★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★
★ To get the daily Sports Examiner Recap by e-mail: sign up here! ★
≡ WORLD 25 m CHAMPIONSHIPS ≡
The record-breaking did not stop on the final day of the World Aquatics 25 m (short-course) Championships in Budapest (HUN), with six more world records:
● Men/200 m Freestyle: 1:38.61, Luke Hobson (USA)
● Men/4×100 m Medley: 3:18.68, Russia [Neutral Athletes B] (Miron Lifintsev, Kirill Prigoda, Andrei Minakov, Egor Kornev)
● Women/50 m Freestyle: 22.83, Gretchen Walsh (USA)
● Women/100 m Backstroke: 54.02, Regan Smith (USA; relay lead-off)
● Women/200 m Backstroke: 1:58.04, Regan Smith (USA)
● Women/4×100 m Medley: 3:40.41, United States (Regan Smith, Lilly King, Gretchen Walsh, Kate Douglass)
Just as on Saturday, Walsh opened the finals with another world record – her ninth of this meet – in the women’s 50 m Free final, leading teammate Douglass at the turn by 0.12 and finishing in 22.83, bettering her own mark of 22.87 from the semis. Douglass was second at 23.05 and Kasia Wasick (POL) took the bronze at 23.37.
Smith completed an impressive sweep of the 50-100-200 Backs with a second world record, winning the 200 m Back in 1:58.04, taking down her 1:58.83 from the Singapore World Cup in early November. She led from start to finish and was a huge winner over Canadian star Summer McIntosh, second in 1:59.96 – a World Junior Record – with fellow American Phoebe Bacon in fourth (2:00.76).
Luke Hobson of the U.S. had already set the world record in the men’s 200 m Free from his 1:38.91 lead-off leg on the gold-medal-winning 4×200 m Free Relay, but he lowered it in the final of the 200 m Free to 1:38.61, taking the lead by the 75 m mark. Hobson, 21, finished well clear of Maximillian Giuliani (AUS: 1:40.36) and Lucas Henveaux (BEL: 1:41.13). Fellow American Kieran Smith was fifth in 1:41.57.
The U.S. women wrapped up the meet with another world record in the 4×100 m Medley, with Smith, Lilly King, Walsh and Douglass steaming to a 3:40.41 time, utterly destroying the old mark of 3:44.35 by the U.S. from 2022. Smith rocketed from the start and touched in 54.02 for her 100 m Back leg, breaking her own record of 54.27 from the Singapore World Cup on 1 November, and her second world mark of the day!
To be clear, Smith won all three Backstrokes and set world records in all three events!
Great Britain was a distant second in 3:47.84 and China was third in 3:47.93.
In the men’s 4×100 m Medley, the U.S. had the early lead from Shaine Casas, but dropped to third on the Breaststroke leg with Michael Andrew and on Butterfly from Dare Rose. Jack Alexy got the Americans up to second with a furious 44.53 final leg to finish in 3:19.03, but the Russian back half of Andrei Minakov and Egor Kornev made the “Neutral Athletes B” team clear winners in a world record of 3:18.68. That broke the 3:18.98 mark from 2022, shared by Australia and the U.S.
Defending champion Jordan Crooks (CAY) broke the 20-second barrier with his spectacular 19.90 in the semis of the men’s 50 m Free, but was a little slower in the final, winning easily in 20.19. Brazil’s Guilherme Santos moved up from third to second on the final lap in 20.57, followed by Americans Alexy (20.61) and Chris Guiliano (20.78).
China’s Haiyang Qin got his second gold of the meet, taking the men’s 50 m Breast in 25.42, well ahead of co-silver medalists Emre Sakci (TUR) and Russian “neutral” Kirill Prigoda, both in 25.56. Qin also won the 100 m Breast title.
Olympic 200 m Back champ Hubert Kos (HUN) won the men’s 200 Back in 1:45.65, just missing the world record by 0.02, but getting a European and meet record in the process. A distant second was Lorenzo Mora (1:48.96); American Jack Aikins was fifth (1:50.60).
World-record holder Siobhan Haughey of Hong Kong won her third straight title in the women’s 200 m Free, touching in 1:50.62, within 0.31 of her 2021 mark of 1:50.31. Canada’s Mary-Sophie Harvey got a national record of 1:51.49 in second, passing American Claire Weinstein on the final lap. Weinstein got the bronze and a second World Junior Record on the day – she’s 17 – of 1:51.62. Australian star Lani Pallister, the 800 m Free winner, was fourth (1:51.75) and American Paige Madden (1:52.93) was sixth.
The world-record holder and defending champion in the women’s 50 m Breast, Lithuania’s Ruta Meilutyte, was a convincing winner in 28.54, well ahead of Qianting Tang (CHN: 28.86 and American star King (28.91). For King, it was her 13rh career World Short-Course Champ medal (6-6-1).
¶
The final medal table had the U.S. with an overwhelming performance with 39 medals (18-13-8), ahead of Canada (15: 4-5-6), Australia (12: 2-5-5) and the Russians – as “Neutral Athletes B” – with 10 medals (6-4-0). This is the most medals a U.S. team has won since the 2004 World Short-Course Champs in Indianapolis (41: 21-10-10), and the second-highest total ever. Wow.
The assault on the record books was epic: 30 world marks were set in 22 events. The women had 20 marks in 15 events and the U.S. had 17 of those. Among the men, 10 records in seven events, with the U.S. getting four of those.
Walsh was the star of the meet, no doubt, with five individual wins, two relay wins, nine individual world records and two more on relays. Her individual world records alone earned her $225,000 in record bonuses!
But Smith’s meet cannot be skipped: a sweep of the Backstrokes, world records in each and another world record – personally and for the team – in the Medley Relay. And what about McIntosh: three wins, all in world-record times and a World Junior Record behind Smith in the 200 m Back! And McIntosh – still 18 – won golds in Freestyle, Butterfly and the Medley, plus a Backstroke silver. Is there anything she can’t do?
The men’s meet had fewer records, but had the first sub-20 in the 50 m Free for Crooks and Swiss star Ponti won three events and got and got world records in two of them.
Crazy. Unbelievable. Stunning. Sure, only short-course, but this was almost incomprehensible. The 2025 World Championships – long course! – will be in Singapore starting on 11 July. Can’t wait!
¶
★ Receive our exclusive, weekday TSX Recap by e-mail by clicking here.
★ Sign up a friend to receive the TSX Recap by clicking here.
★ Please consider a donation here to keep this site going.
For our updated, 885-event International Sports Calendar for the rest of 2024, 2025 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!
