all of his events. His highlights include swimming a time of 4:05.56 in the 400 freestyle, a 2:06.47 in the 200 backstroke, and a 2:06.30 in the 200 butterfly. His 200 backstorke earned his first Summer Juniors cut in a LCM event. This is his second Summer Juniors cut as he earned his first in the 500 freestyle swimming a 4:28.07 back in March 2022 at NCSAs.

Marsteiner’s best time in the 400 freestyle was a drop of over two seconds from last summer already, and it is only mid-June. His 200 backstroke was an even bigger drop as it was a six and a half second drop from last summer. His 200 butterfly was slightly faster than last summer as he swam a 2:06.87 then.

Marsteiner’s best times from last weekend also place him in the top 100 all-time for the boys 13-14 age group. His best time of 4:05.56 in the 400 free ranks him at #70, his time of 2:06.47 in the 200 back now sits at #28, and his 2:06.30 in the 200 fly stands at #30.

Also from WAVE highlighting the meet was Parker Van Olst. 12 year old Van Olst swam a 2:39.89 in the 200 breaststroke. That was a best time and a huge drop from his time of 2:54.55 last summer.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2016 Colombian Olympian Jorge Murillo Goes 1:02.63 100 Breast at TAC Classic

By Braden Keith on SwimSwam

2022 FINA WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS – OPEN WATER SWIMMING

• June 18-July 3, 2022
• Lake Lupa, Budapest, Hungary
• Open Water Results
• Open Water 6K Relay Results

After a chaotic first day of racing in Lake Lupa on Sunday, things settled in to a more predictable pattern on Monday for the men’s and women’s open water 5km races.

Water temperatures at Lupa this week are reading around 26 Celsius (79 Fahrenheit). That puts it well within the safe range for FINA events (16-31 Celsius), and with the lake being fed by the same springs that provide most of Budapest’s drinking water, Budapest provides a fairly comfortable setting relative to many open water events.

The men’s 5km race, which went off at 9AM, was won by Germany’s Florian Wellbrock– his second gold medal already in open water competition after anchoring the winning 6km mixed relay on Sunday. The women’s race, which started at noon local time, was won by Brazil’s Ana Marcela de Cunha. Both were at least among the favorites, if not the favorites, in their respective races.

Men’s 5KM Race

Top 8 Finishers

1. Florian Wellbrock (Germany) – 52:48.8
2. Gregorio Paltrinieri (Italy) – 52:52.7 (+3.9)
3. Mykhalo Romanchuk (Ukraine) – 53:13.9 (+25.1)
4. Domenico Acerenza (Italy) – 53:22.6 (+33.8)
5. Marc-Antoine Olivier (France) – 53:26.0 (+37.2)
6. Logan Fontaine (France) – 53:43.2 (+54.4)
7. David Bethlehem (Hungary) – 54:22.0 (+1:33.2)
8. Kyle Lee (Australia) – 54:28.2 (+1:33.2)

The three medalists in the men’s 5km race all won medals in the pool last week as well. Germany’s Florian Wellbrock, winner of gold in the open water 5km race, took silver in the 800 and bronze in the 1500 in the pool.

Paltrinieri, silver medalist in the open water 5k race, took gold in the 1500 one of the best pool swims of the championships, and was 4th in the 800.

Romanchuk, bronze medalist in the open water 5k race, took bronze in the 800 free in the pool and was 5th in the 1500 free. Romanchuk is from Ukraine and gave an emotional interview last week about the ongoing war in his home country.

Wellbrock is beginning to separate himself as the world’s top open water swimmer on the men’s side. His win on Monday comes after also winning the Olympic 10km race last year in Tokyo. His win is the 5th time that Germany has won this race in 12 editions of the World Aquatics Championships: retired swimmer Thomas Lurz won four straight titles from 2005 through 2011. Germany is the all-time leading nation in open water swimming with 15 gold and 42 total medals.

While Romanchuk was in contention for the first three-quarters of the race, the battle was always going to come down to Wellbrock and Paltrinieri – just as it did in the team race on Sunday where a very-late surge from Wellbrock got him the win. By the finish, Romanchuk was a distant 3rd.

