2023 WORLD AQUATICS SWIMMING WORLD CUP – ATHENS
- Friday, October 13th – Sunday, October 15th
- Athens, Greece
- LCM (50m)
- Prelims 9:00am (EEST)/ 2:oo am (EDT)
- Finals 6:00 pm (EEST)/ 11:00 am (EDT)
- Meet Central
- Entries
- Live Results
We’ve reached the last session in Athens for the 2023 World Cup series. After two weekends of fast racing, there’s just one more stop on this year’s circuit, which happens next weekend in Budapest, Hungary.
Watch:
DAY 3 FINALS SCHEDULE:
- Men’s 400 IM — Fastest Heat
- Women’s 1500 Freestyle — Fastest Heat
- Women’s 100 Butterfly — Final
- Men’s 50 Butterfly — Final
- Women’s 200 Backstroke — Final
- Men’s 100 Backstroke — Final
- Women’s 50 Breaststroke — Final
- Men’s 200 Breaststroke — Final
- Women’s 100 Freestyle — Final
- Men’s 200 Freestyle — Final
- Women’s 200 IM — Final
MEN’S 400 IM — FASTEST HEAT
- World Record: 4:02.50 — Léon Marchand, France (2023)
- World Cup Record: 4:11.41 — Daiya Seto, Japan (2019)
- World Junior Record: 4:10.02 — Ilya Borodin, Russia (2021)
PODIUM:
- GOLD: Kaito Tabuchi (Japan) — 4:13.30
- SILVER: Matt Sates (South Africa) — 4:13.38
- BRONZE: Brendon Smith (Australia) — 4:18.18
The men’s 400 IM kicked off the final session with an electric race between Kaito Tabuchi, Matt Sates, and Brendon Smith. Sates leads the men’s overall standings despite fracturing his wrist during the 100 fly on the opening day here in Athens.
The South African lead the way after the butterfly, then Smith and Tabuchi moved into 1st and 2nd after the backstroke leg. Smith turned in 2:02.47, with Tabuchi at 2:03.93 and Sates further back in 2:04.86. As we’ve seen him do both in Berlin and Athens, Sates used the breaststroke leg to his advantage, closing the gap to his competitors with a 1:10.34 breast split. Tabuchi split 1:11.09, holding the lead into the freestyle leg while Smith had fallen into 3rd.
The freestyle leg was a duel between Tabuchi and Sates. Sates pulled ahead at the final turn, but Tabuchi charged home in 27.90 to out-touch Sates by .08 seconds for the win. Tabuchi posted 4:13.30 to Sates’ 4:13.38. Smith was 3rd in 4:18.18, giving us the same podium swimmers from Berlin just in a different order.
WOMEN’S 1500 FREESTYLE — FASTEST HEAT
- World Record: 15:20.48 — Katie Ledecky, United States (2018)
- World Cup Record: n/a
- World Junior Record: 15:28.36 — Katie Ledecky, United States (2014)
PODIUM:
- GOLD: Lani Pallister (Australia) — 15:55.73 *World Cup record*
- SILVER: Katie Grimes (United States) — 16:08.81
- BRONZE: Caitlin Deans (New Zealand) — 16:21.06
Australia’s Lani Pallister locked this race up early. She swam away from Katie Grimes, arguably her main competitor in the field, by the 200 meter mark. She continued to extend her lead as the race continued and by the end, she finished over 13 seconds ahead of Grimes. Pallister swam 15:55.73, setting a new World Cup record as this was the first time that this event had featured for the women at the World Cup.
Large gaps were the order of the day in this race, as Grimes easily took 2nd ahead of New Zealand’s Caitlin Deans. She swam 16:08.81, and we’ll see her again shortly as she’s set to race in the 200 backstroke final. Deans rounded out the podium with a 16:21.06.
