2023 World Champs Previews: David Popovici Leads Stacked Field In Men’s 100 Free

2023 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

• July 23 – 30, 2023 (pool swimming)
• Fukuoka, Japan
• Marine Messe Fukuoka
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BY THE NUMBERS — MEN’S 100 FREESTYLE

• World Record: David Popovici, Romania — 46.86 (2022)
• World Junior Record: David Popovici, Romania — 46.86 (2022)
• Championship Record: Caeleb Dressel, United States — 46.96 (2019)
• 2022 World Champion: David Popovici, Romania — 47.58

Oh, how times have changed.

Just a little over a year ago, the general consensus was that Caeleb Dressel was the best men’s 100 freestyler in the world. Now, Dressel isn’t even qualified to compete at the World Championships, and the world record in the 100 free is held by an 18-year-old swimmer from Romania who goes by the nickname “Chlorine Daddy”. But his real name is David Popovici, and heading into the 2023 World Championships, he’s going to be the man to beat.

However, the field behind Popovici isn’t exactly weak, either. With names like Kyle Chalmers, Pan Zhanle, and more all in top form, expect the men’s 100 free race in Fukuoka to be a competitive one where several barriers could be broken. After all, it is the blue ribbon event.

The Champions

David Popovici, Courtesy of Fabio Cetti

In this 100 free field, Popovici and Australia’s Kyle Chalmers are the only two swimmers to have won major long course international titles in the event, with Popovici being the reigning world champion and Chalmers being the 2016 Olympic champion. In this year’s race, they will be the favorites to claim gold and silver.

Let’s start off by talking about the world record holder. Not only is Popovici the fastest swimmer in the field, but he’s also incredibly consistent. He has not lost a long course 100 free final since the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, claiming titles at the 2022 World Championships, European Championships, World Junior Championships, and European Junior Championships. In addition, just two years after he broke 48 seconds for the first time, he now has the second-most sub-48 swims in history (19 total), only trailing Dressel.

For some perspective on just how good Popovici is at swimming fast times on a regular basis, take a look at his eight fastest performances ever in the 100 free—seven of them came within a month of each other.

David Popovici‘s Top 100 Free Performances:

1. 46.86 — August 13, 2022 (world record)
2. 46.98 — August 12, 2022
3. 47.07 — August 30, 2022
4. 47.13 — June 21, 2022
5. 47.13 — September 4, 2022
6. 47.20 — August 12, 2022
7. 47.30 — July 8, 2021
8. 47.37 — August 30, 2022

Photo by Con Chronis/Arenasport

Popovici enters Worlds as a favorite to become a repeat champion, and he’s beaten just about every man that he’s going to compete against. However, there’s still one very important swimmer that he hasn’t taken down yet, and that’s Chalmers.

In the last Olympic cycle, Chalmers was a bit of a bridesmaid to Dressel. Though he beat Dressel at the 2018 Pan Pacs, he took silver behind the American at the 2019 Worlds and the 2021 Olympics, with the two races decided by a combined 18 one-hundredths. This year, it might seem like Chalmers is in a position to get silver behind another superstar, but don’t count him out yet. With a best time of 47.08, he’s 0.22 back of Popovici, and it’s not out of the question for him to take down that world record.

It’s hard to gauge how well Chalmers will swim this year. Last year, he didn’t swim the 100 free at Worlds because he had been recovering from shoulder surgery, and his season-best stood at 47.36 from the Commonwealth Games. However, he had his share of incredible relay splits, having been as fast last 46.60 on a rolling start. Meanwhile, he’s been dominant in the short course 100 free, breaking the world record and winning two consecutive short course world titles in the event (beating Popovici in the process). Now, for the first time since losing to Dressel by six one-hundredths at the Olympics, Chalmers will be racing a long course 100 free against the rest of the world.

