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FUKUOKA, Japan – Two American records fell on Wednesday night at the World Aquatics Championships held at Fukuoka’s Marine Messe Arena. USA Swimming saw three athletes clock personal bests while adding three medals to their totals.

Bobby Finke’s bronze-medal performance of 7:38.67 in the 800m freestyle bested his previous American record of 7:39.36, set on June 21, 2022. In the 50m backstroke semifinals, Regan Smith clocked a time of 27.10, breaking Katharine Berkoff’s previous American record of 27.12, set on April 28, 2022. Smith is now tied for third all-time in the event.

Thomas Heilman set a new personal best of 1:53.82 in the 200m butterfly final. Heilman finished fourth, just .03 off the World Junior record (1:53.79) and is the sixth American in history to go under 1:54.

American athletes collected one silver and two bronze,     bringing the total to 17 medals after eight competition sessions (3g, 7s, 7b). Lindsay Looney made her World Championships (LCM) debut on Wednesday.

Men’s 800m Freestyle – FINAL
BRONZE – Bobby Finke (Clearwater, Fla./St. Petersburg Aquatics/Gator Swim Club), 7:38.67*
*American record

Finke on his performance: “The race was a best time, a new (American) record so I can't complain about it. I always, always like to win. I don't like losing so that part kind of stings a bit, but it just gives me motivation going into the next year. This race has become quite, quite (fast) in the past couple of years. I think that's incredibly good for the sport. You can't just have one country or a couple of countries dominating everything. There are swimmers from all these other countries and that's incredible for the sport.”

Men’s 50m Breaststroke – FINAL
SILVER – Nic Fink (Morristown, N.J./Metro Atlantic Aquatic Club), 26.59

Fink on his performance: “I'm very happy with it. My timing was not great, and I think tonight I was definitely a lot more focused on Team USA (relay). I didn't really know what to expect going into that final. Everything kind of clicked. I got silver and I'm very happy with that.”

Mixed 4x100m Medley Relay – FINAL
BRONZE – USA, 3:40.19
   Ryan Murphy (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla./California Aquatics), 52.02
   Nic Fink (Morristown, N.J./Metro Atlantic Aquatic Club), 58.19
   Torri Huske (Arlington, Va./Arlington Aquatic Club), 58.19
   Kate Douglass (Pelham, N.Y. New York Athletic Club), 51.79

*With the U.S. earning bronze, prelim swimmers Katharine Berkoff, Josh Matheny, Dare Rose and Abbey Weitzeil also receive medals.

Murphy on the race: “Any time you get more data on an event, and this is still a relatively new event, we can take from that and continue to improve. It feels like we --Team USA--     are getting into our groove each day. We’re halfway through the meet. There are a lot of great swims, great performances to come.”

Men’s 200m Butterfly – FINAL
Fourth – Thomas Heilman (Crozet, Va./Cavalier Aquatics/Piedmont Family YMCA), 1:53.82*
Sixth – Carson Foster (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mason Manta Rays), 1:54.74
*Personal best

Women’s 200m Freestyle – FINAL
Sixth – Bella Sims (Henderson, Nev./Sandpipers of Nevada), 1:56.00

Women’s 50m Backstroke – SEMIFINAL
First – Regan Smith (Lakeville, Minn. Sun Devil Swimming), 27.10*
Fourth – Katherine Berkoff (Missoula, Mont./Missoula Aquatic Club/NC State), 27.49
*American record and tied for third all-time
The final will be contested on Thursday, July 27.

Women’s 200m Butterfly – SEMIFINAL
Second – Regan Smith (Lakeville, Minn. Sun Devil Swimming), 2:06.83
Eighth – Lindsay Looney (Denison, Texas Metroplex Aquatics/Arizona State), 2:07.72
The final will be contested on Thursday, July 27.

Men’s 200m Individual Medley – SEMIFINAL
Third – Carson Foster (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mason Manta Rays), 1:56.55
Eighth – Shaine Casas (McAllen, Texas/Longhorn Aquatics), 1:57.23
The final will be contested on Thursday, July 27.

Men’s 100m Freestyle – SEMIFINAL
Eighth – Jack Alexy (Mendham, N.J./California Aquatics), 48.06
The final will be contested on Thursday, July 27.

Men’s 100m Freestyle – PRELIM
18th – Chris Guiliano (Douglassville, Pa./University of Notre Dame), 48.41

Competition continues Thursday, July 27 with prelims at 10:30 a.m. and finals at 8 p.m. local time. In the U.S., prelims are Wednesday, July 26 at 9:30 p.m. ET with finals at 7 a.m. ET on Thursday, July 27.