Olympic 10k silver medalist Kristof Rasovzky, racing in home water in Hungary, was just 9th in this 5k. He improved as the race went on, however, and showed that he might still be a contender for the 10km race later in the meet.

Australia’s entries Kyle Lee and Nicholas Sloman finished 8th and 10th, respectively. While Australia’s men haven’t had much success in the premier 10km event in open water, they’ve always performed better in the 5k and 25k distances.

The Americans Brennan Gravley and Simon Lamar placed 10th and 15th, respectively. in a field that saw 63 enter, 61 start, and 52 finish within the time limit.

Women’s 5KM Race

Top 8 Finishers

1. Ana Marcela Cunha (Brazil) – 57:52.9
2. Aurelie Muller (France) – 57:53.8 (+.9)
3. Giulia Gabbrielleschi (Italy) – 57:54.9 (+2.0)
4. Leonie Beck (Germany) – 57:56.2 (+3.3)
5. Maria de Valdes (Spain) – 57:59.0 (+6.1)
6. Ginevra Taddeucci (Italy) – 58:00.4 (+7.5)
7. Viviane Jungblut (Brazil) – 58:00.5 (+7.6)
8. Moesha Johnson (Australia) – 58:03.5 (+9.6)

Brazil’s Ana Marcela Cunha, arguably the greatest in the history of the discipline, extended her lead as the winningest woman in open water in World Aquatics Championships history on Monday. Her gold medal was her 5th such medal and 12th overall, both of which are the most-ever.

• Italy’s Viola Valli won 4 gold medals from 2001 to 2003, and Netherlands’ Edith van Dijk won 9 total medals from 1998 through 2005.

The win is a second-consecutive title for Cunha, and the silver medal was a third-consecutive runner-up finish for France’s Aurelie Muller in this event.

There was a pretty sizeable lead-pack throughout the race, bigger than we usually see at this level of competition, but Cunha dramatically increased her speed and tempo in the closing stages to force that group into a a high-speed finish, which plays into the hands of Cunha. Her stroke tempo jumped from 39.2 strokes-per-minute in the penultimate lengths of the race to 45.9 strokes-per-minute coming into the finish.

The race was ultimately decided by 9-tenths of a second, about the same margin as the 2019 race. In spite of only being 5’5″ tall (shorter than the Frenchwoman Muller) Cunha routinely finds a way to get her hand on the pad first in these races.

While Cunha is the defending Olympic champion in the women’s 10km race, it is the one individual event in which she has never won a World title. After a rest day Tuesday, she will have a chance at shoring-up that hole in her resume on Wednesday.

Giulia Gabrielleschi of Itlay won bronze. That is her first individual World Championship medal after contributing to three-straight medals in team events. The 25-year old was 6th in 2019, and took advantage of the absence of her better-known countrymate Rachelle Bruni (who is entered in the 10km race later in the week).

Gabrielleschi did receive the only yellow flag warning on what was a fairly-clean day of racing.

Australia’s Moesha Johnson, who also swam the 1500 in the pool, was 8th in 58:02.5, within 10 seconds of the leaders. Another of the all-time greats in open water, Netherlands’ Sharon van Rouwendaal, was 10th and was the back-half of that lead pack: the next-best finisher was almost two minutes behind her.

American Summer Smith was 12th, 2:09.3 behind Cunha, and Anna Auld was 20th, 3:04.3 behind Cunha.

56 swimmers entered the men’s race, 55 started, and 51 finished within the time limit.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Olympic Champions Wellbrock, Cunha Grab 5K Wins on Day 2 of Open Water Worlds

By Anya Pelshaw on SwimSwam

Fitter and Faster Swim Camps is the proud sponsor of SwimSwam’s College Recruiting Channel and all commitment news. For many, swimming in college is a lifelong dream that is pursued with dedication and determination. Fitter and Faster is proud to honor these athletes and those who supported them on their journey.

Caroline Bricker from Colorado Springs, CO has announced her commitment to Stanford beginning in the fall 2023-2024 school year. Bricker was recently ranked the SwimSwam #16 recruit in the girls high school class of 2023.