What’s notable about Popovici vs. Chalmers is that both of them like to back-half their races, with both swimmers closing in sub-24.4 when they set their personal bests. That means that both swimmers will most likely have to come from behind in order to take the win, which will be very interesting to watch. Popovici also has a history of struggling in the wake of swimmers that are bigger than him in size, so he needs to make sure he’s not too far back from the rest of the field at the 50.

Split Comparison, Popovici vs. Chalmers:

We’re picking Popovici to win this race because it’s hard to bet against an 18-year-old world record holder who could very well lower that mark even more. However, Chalmers will not go down without a fight.

Podium Disruptors

Even with Popovici and Chalmers out of the equation, several swimmers in this 100 free field are capable of throwing down fast times. One of them is 18-year-old Pan Zhanle, who broke the Asian record at the Chinese Nationals this May in a time of 47.22. He has the same back half speed as Popovici and Chalmers, having opened his race in 22.96 and closed in 24.21. His last 50 is going to be an even bigger uphill battle than Popovici and Chalmers, and if he pulls through, he could see himself getting on the podium or maybe even beating the gold and silver favorites.

Pan isn’t new to the international stage—he broke out at the 2022 Worlds and took fourth in the 100 free final in a time of 47.75, though his semis time of 47.65 would have gotten bronze. However, even with youth on his side, it’s hard to predict whether he’s going to continue improving or not at Worlds. Chinese swimmers have a history of being faster at Nationals than at international meets, and with the Asian Games being this October, China’s best performances might not be saved for Worlds. That being said, Pan could still add a few tenths and remain a contender, so he’s still very much worth talking about.

Josh Liendo (photo: Jack Spitser)

France’s Maxime Grousset and Canada’s Josh Liendo, the reigning silver and bronze medalists respectively, arrive in Fukuoka as the fourth and fifth seeds. Grousset nearly matched his best time of 47.52 at French Nationals this June, winning the 100 free at that meet in a time of 47.63. Meanwhile, Liendo swam 47.86 to win his own trials meet. His best time is 47.55 from last year’s Worlds semis.

Liendo is our pick for bronze in this race for a multitude of reasons. One, he’s more likely to be at his best than Pan with Worlds being his big focus meet of the year. Two, he’s just 20 years old and in the prime/upward phase of his career, and has seen massive improvements from this past year alone. Since moving to Florida, which happens to be the training grounds of Dressel, he’s dropped over half a second in his long course 100 fly and had a breakout year in short course yards—at NCAAs, he clocked a time of 40.28 to become the second-fastest 100-yard freestyler of all time, trailing only Dressel. At the Canadian Trials, he didn’t go a best time in the 100 free which indicates that he’s saving it all for Worlds (the meet was also directly after NCAAs), and if he improves in the 100 free the same way that he did in the 100 fly, we could be in for something big from Liendo.

Ironically, Grousset also had a sizeable 100 fly drop this season, having just taken up the event this year. He came into 2023 with a best time of 56.11, but improved all the way to 50.61 at Nationals to break the French Record.

Other Contenders

Alessandro Miressi courtesy of Fabio Cetti

There are still plenty of other people to talk about in this race, where a whopping 18 men hold entry times that are under 48 seconds. Speaking of sub-48 swims, Italy’s Alessandro Miressi is a master at them—he’s broken 48 seconds a total of 18 times, which is tied for the third-most in history by a swimmer. Worlds last year was an “off” meet for Miressi, as he finished eighth in a time of 48.31 which was well off his personal best of 47.45. However, he swam much better at European Championships one month later, taking bronze behind Popovici and Kristof Milak in a time of 47.63. This year, Miressi has been as fast as 48.27, and if he can regain the ability to throw down 47s on a regular basis, he’s a surefire bet to final and potentially contend for a podium spot.