WOMEN’S 100 BUTTERFLY — FINAL
- World Record: 55.48 — Sarah Sjostrom, Sweden (2016)
World Cup Record: 56.46 — Sarah Sjostrom, Sweden (2018)- World Junior Record: 56.43 — Claire Curzan, United States (2021)
PODIUM:
- GOLD: Zhang Yufei (China) — 56.06 *World Cup record*
- SILVER: Sarah Sjostrom (Sweden) — 56.92
- BRONZE: Torri Huske (United States) — 57.12
Zhang Yufei made a huge improvement from her winning time in Berlin dropping seven-tenths to earn another win in Athens. She was out in 25.98, .03 hundredths under world record pace. Torri Huske had a strong turn, challenging Zhang coming off the wall, but Zhang quickly took back control.
She ripped 56.06, setting a new World Cup record and erasing the mark from 2018 set by Sarah Sjostrom. Sjostrom was in the race as well, and made a huge push in the closing meters to get her hands on the wall in 2nd with a 56.92. “It was almost like an Olympic final, this field,” said Sarah Sjostrom. She wasn’t wrong–the race featured the three medalists from 2023 Worlds and herself, the world record holder. This is the first meet in a long time that we’ve seen Sjostrom take on the 100 fly–she’s been focusing on the fly/free sprints recently.
Huske had just enough left in the tank to grab 3rd a hundredth ahead of Maggie MacNeil.
MEN’S 50 BUTTERFLY — FINAL
- World Record: 22.27 — Andriy Govorov, Ukraine (2018)
- World Cup Record: 22.82 — Andriy Govorov, Ukraine (2018)
- World Junior Record: 22.96 — Diogo Ribeiro, Portugal (2022)
PODIUM:
- GOLD: Abdelrahman Sameh (Egypt) — 23.04
- SILVER: Isaac Cooper (Australia) — 23.19
- BRONZE: Michael Andrew (United States) — 23.32
Abdelrahman Sameh played upset to swimmers like Isaac Cooper, Michael Andrew, and Dylan Carter, who have been the sprinting stars of the World Cup circuit so far this year. Sameh earned the win here in the 50 fly with a 23.04, just off the personal best 22.94 he swam in Fukuoka earlier this year.
It was a personal best for 2nd place Isaac Cooper. The Australian swam 23.19, beating the 23.25 he swam last weekend in Berlin.
Michael Andrew was clearly unhappy with his finish, but he rounded out the podium in 3rd 23.32.
WOMEN’S 200 BACKSTROKE — FINAL
- World Record: 2:03.14 — Kaylee McKeown, Australia (2023)
World Cup Record: 2:06.47 — Kaylee McKeown, Australia (2023)- World Junior Record: 2:03.35 — Regan Smith, United States (2019)
PODIUM:
- GOLD: Kaylee McKeown (Australia) — 2:06.02 *World Cup Record*
- SILVER: Katie Grimes (United States) — 2:08.01
- BRONZE: Kylie Masse (Canada) — 2:10.77
Kaylee McKeown is now six-for-six in backstroke World Cup records at this year’s series. After first breaking the record held by Emily Seebohm in Berlin, she lowered the mark for the second time in a week here in Athens, blasting a 2:06.06. She has yet to lose a race on this World Cup with one stop still to go. She’ll also be looking to keep the streak alive later this session in the 200 IM.
Just after swimming the 1500 freestyle, Grimes was back in the water for the 200 backstroke. Despite feeling “dead” after her two races, the swim was still a personal best for Grimes, beating the mark she swam in Berlin by four-hundredths with a 2:08.01.
Kylie Masse was back on the podium for the third time this weekend. The Canadian followed up her silvers in the 50/100 backstroke with a bronze here in the 200 back in 2:10.77.