“I am beyond excited to announce my verbal commitment to continue my academic and athletic career at Stanford University! Thank you to my family, friends, coaches, and teammates who have helped me achieve this life long dream! I’m so excited to be apart of such an amazing team!!

By Braden Keith on SwimSwam

Australian Olympic swimmer Emily Seebohm has made another reality television show appearance: this time competing on the obstacle course challenge show Australia’s Ninja Warrior.

A spinoff of the Japanese show called Sasuke that debuted in 1997, Ninja Warrior pits competitors against each other in an increasingly-difficult series of obstacle courses. In the main competition, there is $200,000 in prize money up for grabs.

Seebohm is one of ten celebrities competing this season for $10,000 to charity and bragging rights. She was one of three celebrities to participate in Monday’s premiere, which included soccer player Archie Thompson.

But the athletes were shown up by an unlikely underdog: singer-songwriter Jack Vidgen.

All three celebrities fell on the same obstacle, a suspended snake-like beam that required competitors to pull themselves across while hanging from 27 doorknobs.

The tie-breaker, then, was the famed Warped Wall. A consistent presence in opening rounds of the competition, the Warped Wall is a 4.35 meter (just over 14 feet high) curved wall that athletes must run up and grab the edge before pulling themselves up and over the lip to finish the course.

Height is generally seen as an advantage in the feat. The six-foot tall Seebohm missed the ledge, as did the 5’9 Thompson.

But it was the 5’9″ Vidgen who was able to grab the lip and easily pull himself up to secure $10,000 for the Trish Multiple Sclerosis Research Foundation. Vidgen chose the charity in honor of his dad, who has MS.

Seebohm, 30, competed for Australia at four Olympic Games between 2008 and 2021. She has won three Olympic relay gold medals in her decorated career, among 7 total Olympic medals. She is also a 5-time World Champion and 7-time Commonwealth Games champion.

Seebohm has not competed since winning a medley relay gold and an individual bronze in the 200 backstroke at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Besides Ninja Warrior, Seebohm also competed on the reality show I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! since Tokyo. She wound up finishing 4th in that show behind a former Australian Rules Football coach and player, singer-songwriter Brooke McClymont, and actor Dylan Lewis.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Emily Seebohm Competes on Australia Ninja Warrior

By Ben Dornan on SwimSwam

2022 FINA WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

• June 18-25, 2022 (pool swimming)
• Budapest, Hungary
• Duna Arena
• LCM (50-meter format)
• Full Aquatics Schedule
• How To Watch
• Psych Sheets
• Meet Central
• Live Results

The swimming portion of the 2022 World Championships has come and gone, leaving us to reflect on the eight-day swimming showcase. World records, Championships records and dozens of national records fell throughout the meet, and there was no shortage of show-stopping performances. As we look back on the competition, we’ve ranked who we believe to be the top 15 men and top 15 women of the meet.

• See SwimSwam’s Top 15 Women of the 2022 World Championships

These rankings are based on the cumulative performance by athletes at the 2022 World Championships. They focus on multiple medal-winning performances, single mind-blowing swims, and clutch relay performances throughout the meet.

Honorable Mentions

It’s hard to leave individual world champions off this list, but considering the fact that we have taken the number of performances by a swimmer and relays swims into account, we had to do so. Here are a few men that didn’t make our top 15 list, but were nonetheless outstanding at the meet.

• Ben Proud (GBR):Ben Proud picked up Great Britain’s only individual title at this meet when he won the 50 freestyle in 21.32. This was Proud’s first individual title in the event, having won bronze in 2017, and he showed his best form since setting a PB of 21.11 in 2018.
• Zac Stubblety-Cook (AUS): Another world champion who fell slightly short of his lifetime best was Zac Stubblety-Cook of Australia. Stubblety-Cook recently set the world record in the 200 breaststroke at the Australian Trials in a time of 2:05.95. He won that event in Budapest in 2:07.07, which was a bit off his WR and his Olympic gold-winning time of 2:06.38 in 2016.
• Josh Liendo (CAN): Josh Liendo didn’t win any events at the meet but picked up a total of three medals, taking bronze in the 100 freestyle and 100 butterfly, along with silver in the mixed free relay. This was a huge breakout for Liendo and has us wondering what he’ll do next.

