Friday, December 16, 2022
Takeaways from Melbourne at Midway Point of Short Course Worlds
The Americans sit atop the medal count at the mid-way point of competition at the 16th FINA World Championships (SCM) in Melbourne, Australia, thanks to a handful of gold medal-winning and record-breaking performances. The competition has been nothing short of dramatic so far and is setting up to be a nail-biting and exciting final three days.
On day one, Kate Douglass set a new American record and just missed the world record en route to gold in the women’s 200m IM. Her time of 2:02.12 took nearly two seconds off Melanie Margalis’ previous record of 2:04.06 from 2020. Alex Walsh grabbed silver in 2:03.37 to give the U.S. a one-two punch in the event. Later in the session, Douglass joined with Torri Huske, Claire Curzan and Erika Brown to take silver in 3:26.29 in the women’s 4x100m free relay, another American record. Douglass’ performances so far have been nothing short of astounding, as she is one of only three U.S. athletes so far with four total medals.
In the women’s 400m free final, veteran Leah Smith captured bronze in 3:59.78 to take home her fifth world championship medal of her career. The U.S. men took home two medals on day one as well, with Carson Foster winning silver in the men’s 200m IM in 1:50.96, his second-straight silver in short course worlds competition in that event. Like Douglass, Foster contributed a leg on the 4x100m free relay, joining Drew Kibler, Shaine Casas and Kieran Smith to take bronze (3:05.09) to end the night.
More records fell on night two, highlighted by the mixed 4x50m medley relay team’s world record-setting swim. Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink, Douglass and Huske combined efforts to post a 1:35.15, chopping over a second off the Netherlands’ 1:36.18 from 2021.
The medals kept rolling in as Murphy (100m back, 48.50) and Huske (50m fly, 24.64) grabbed gold in their individual events. Murphy’s time set a new championship record while Huske claimed her first individual medal at a World Championships in a tie with Canada’s Maggie MacNeil.
Curzan added a bronze in the women’s 100m back final at 55.74, while the women’s 4x200m free relay also took bronze behind Walsh, Hali Flickinger, Erin Gemmell and Smith’s American record-breaking swim of 7:34.70.
Through day two, the U.S. had racked up 11 medals – four gold, three silver and four bronze – with Australia (5/2/2) in second with nine. Momentum flip-flopped on day three, when the Aussies jumped ahead of the U.S. in both gold and total medals after the first three events, only to have the U.S. rattle off five consecutive golds, headlined by a 1-2 finish in the women’s 200m butterfly from Dakota Luther and Hali Flickinger. Fink and Lilly King added 100m breaststroke titles of their own, adding to their respective cases for being two of the best breaststroke swimmers in the world this year.
The U.S.-Australia rivalry added another chapter on day three with the women’s and men’s 4x50m freestyle relays. Both events went down to the wire, and saw Douglass hold off Olympic champion Emma McKeon on the anchor leg to give the U.S. women the gold, only to have Kyle Chalmers surge ahead in the final 50 of the men’s event to give Australia the gold.
Now, as the competition enters its back half, all eyes are on the U.S. and Australia to see who can culminate more medals. Currently, the U.S. has nine gold medals to Australia’s eight, and 17 total medals to Australia’s 15. The final stretch of competition should be one that swim fans are not going to want to miss.
Click here for more on the competition.
On day one, Kate Douglass set a new American record and just missed the world record en route to gold in the women’s 200m IM. Her time of 2:02.12 took nearly two seconds off Melanie Margalis’ previous record of 2:04.06 from 2020. Alex Walsh grabbed silver in 2:03.37 to give the U.S. a one-two punch in the event. Later in the session, Douglass joined with Torri Huske, Claire Curzan and Erika Brown to take silver in 3:26.29 in the women’s 4x100m free relay, another American record. Douglass’ performances so far have been nothing short of astounding, as she is one of only three U.S. athletes so far with four total medals.
In the women’s 400m free final, veteran Leah Smith captured bronze in 3:59.78 to take home her fifth world championship medal of her career. The U.S. men took home two medals on day one as well, with Carson Foster winning silver in the men’s 200m IM in 1:50.96, his second-straight silver in short course worlds competition in that event. Like Douglass, Foster contributed a leg on the 4x100m free relay, joining Drew Kibler, Shaine Casas and Kieran Smith to take bronze (3:05.09) to end the night.
More records fell on night two, highlighted by the mixed 4x50m medley relay team’s world record-setting swim. Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink, Douglass and Huske combined efforts to post a 1:35.15, chopping over a second off the Netherlands’ 1:36.18 from 2021.
The medals kept rolling in as Murphy (100m back, 48.50) and Huske (50m fly, 24.64) grabbed gold in their individual events. Murphy’s time set a new championship record while Huske claimed her first individual medal at a World Championships in a tie with Canada’s Maggie MacNeil.
Curzan added a bronze in the women’s 100m back final at 55.74, while the women’s 4x200m free relay also took bronze behind Walsh, Hali Flickinger, Erin Gemmell and Smith’s American record-breaking swim of 7:34.70.
Through day two, the U.S. had racked up 11 medals – four gold, three silver and four bronze – with Australia (5/2/2) in second with nine. Momentum flip-flopped on day three, when the Aussies jumped ahead of the U.S. in both gold and total medals after the first three events, only to have the U.S. rattle off five consecutive golds, headlined by a 1-2 finish in the women’s 200m butterfly from Dakota Luther and Hali Flickinger. Fink and Lilly King added 100m breaststroke titles of their own, adding to their respective cases for being two of the best breaststroke swimmers in the world this year.
The U.S.-Australia rivalry added another chapter on day three with the women’s and men’s 4x50m freestyle relays. Both events went down to the wire, and saw Douglass hold off Olympic champion Emma McKeon on the anchor leg to give the U.S. women the gold, only to have Kyle Chalmers surge ahead in the final 50 of the men’s event to give Australia the gold.
Now, as the competition enters its back half, all eyes are on the U.S. and Australia to see who can culminate more medals. Currently, the U.S. has nine gold medals to Australia’s eight, and 17 total medals to Australia’s 15. The final stretch of competition should be one that swim fans are not going to want to miss.
Click here for more on the competition.