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FUKUOKA, Japan – After eight days and nights of swimming, the 2023 World Aquatics Championships came to an end on Sunday. Hunter Armstrong’s gold medal in the 50m backstroke and victories in the men’s and women’s 4x100m medley relays paced the U.S.’ medal haul of seven – three gold and four silver – on the final night of competition. 

Ryan Murphy (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla./California Aquatics; 52.04), Nic Fink (Morristown, N.J./Metro Atlantic Aquatic Club; 58.03), Dare Rose (Jersey City, N.J./California Aquatics; 50.13) and Jack Alexy (Mendham, N.J./California Aquatics; 47.00) secured the gold in the men’s 4x100m medley relay in a new Championship record time of 3:27.20. The victory marks USA Swimming’s first win in the event since 2017 and replaces the previous record of 3:27.28, set Aug. 2, 2009. 

Regan Smith (Lakeville, Minn./Sun Devil Swimming; 57.68), Lilly King (Evansville, Ind./Indiana Swim Club; 1:04.93), Gretchen Walsh (Nashville, Tenn./Nashville Aquatic Club/University of Virginia; 57.06) and Kate Douglass (Pelham, N.Y./New York Athletic Club; 52.41) combined for a 4x100m medley relay winning time of 3:52.08. The U.S. women have won the event in six of the last seven World Championships. 

In the 50m backstroke, Armstrong (Dover, Ohio/New York Athletic Club/California Aquatics) and Justin Ress (Cary, N.C./Mission Viejo Nadadores) posted a 1-2 finish for the second straight year – with Armstrong winning gold and Ress silver in this year’s edition. The U.S. has now won consecutive world titles in this event for the first time. Armstrong also won bronze in the 100m backstroke earlier in the meet. 

Bobby Finke finished his meet with a silver medal in the 1500m freestyle, touching just five one hundredths of a second (.05) behind the gold. He clocked a new American record of 14:31.59, shaving nearly five seconds off his previous time of 14:36.70. His performance marked his second American record set at these World Championships after posting a 7:38.67 in the 800m to earn the bronze medal earlier this week. 

After fourth-place finishes in the 100m and 200m breaststroke events, Lilly King (Evansville, Ind./Indiana Swim Club) captured her first individual medal of the competition with a silver in the 50m breaststroke. The U.S. has now medaled in the event in all but two World Championships since 2005. 

Back on July 14, Kate Grimes won USA Swimming’s first individual medal of these World Aquatics Championships, bronze in the open water 10K. Nearly two weeks later she won the team’s last individual event medal with her silver performance in the 400m individual medley on the final day of the pool competition. Grimes joins Katie Hoff and Elizabeth Beisel as the only American women since 2001 to medal in the 400m IM in at least two World Championships. 

The U.S. team finished the pool meet with 38 medals (7g, 20s, 11b) – 13 more than any other competing federation. Australia finished with 25 medals and China won 16. USA Swimming (1082 points) outscored Australia (804 points) and China (574 points) for the final scoring tally, earning Team of the Meet distinction. 

Men’s 4x100m Medley Relay – FINAL 
GOLD – USA, 3:27.20* 
   Ryan Murphy (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla./California Aquatics), 52.04 
   Nic Fink (Morristown, N.J./Metro Atlantic Aquatic Club), 58.03 
   Dare Rose (Jersey City, N.J./California Aquatics), 50.13 
   Jack Alexy (Mendham, N.J./California Aquatics), 47.00 
*Championship record 

With the U.S. earning gold, prelim swimmers Hunter Armstrong, Josh Matheny, Thomas Heilman and Matt King also receive medals. 

Alexy on the race: “I think finishing (with a gold) is really special. USA Swimming has a lot of talent, and I think we are all really glad to end the meet on such a strong note and build off that for the next 12 months.” 

Rose on the race: “We have a lot of rookies on the team, a lot of people this is their first big meet. I was happy with the way everyone performed. It’s a learning experience; I know I learned a lot from this meet, and a lot of other people did too. I’m just extremely happy to be here.” 

Women’s 4x100m Medley Relay – FINAL 
GOLD – USA, 3:52.08 
   Regan Smith (Lakeville, Minn./Sun Devil Swimming), 57.68 
   Lilly King (Evansville, Ind./Indiana Swim Club), 1:04.93 
   Gretchen Walsh (Nashville, Tenn./Nashville Aquatic Club/University of Virginia), 57.06 
   Kate Douglass (Pelham, N.Y./New York Athletic Club), 52.41 

With the U.S. earning gold, prelim swimmers Katharine Berkoff, Lydia Jacoby, Torri Huske and Abbey Weitzeil also receive medals. 

Smith on the race: “I think Team USA knows how to do medley relays really well, and I think we had something to prove tonight. We’ve all had great weeks, but we’ve also had our ups and downs, and I think we wanted to end on a really positive note. I think we all really executed (this race) perfectly and did just that.” 

G. Walsh on the race: “Gold is always the goal for anyone here at this meet. I think there is a lot to be said for staying motivated for other races, even when you don’t win gold. We never lost that drive as a team, and I’m really proud of all of us for persevering throughout the whole meet. This was the best way we could have ended it. I think this meet, and the ending, is a really good sign for next year. I’m really looking forward to all of it.” 

Men’s 50m Backstroke – FINAL 
GOLD – Hunter Armstrong (Dover, Ohio/New York Athletic Club/California Aquatics), 24.05 
SILVER – Justin Ress (Cary, N.C./Mission Viejo Nadadores), 24.24 

Armstrong on the meet: “Our goal is to always focus on Paris, I think this is a steppingstone. We have a lot of rookies, and we are seeing a lot of fast times from rookies and our veterans.” 

Ress on his performance: “It’s cool to be (on the podium) with an American teammate, especially going 1-2 at an event like this. Of course, you always want to win as a competitor, but you can’t win every race. It was fun.”  

Women’s 50m Breaststroke – FINAL 
SILVER – Lilly King (Evansville, Ind./Indiana Swim Club), 29.94 

King on her double: “I kept a positive attitude (this week) and sometimes you have to get back in and do the work between days. I had a good night tonight, and thankfully had these girls (Smith, G. Walsh and Douglass) with me. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without them. It was a great last night.”  

Men’s 1500m Freestyle – FINAL 
SILVER – Bobby Finke (Clearwater, Fla./St. Petersburg Aquatics/Gator Swim Club), 14:31.59* 
*American record 

Finke on his performance: “It’s always great to add to the (medal) tally. Racing Ahmed (Hafnaoui) was awesome. He pushed me faster than I thought I could go. I’m looking forward to racing him more often.”  

Women’s 400m Individual Medley – FINAL 
SILVER – Katie Grimes (Las Vegas, Nev./Sandpipers of Nevada), 4:31.41* 
Fourth – Alex Walsh (Nashville, Tenn./Nashville Aquatic Club/University of Virginia), 4:34.46* 
*Personal best 

Women’s 50m Freestyle – FINAL 
Fourth – Abbey Weitzeil (Santa Clarita, Calif./California Aquatics), 24.32  

The World Aquatics Swimming Championships medal table, sorted by federation and by athlete, can be found here. For more on the U.S. team at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships, visit here.