MEN’S 100 BACKSTROKE — FINAL
- World Record: 51.60 — Thomas Ceccon, Italy (2022)
- World Cup Record: 52.11 — Mitch Larkin, Australia (2015)
- World Junior Record: 52.53 — Kliment Kolesnikov, Russia (2018)
PODIUM:
- GOLD: Thomas Ceccon (Italy) — 52.73
- SILVER: Pieter Coetze (South Africa) — 53.49
- BRONZE: Apostolos Christou (Greece) — 53.61
World record holder Thomas Ceccon took care of business in the 100 backstroke, backing up his win in Berlin with another 1st place here in Athens. Ceccon led from wire-to-wire, posting a final time of 52.73. It was off the 52.27 he posted last weekend, but he was still okay with the time, echoing his comments after Day 2’s 100 freestyle by saying that for October, being under 53 seconds is a good thing.
South Africa’s Pieter Coetze made his third backstroke podium of the weekend. He held 2nd place through the entire race, and ended with a final time of 53.49, ahead of Apostolos Christou. Christou gave the Greek crowd their first podium of the night to cheer about as he grabbed the final spot in 53.61.
WOMEN’S 50 BREASTSTROKE — FINAL
- World Record: 29.16 — Ruta Meilutyte, Lithuania (2023)
- World Cup Record: 29.56 — Ruta Meilutyte, Lithuania (2023)
- World Junior Record: 29.30 — Benedetta Pilato, Italy (2021)
PODIUM:
- GOLD: Ruta Meilutyte (Lithuania) — 30.23
- SILVER: Siobhan Haughey (Hong Kong) — 30.36
- BRONZE: Sophie Hansson (Sweden) — 30.68
Ruta Meilutyte was back on top of the podium in the women’s 50 breaststroke. Meilutyte set a new world record en route to her world title in Fukuoka, hitting 29.16. She didn’t break 30 seconds here, but she did what she needed, fending off Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey for the win.
Haughey’s 2nd place time (30.36) is a new personal best for her. It’s the first time that she’s been sub-31, as her previous best stood at 31.21 from the Fort Lauderdale PSS earlier this year.
Sophie Hansson took 3rd with a 30.68, the final swimmer in the heat to get under 31 seconds.
MEN’S 200 BREASTSTROKE — FINAL
- World Record: 2:05.48 — Qin Haiyang, China (2023)
- World Cup Record: 2:07.45 — Qin Haiyang, China (2023)
- World Junior Record: 2:08.04 — Dong Zhihao, China (2023)
PODIUM:
- GOLD: Qin Haiyang (China) — 2:08.05
- SILVER: Dong Zhihao (China) — 2:09.18
- BRONZE: Caspar Corbeau (Netherlands) — 2:09.35
Like McKeown in the backstrokes, Qin Haiyang continues to assert his breaststroke dominance at the World Cup. Qin is undefeated in the breaststroke races through two stops of the World Cup. Qin, the world record holder in the event, led the race from start to finish. He posted a final time of 2:08.05; he was off his own World Cup record but still won the race by over a second.
His countrymate Dong Zhihao, the world junior record holder, put in a late charge on the closing 50 meters. He turned at the final wall in 5th, but split a massive 32.45 on the last 50 to move up all the way into second. He just got himself ahead of Caspar Corbeau, who used a strong final 50 of his own (33.31) to pass Arno Kamminga and earn 3rd with a 2:09.35.
WOMEN’S 100 FREESTYLE — FINAL
- World Record: 51.71 — Sarah Sjostrom, Sweden (2017)
- World Cup Record: 52.02 — Siobhan Haughey, Hong Kong (2023)
- World Junior Record: 52.70 — Penny Oleksiak, Canada (2016)
PODIUM:
- GOLD: Siobhan Haughey (Hong Kong) — 52.55
- SILVER: Sarah Sjostrom (Sweden) — 53.32
- BRONZE: Bronte Campbell (Australia) — 53.60
Just after earning silver in the 50 breaststroke, Haughey was back in the pool in the women’s 100 freestyle. She upgraded from silver to gold here in the freestyle, hitting 52.55. Haughey was out first in 25.24, then came charging home in 27.31 to secure the win.