#15 Caeleb Dressel (USA)

Caeleb Dressel (photo: Jack Spitser)

It’s indicative of just how dominant Caeleb Dressel is in the sport of swimming that he can be in the top 15 at this meet despite leaving just a few days in. Dressel didn’t race the 50 free, 100 free or 100 fly as planned, but he made the most of the two events he got a chance to race in.

Dressel picked up his sole individual medal at this meet in the men’s 50 butterfly, swimming a time of 22.57 to out-perform Nicholas Santos‘ 22.78. That time for Dressel wasn’t a personal best, having delivered a 22.35 at the 2019 World Championships to win gold, but the swim was still among the fastest in history and allowed him to defend his title.

Dressel also raced in only one relay in Budapest, as opposed to the four that he could have swum in. He contested the 4×100 freestyle relay for the American men, leading off with a 47.67 to help the team win gold in 3:09.34. That was the fastest split in the field and if he had swum it during the individual 100 free, it would have been good enough for bronze. It’s still not clear why Dressel pulled out of the meet, but if it was impacting him during the races he did swim, it makes Dressel’s double gold performance all the more impressive.

#14 Maxime Grousset (FRA)

Maxime Grousset (photo: Fabio Cetti)

The Frenchman of the meet was double gold medalist Leon Marchand, but Maxime Grousset had an impressive outing as well, collecting two medals in the sprint freestyle events. Grousset, the 2017 World Junior silver medalist in the 50 free, leveled up in Budapest to take the bronze medal in the 50 free with a 21.57. In the 100 freestyle, he posted a time of 47.64 for the silver medal, touching right behind champion David Popovici‘s 47.58.

This meet was a breakout for Grousset, who had previously not won any individual medals at a major international meet other than the European Championships. For many years, Florent Manaudou has been the king of sprinting in France, but Grousset demonstrated here that he’s also one to watch as we head towards a home Olympics in 2024.

#13 Hunter Armstrong (USA)

Hunter Armstrong (photo: Jack Spitser)

American backstroker Hunter Armstrong had the swim of the meet at U.S. Trials when he downed the men’s 50 backstroke world record in 23.71. Also racing the 100 back individually in Budapest, Armstrong managed to make the podium in both of his events, picking up silver in the 50 back and bronze in the 100.

The former OSU Buckeye was bumped up to gold momentarily in the 50 back when Justin Ress was disqualified, though he ultimately was crowned the runner-up after the DQ got overturned. Armstrong swam clocked 24.14 to trail his world record swim, touching 0.02 seconds behind teammate Ress. In the 100 backstroke, Armstrong placed third to Thomas Ceccon and Ryan Murphy. His swim was a barrier-breaking performance as he cracked the 52-second mark for the first time ever.

Armstrong swam 51.98 for bronze, just 0.01 seconds behind Murphy. The swim made Armstrong a sound choice to swim backstroke on the mixed 4×100 medley relay for the Americans, and he posted a 52.14 to open that relay, helping the team to win gold in the event in 3:38.79. Armstrong also swam the prelims of the men’s 4×100 free and 4×100 medley relays for the American men, which they went on to win gold and silver in, respectively.

#12 Nic Fink (USA)

Nic Fink (photo: Fabio Cetti)

Another American who collected multiple medals at the World Championships was breaststroker Nic Fink. Fink swam at his first-ever Olympics in 2021 but walked away without medals. At his fourth career World Championships, however, he found his way onto the podium.

Fink won gold in the 50 breaststroke in Budapest, hitting a 26.45 American record to out-touch Italy’s Nicolo Martinenghi by just 0.03 seconds. That swim made him the fifth-fastest man in history and allowed him to take out Michael Andrew‘s national record of 26.52 from 2022 Trials. In the 100 breaststroke, Fink couldn’t quite reach gold medal status, but still did well for himself by finishing in 58.65 for bronze. It was a bit slower than his best time of 58.37 from earlier this year but was a solid performance nonetheless.