Hungary’s Nandor Nemeth and Great Britain’s Lewis Burras finished sixth and seventh respectively last year, and will be coming back to seek out a second-consecutive finals appearance. Nemeth snuck into last year’s final by virtue of a swim-off, where he took down Lorenzo Zazzeri and clocked a 47.69 to break the Hungarian Record. His record has since then been taken down by Milak, but Worlds (where Milak isn’t present) will be his opportunity to reclaim it. Burras came back from a difficult Olympic cycle to have a great 2022, which peaked when he set the British record in the 100 free in a time of 47.63. This year, he comes in with a season-best of 47.98, which came from his win against a very deep British freestyle field at Nationals.

Speaking of British freestyle, let’s also talk about Burras’ teammate, Matt Richards. Richards finished third at Nationals and wasn’t even supposed to race the 100 free individually, but was entered in the event after second-place finisher Duncan Scott dropped out. After swimming at the Tokyo Olympics as a relay-only swimmer and then failing to make it out of prelims individually at the 2022 Worlds, he’s now coming into a major meet with a strong chance to finish top eight in multiple individual events. He’s entered as the ninth seed with his best time of 47.72, which was set in the prelims of British trials this year.

After several years of Dressel running the show, the Americans now bring in a rather inexperienced duo of Jack Alexy and Chris Guiliano. At Nationals, they both dropped huge amounts of time, with Alexy improving from a best time of 48.69 to 47.75 and Guiliano improving from 49.17 to 47.98. Although both swimmers proved that they have a legitimate shot at making the final, it’s worth noting that neither swimmer was expecting to swim an individual event at Worlds (Guliano, as a matter of fact, was originally supposed to go to the World University Games that happen just a week after Worlds, which indicates that he didn’t even think he would make Worlds in its entirety) and have just three weeks to regroup from Nationals. On the biggest stage, will they be able to handle the pressure and replicate the times that booked them a ticket to Fukuoka?

Hwang Sunwoo courtesy World Aquatics

Popovici and Pan aren’t the only young swimmer in this field to look out for. South Korea’s Hwang Sunwoo, Popovici’s main rival in the 200 free, is also a factor. Last year, Hwang was off his best in the 100 free and missed the final, but it’s worth noting that he did go 47.56 as an 18-year-old in Tokyo (only 0.16 seconds slower than Popovici in 2021), which shows his potential. In addition, he’s also broken 48 multiple times since the 2022 Worlds, such as when he went 47.78 last October and 47.79 just over a month ago. Speaking of Asia, also be on the lookout for 17-year-old Wang Haoyu of China, who went 47.89 this spring but was somewhat overshadowed by Pan’s massive swim. The same concerns about China given to Pan also apply to Wang, but it’s never a good idea to overlook a 17-year-old going 47-point.

The fastest 100 freestyler in South America right now is University of Tennessee swimmer Gui Caribe, who broke the Brazilian Junior Record last December with a time of 47.82. He’s been on an upward trajectory ever since coming to Knoxville, and if he makes the final, he’ll be the first South American to do so since 2019.

Seventeen-year-old Flynn Southam of Australia and 18-year-old Diogo Ribiero of Portugal also saw recent breakouts. After qualifying for Worlds but opting to swim at Junior Pan Pacs last year, Southam will enter his first World Championships as Australia’s #2 100 freestyler behind Chalmers. He clocked 47.77 at Aussie Trials, marking a near half-second drop from his previous time. Ribiero has been as fast as 47.98, but it’s important to note that he contracted COVID-19 in late June—though he was asymptomatic and was training during the time that he had the infection.

SwimSwam’s Picks

Dark Horse: Bjorn Seeliger, Sweden: Though he’s best known for his accomplishments in the NCAA, Seeliger is actually a very respectable long course swimmer. He holds a best time of 48.07 and is capable of breaking 48 this year, but his issue is that he always swims his fastest leading off relays rather than in individual races (at Euros last year, his two best 100 free performances came from relay lead-offs). He also takes out his races super fast and struggles to close strong, but if he can tweak his strategy a tad, he could find himself in the 47s and vying for a spot in the final.