It was also Sjostrom’s second race of the session, though she’d had a bit more of a break than Haughey since she raced the 100 fly at the top of the session. Like the 100 fly, she was able to put in a late dig to secure her spot on the podium. Sjostrom powered to a 53.32, moving from 4th to 2nd on the back half of the race with a 27.38 split.
In her first 100 freestyle since Tokyo, Bronte Campbell took third. She swam 53.60, passing her sister Cate Campbell on the back half of the race to earn the last spot on the podium.
MEN’S 200 FREESTYLE — FINAL
- World Record: 1:42.00 — Paul Biedermann, Germany (2009)
- World Cup Record: 1:44.38 — Danas Rapsys, Lithuania (2019)
- World Junior Record: 1:42.97 — David Popovici, Romania (2023)
PODIUM:
- GOLD: Danas Rapsys (Lithuania) — 1:45.72
- SILVER: Maximilian Guiliani (Australia) — 1:47.18
- BRONZE: Kieran Smith (United States) — 1:48.03
It was a tight race in the men’s 200 freestyle. Danas Rapsys, Maximilian Giuliani, and Kieran Smith went together through the first 150-meters of the race. At the final turn, .52 seconds separated the three swimmers. Rapsys turned first and had a huge turn that extended his lead.
From there, Rapsys turned on the jets and didn’t look back, ultimately winning the race in 1:45.72, 1.46 seconds ahead of the 2nd place Guiliani. The 20-year-old Guiliani was exactly a second off the personal best 1:46.18 he swam for silver in Berlin.
Smith earned 3rd, making the podium the exact same from Berlin. While Guiliani was off last weekend’s time, Smith was .12 seconds faster, touching in 1:48.03.
WOMEN’S 200 IM — FINAL
- World Record: 2:06.12 — Katinka Hosszu, Hungary (2015)
- World Cup Record: 2:08.15 — Katinka Hosszu, Hungary (2019)
- World Junior Record: 2:06.89 — Summer McIntosh, Canada (2023)
PODIUM:
- GOLD: Sydney Pickrem (Canada) — 2:09.67
- SILVER: Torri Huske (United States) — 2:11.15
- BRONZE: Kaylee McKeown (Canada) — 2:11.23
As expected, Huske took the 200 IM out fast, pushing on the fly leg. She opened the race in 27.39, the only swimmer in the field to split sub-28 on fly. She held onto her lead through the backstroke leg, splitting 34.05 to maintain a slight advantage over McKeown, who split 33.49 to move into 2nd.
It was Canadian Sydney Pickrem who made her move on breaststroke. She clocked 36.66 on the third 50, which vaulted her into the lead over McKeown by .69 seconds with Huske running third. Pickrem had enough room to hold her lead through the freestyle leg and picked up the win in 2:09.67.
Huske fought back on freestyle, splitting 30.74 to overtake McKeown for the silver. Huske swam 2:11.15, just getting the better of McKeown, who swam 2:11.23 for bronze.
Katie Grimes might want to seriously think about doing 200 back at US trials
Hard to figure out MA’s results sometimes. 50 free is on point taking the win. His fly is his best stroke right now and his 50back is also quite strong (not the 100). Breaststroke is a little off but still competitive in the 50. All this adds up to a strong 2IM for me but he doesn’t swim it. Seems like his best shot for Olympic individual medals is 200IM, 100fly, 50free in no particular order (does 2IM and 100fly conflict in Paris?). I don’t see him medaling and possibly not making the final either in the 100br unless he finds some form.
100 fly and 200 IM do conflict at the Olympics. 100 fly semis + 200 IM finals are the same session.
I’ve always thought that skipping the 100 fly at Trials in 2021 was a mistake. I think he could have medaled. That felt like his best event that year.
Training to race through that double may be his best shot. It is interesting that he almost needs to do the opposite of what Qin did when he left the IM behind to specialize in the breaststroke and leave the individual breaststroke behind somewhat to focus on the IM.
The 50 free and 200 IM also conflict so probably he can do the 200 IM or 50 free/100 fly.
