Monday, July 18, 2022
A Look Back: U.S. Dominates 2022 FINA World Championships
Exactly one month ago, the United States embarked on a record-setting, 45-medal performance (17 or which were gold) at the 2022 FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. The total medal count engulfed the competition and set a record for the most medals in the swimming pool in competition history.
Exactly how dominating was the U.S. performance? Here are a few stats and takeaways to showcase the week of success that started one month ago:
Margin of Victory
Some events came down to a few hundredths, while others were multiple body-lengths at the finish. One method to determine how dominating a performance was is by looking at the margin of victory. When looking at the finishes based on percentage of time ahead of the field, the Americans accounted for four of the top-10 most dominating gold-medal swims at the event. Katie Ledecky's 800-meter freestyle was the second-best performance of the meet, winning by 2.20%, while Alex Walsh's 200m IM ranked seventh (1.13%), Caeleb Dressel's 50m butterfly ranked ninth (0.93%) and Torri Huske's 100m butterfly ranked 10th (0.90%).
A complete breakdown of the margin of victory can be found below:
Good as Gold
The 45-medal performance is certainly one for the record books, however the 17 gold medals won by the U.S. is also a jaw-dropping feat. The 17 golds are more than each of the next four countries combined in the pool and is just the seventh time since the competition debuted in 1973 where the U.S. breached 15 golds at the meet. Between Olympic Games and FINA World Championships (LCM) competitions, this year's performance is the second-best showing, based on gold medals, by a U.S. team in the past decade.
Katie Ledecky again backed up her gold-medal aspirations by going 4-for-4 on her schedule, giving her the most golds of any swimmer at the meet. The meet also saw numerous first-time, individual-event world champions for the U.S., including Bobby Finke (800m freestyle), Justin Ress (50m backstroke), Regan Smith (100m backstroke), Huske (100m butterfly) and Walsh (200m IM).
A Multidimensional Effort
When the 2022 Phillips 66 International Team Trials wrapped up in Greensboro this past April, it was evident that this U.S. team of 42 was going to be much smaller than a typical international team due to individuals swimming multiple events across multiple disciplines. Michael Andrew made history and became the first swimmer in history to to win individual medals in three different strokes at a single world championships, and the first person to win a medal in three 50-meter events in a single world championships. Huske and Katie Grimes also showcased their versatility, earning multiple individual medals across two different disciplines.
Exactly how dominating was the U.S. performance? Here are a few stats and takeaways to showcase the week of success that started one month ago:
Margin of Victory
Some events came down to a few hundredths, while others were multiple body-lengths at the finish. One method to determine how dominating a performance was is by looking at the margin of victory. When looking at the finishes based on percentage of time ahead of the field, the Americans accounted for four of the top-10 most dominating gold-medal swims at the event. Katie Ledecky's 800-meter freestyle was the second-best performance of the meet, winning by 2.20%, while Alex Walsh's 200m IM ranked seventh (1.13%), Caeleb Dressel's 50m butterfly ranked ninth (0.93%) and Torri Huske's 100m butterfly ranked 10th (0.90%).
A complete breakdown of the margin of victory can be found below:
Good as Gold
The 45-medal performance is certainly one for the record books, however the 17 gold medals won by the U.S. is also a jaw-dropping feat. The 17 golds are more than each of the next four countries combined in the pool and is just the seventh time since the competition debuted in 1973 where the U.S. breached 15 golds at the meet. Between Olympic Games and FINA World Championships (LCM) competitions, this year's performance is the second-best showing, based on gold medals, by a U.S. team in the past decade.
Katie Ledecky again backed up her gold-medal aspirations by going 4-for-4 on her schedule, giving her the most golds of any swimmer at the meet. The meet also saw numerous first-time, individual-event world champions for the U.S., including Bobby Finke (800m freestyle), Justin Ress (50m backstroke), Regan Smith (100m backstroke), Huske (100m butterfly) and Walsh (200m IM).
A Multidimensional Effort
When the 2022 Phillips 66 International Team Trials wrapped up in Greensboro this past April, it was evident that this U.S. team of 42 was going to be much smaller than a typical international team due to individuals swimming multiple events across multiple disciplines. Michael Andrew made history and became the first swimmer in history to to win individual medals in three different strokes at a single world championships, and the first person to win a medal in three 50-meter events in a single world championships. Huske and Katie Grimes also showcased their versatility, earning multiple individual medals across two different disciplines.