Fink took home another two relay medals after putting up a pair of 57-point breaststroke splits on the mixed and men’s 4×100 medley relays. In both relays, Fink split 57.86, helping the team to gold in the mixed race and silver in the men’s event.

#11 Elijah Winnington (AUS)

Elijah Winnington (photo: Delly Carr, Swimming Australia)

Elijah Winnington was the first world champion of the meet when he took gold in the men’s 400 freestyle on the opening night of the competition. He clocked 3:41.22 in the 400 free to defeat Germany’s Lukas Märtens by over a second and a half. That swim from Winnington was quicker than the Olympic gold medal-winning time of 3:43.36 that Ahmed Hafnaoui put up in 2021. In Tokyo, Winnington was the top seed and pre-race favorite before falling to seventh in a time of 3:45.20.

This swim by Winnington was the 10th-fastest 400 freestyle performance in history and the fastest time in the world since Sun Yang‘s 3:40.14 in 2012. Winnington got as close to Ian Thorpe‘s 3:40.08 Australian Record that anyone from his nation ever has. Winnington’s performance may have suffered from primacy bias as it took place a week before the World Championships ended, but we remember it as one of the most impressive swims of the eight-day meet.

By Yanyan Li on SwimSwam

2022 FINA WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

• June 18-25, 2022 (pool swimming)
• Budapest, Hungary
• Duna Arena
• LCM (50-meter format)
• Full Aquatics Schedule
• How To Watch
• Psych Sheets
• Meet Central
• Live Results

Throughout the last week, we got to witness some incredible racing occur at the 2022 FINA World Championships. In this post, we wanted to highlight the accomplishments of the meet’s top female swimmers by ranking who we thought were the top 15 women of the World Championships. And while these rankings are weighted mainly towards a swimmer’s individual performances, other factors such as relay contributions and times are also considered.

It was difficult to pick out just 15 of the best women, as there were so many women who had incredible showings at worlds and we couldn’t fit them all in one list. These rankings are entirely subjective, and if you disagree with any of them, feel free to start discourse in our comments in a civilized manner.

So without further ado, let’s get started.

Honorable Mentions:

• Claire Curzan: The 17-year-old had one of the heaviest schedules out of anyone at this meet. Including prelims, semifinals, finals, and relays, she had sixteen swims in one week, and she still handled all of them like a pro. She did well in her individual events, making the finals of the 50/100fly, 100 free, and 100 back and earning a bronze in the 100 back, but where she really excelled was on the U.S. relays. Despite having so many individual races, she still was able to anchor four relay sin 52-point splits to help the U.S. win two relay golds and two relay bronzes. Without veteran freestylers like Simone Manuel and Abbey Weitzeil, Curzan was able to consistently step up time and time again for her country even with the load she had to take on this meet.
• Penny Oleksiak: Oleksiak lost one of her shots at an individual medal when she was DQed in the semifinals of the 200 free, and then she just missed the podium in the 100 free by finishing fourth. However, similar to Curzan, she was a key component of her country’s relays, with her efforts helping Canada win two silvers and two bronzes Her 52.51 split in the women’s 4×100 free relay was the fastest rolling split in the field, and allowed for Canada to overtake the U.S. for silver. Similar, in the mixed free relay, she anchored in 52.11 (the second-fastest female split of the field) to run down the Americans to take silver once more.

15. Lilly King (USA)

courtesy of Fabio Cetti

Before the meet started, Lilly King was a heavy favorite to win the 100 breast, and a likely medal contender in the 50 and 200 breast. However, she began to look off in her pet event when she nearly missed the final of the 100 breast and only advanced because her teammate Annie Lazor got DQed.

The next day, King uncharacteristically missed the podium in the event, finishing fourth. We then found out that King had been struggling with the after-effects of COVID-19, and according to her coach Ray Looze, she was racing at only 80% of her true capability.