I honestly don’t see him medalling in the 100 fly. It has become too deep this year, with Rose, Liendo and Grousset all producing 50 lows… come to think of it, I don’t see him individually medalling at all, if he can’t improve going into next year: 200 IM is also becoming quite deep (two 1:54). 50 free maybe? It’s shaping up to be a McEvoy show and a bloodbath behind him.
All that is to say, these might still be his best chances for a medal, but right now it’s a bit like saying that, say, Isabel Gose’s best chance at a medal at the upcoming Olympics is the 400 free: it’s her best event, but she will… Read more »
Don’t make too many assumptions about the 200 IM. Ceccon is excellent in 2 strokes (free and fly), WR holder in a third one, yet he won’t swim the 200 IM because it’s complex to train for (his words) and it conflicts with other events.
And he has got a much better stamina than MA.
How is Ceccon’s breaststroke? Can he swim it?
Decent enough for an IM 1:02.51
It’s a way out, but I don’t see MA focusing on the 200 Im. I see him swimming prelims at trials to have a feel for where he’s at then drop out to focus on the 50 free and 100 fly.
Agree with the sentiment that his breaststroke is a bit off. For some strange feeling I think he’ll get third at trials.
He may have to train and swim all these events at trials and see if he makes the team in any of them. If Dressel is in form he’s going to be competing for 2nd spot on the 50free and 100fly against the likes of Jack Alexy, Ryan Held, Dare Rose, Thomas Heilman, etc… Then he’s got to deal with Chase Kalisz and Carson Foster in the 2IM. Also Shaine Casas in the mix in both those events potentially. Did I miss anyone?
He swam the 200 IM in Berlin.
why does it say (Canada) after Kaylee McKeown’s name?
You stay classy, MA……
Pretty heartbreaking to hear that Abdelrahman Sameh’s been receiving death threats
Check what he posts on his instagram though… was not supporting Palestine, was making fun of Israel. Funny how one plays the victim so much.
Stop making up stories, the western media is trying to label everyone who says free Palestine as a bad person.
Where were you when apartheid state Israel „was and still“ committing genocide against Palestinians on a daily basis since 1948, colonizing their land and putting them in an open air prison ? Double standards…
He literally hasnt made a single instagram post making fun of Israel
I don’t believe that. He’s clearly a Hamas supporter and should not be in Athens if he was that worried about his safety. He’s clearly not concerned about all the innocent victims of terrorism.
What makes him a clear Hamas supporter? I didn’t see anything of the sort on his Instagram (although maybe the controversial posts were deleted)
Why do people only speak out against terrorism when the victims are white?
Because only White Lives Matter
Such a competitive field that Zhang didn’t get top 3 for this stop despite 2 golds and 1 silver
Zhang actually got more points at this stop than Berlin. It’s just that Sjostrom and Haughey both improved significantly
McKeown finally proving she’s human and not getting the win for the 200 IM but still swam faster for both 200 BK and 200 IM than Berlin I think??
She was faster in the 2 back but half a second slower in the 2IM. Pickrem and Huske both signficantly faster than last week. Kaylee’s time would have won again if Pickrem and Huske didn’t improve from last week.
Basically Kaylee’s goal for the double in Paris (200 back final followed by 2IM semi) needs to be to swim at least a 2:10 mid-low to make the final. She’s done a 2:10.7 and 2:11.2 so far. I have confidence that she’ll be able to get there when tapered.
While her speed is there I doubt she’s in peak fitness yet. Back in the lead up to Tokyo she did this double in reverse (200 IM/200 BK) with 25 mins between and went 2:08.23 and 2:05.16.
Oh yeah completely agree. Not concerned at all that she’ll have the ability to do the double when it counts.
she also did the double at comm games 2:05.6 200 back and 2:09.5 2IM
Sydney won and spoke about anxiety and depression, she’s backkkk!
You mean the “scratch queen”? Who takes spots on the Canadian team and then fails to show for meets or just chooses not to swim in races preventing others from competing? Great to see her backkkk?