But King got better and better as the meet went on, which showed when she won the 200 breast, coming home in 36.36 to chase down the field on the final lap. Two days later, she split 1:05.89 in the finals of the women’s medley relay (which was the fastest in the field) to assist Team USA in claim inggold. Because she continued to persevere and win individual gold even after facing COVID and failing to medal in her best event, she earned herself a spot on our list.

14. Zhang Yufei (CHN)

courtesy of Fabio Cetti

Like King, Zhang Yufei came into this meet as a favorite to win multiple events: and in her case, it was the 100 fly and 200 fly. We later learned that her home city of Shanghai had been seriously impacted by COVID-19 restrictions, and her participation at Worlds was in jeopardy up until a few weeks prior to the start of the meet. In addition, Chinese swimmers didn’t even have a trials meet due to the pandemic, and a team had to be selected based on “internal tests”.

All of these factors likely played a part in Zhang being well off her best times, and yet she still managed to medal in all three butterfly events. She took bronze in the 50 fly, 100 fly, and 200 fly, and even broke the Chinese record in the 50 fly with a time of 25.32. In addition, she also was the only woman aside Summer McIntosh and Katie Ledecky to win three individual medals.

13. Yang Junxuan (CHN)

courtesy of Fabio Cetti

Yang Junxuan was a silver lining on a Chinese women’s team that overall was very off this meet, which can be proven by the fact that other stars such as Li Bingjie and Zhang Yufei were all well off their best times. Yang won China’s only gold of the meet in the 200 free individually, but her contributions to her country’s relays shouldn’t be overlooked either.

She was the only 52-point split on China’s women’s 4×100 free relay, going 52.79 to bring them from seventh to fourth place. Similarly, on the women’s 4×200 relay (which she scratched the 100 free semifinals to focus on), she came home in 1:54.18—the second-fastest rolling split from that race behind Katie Ledecky‘s 1:53.67.

12. Katie Grimes (USA)

Katie Grimes (photo: Jack Spitser)

16-year-old Katie Grimes proved that her Tokyo Olympic appearance last year wasn’t a fluke when she took silver in the 1500 free (15:44.89) and 400 IM (4:32.89) at this World Championships meet. Her improvement trajectory was ginormous, having dropped nearly six seconds off her best time in the 1500 free and four seconds in the 400 IM. In addition, her 400 IM time was just 0.63 seconds behind that of winner Summer McIntosh.

At such a young age, Grimes is proving to be extremely versatile and successful in multiple events—also shown by the fact that she’s going to be competing in the 10k open water later this meet following her pool races. If she continues to improve in the coming years, don’t be surprised to see her ranked much higher on our future lists.

11. Rūta Meilutytė (LIT)

courtesy of Fabio Cetti

Not many swimmers are able retire for three years and come back as a World Champion, but Rūta Meilutytė is.

Meilutytė started off her meet by capturing bronze in the 100 breast in a time of 1:06.02. And while the event had the slowest winning time since 2005, it was her best time since coming out of retirement. But she wasn’t done with just bronze. On the final day of the competition, she won the 50 breast in a time of 29.70, which is just 0.27 seconds off her best time of 29.42 that was set all the way back when she was a 16 year old.

Having battled through depression and a two-year ban due to missing doping tests in retirement, the fact that Meilutytė was able to take two medals (with one being gold) in her first major international meet since 2018 is incredible.

10. Benedetta Pilato (ITA)

Photo: Fabio Cetti

After being DQed in the prelims at the Olympics last year in the 100 breast, Benedetta Pilato didn’t have a chance to prove herself at the world’s biggest competition stage. She redeemed herself to take gold in the event this year, swimming a time of 1:05.93. She later followed up that win with a silver medal in the 50 breast, the event that she broke the world record in last year, where she swam a 29.80 to finish just 0.1 seconds behind Melilutyte.

At just 17 years old, Pilatto follows the footsteps of Arianna Castiglioni and Nicolo Martinenghi in becoming Italy’s next breaststroke talent. And while she did not hit any of her best times in either event, she was one of the first to get her hand on the wall, and in the finals that’s what matters the most. Her medals in both the 50 and 100 breast are stepping stone for her to continue her success in the future.

9. Regan Smith (USA)