2024 SC Worlds Previews: Three Events, Three Different Champs in Women’s Distance Free

2024 SHORT COURSE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

The women’s longer freestyle events, when viewed in decreasing distances, start to increase in star power, culminating with the 400 Free, which will see the reigning World Champion and the 2024 Paris Silver medalist duel for the win. However, duel may not be the right term, as there are several other swimmers who have the pedigree to be in the medal conversation.

As one moves on from the 400 to the 800 and from the 800 to the 1500, we see a downward trend of entries, meaning that with just 25 entries in the 1500, many of those who would be on the periphery of the medal conversation in the 400 may see their chances improve in the 800 and 1500. While lumped together for the purposes of this article, the differences between these three events are quite large are therefore so too are the types of athletes entered in them, meaning that it’s quite possible that not only could there be a different winner for each, but a different podium as well.

Women’s 400 Free PREVIEW

With three of the returning eight finalists from 2022 and four of the returning Olympic Finalists, the 400 free is one of the stronger events at this meet and is epitomized by the twin presence of the 2022 breakout star Lani Pallister and the teen phenom Summer McIntosh.

Pallister, a native of Australia, was always a strong distance swimmer, winning multiple golds at the Junior level and won a bronze in the 1500 free at the 2022 Long Course Worlds in the 1500, but it was in front of a home crowd in Melbourne that Pallister exploded to the forefront. She swept the 400, 800 and 1500 as well as swimming the fastest split on the WR setting 4×200 free relay.

In the 400, Pallister set a new personal best of 3:55.04 to claim the gold. Pallister enters this meet as the top seed in the event with a 3:56.27 from the Australian Short Course Championships. Pallister came down with COVID in Paris but earned a gold medal as a prelims swimmer on the 4×200 relay. Since then, however, she has rebounded the 3:56.27 is not far off her best, and at the same Short Course Champs, Pallister won the 200 free in a new personal best of 1:52.73, less than half a second off her relay split from 2022.

If it weren’t for this next swimmer, Pallister would be a slight favorite, but the #3 seed is Summer McIntosh. With a PB of 3:52.80, the Canadian would be the easy front-runner, but McIntosh finds herself entered with a 3:58.37.

Her long course result of 3:58.37.

While most domestic (USA) entry lists follow a format of listing all conforming course times first and then listing non-conforming (for example, all yards entries, then meters entries as was the case at the US Open), these World Championships are not so long course times are scattered throughout the entries, and thus making McIntosh, the Junior World Record holder in this event, the #3 seed.

McIntosh’s 3:58.37 was good for silver in Paris and surely, she will be looking to improve upon that medal. The teen has raced once since the Olympics at yards meet in Florida, where she swam 4:35.74 in the 500. Also, entered in the 200 Back, 200 Fly, and 400 IM, the Canadian should, based on past results, be alone at the front and near the World Record mark.

McIntosh is not the only swimmer who has entered with a long course time that’s fastest enough to warrant consideration for not only making the finals but also for a chance at the medals. Looking to continue the career renaissance from this summer is the USA’s Paige Madden.

The former UVA swimmer entered with her 4:02.08 from the U.S.’s Olympic Trials is no stranger to short course meters. Madden has a PB of 3:59.58 from a 5th place finish at the 2021 edition of the meet. Madden, who was 6th in this event in Paris, has not raced since then, but if she should be riding the wave of momentum from her individual bronze in the 800 could pose a serious threat for the silver medal.

Two other Olympic finalists also appear on the entry list. 5th in Paris, the German Isabel Gose will look to, like Madden, to use the success of her 1500 bronze to help her reach the podium in the 400, but her chances likely lie elsewhere. While Gose was one spot better than Madden in Paris, the pair were swapped in Abu Dhabi at the 2021 Worlds, as Gose was 6th in a result of 4:00.82. The 4th seed, Maria Fernanda Costa, was 7th in Paris with a time of 4:03.53 but opted to enter with a short course meters time of 3:59.33.

Three other swimmers appear in the entries with seed times under 4:00. The #2 seed and perhaps one of the best backhalf swimmers in the world is McIntosh’s fellow Canadian, Mary-Sophie Harvey. Harvey swam the 400 free at the last two World Cup stops, winning in Incheon with a new PB of 3:56.78 (her entry time) and placing second in Shanghai, recording a time of 3:58.21.

Joining her under 4:00 are Italy’s Simona Quadarella and Japan’s Miyu Namba. Namba is the only one of the three who swam in 2022, placing 4th in a time of 4:01.13, but has since lowered that mark to be in the sub-4:00 range. Like Quadarella, Namba, who won two medals in Melbourne, may find the 400 free too short of a race to have a chance at the podium. Quadarella, Italy’s distance star, is a multiple-time World Champion in the long course but has to reach the top in the short course.  The 5th seed, the Italian, is entered with her 2023 Euros winning time of 3:59.50.

Two other swimmers to consider in the battle for the final are the second American and Australian entrants: Claire Weinstein and Leah Neale. Weinstein joined the World Cup series in the last stop and swam a PB of 4:00.17, but like Neale, whose entry time of 4:00.63 comes from the Australian Short Course Champs, Weinstein may find herself overshadowed by her compatriot.

SwimSwam’s Picks – Top 4

Rank Swimmer Season-Best Lifetime Best
1 Summer McIntosh (CAN) N/A 3:52.80
2 Lani Pallister (AUS) 3:56.27 3:55.04
3 Mary-Sophie Harvey (CAN) 3:56.78 3:56.78
4 Paige Madden (USA) N/A 3:59.58

Women’s 800 Free PREVIEW

When the distance doubles to the 800, we see the withdrawal of McIntosh and Harvey but introduce two new swimmers into our medal conversation, Anastasiia Kirpichnikova and Katie Grimes.

Kirpichnokova, a naturalized French citizen, jumps into the medal conversation as she appears in the entry lists as the #2 seed. Entered with a time of 8:08.48, from her gold medal performance at the 2023 Euros, the Frenchwomen will look to improve upon her 7th place showing at the Olympics. Kirpichnikova has a PB of 8:04.65, which is not far off the winning time from 2022, but with four other swimmers who placed ahead of her in Paris also entered in this event, Kirpichnikova may have better luck for a shot at gold in the 1500.

Grimes did not swim the 800 in Paris but, like Weinstein, joined the World Cup series for its last stop in Singapore. Grimes, who struggled in the 1500 in Paris but claimed silver in the 400 IM, claimed victory in the 800 ahead of Australia’s open-water turned-pool swimmer Moesha Johnson, 8:14.36 to 8:18.24. With that 8:14.36, Grimes is the fourth seed, one spot time her compatriot Madden.

Madden, who won bronze in the 800 free in Paris, leads a long and strong list of returning Olympic Finalists. Simona Quadarella (4th), Isabel Gose (5th), and Lani Pallister (6th) will all look to improve upon their standings. Madden’s time in Paris was a new personal best of 8:13.00, which converts to 8:00.19 and would easily place her in the front running to secure gold.  Whereas Madden has a result in the 400 from the 2021 Worlds, she doesn’t have a recorded time in the 800.

Quadarella, the 4th place finisher from the 800 in Paris, is entered in a scm time from her runner-up finish from the 2023 Euros. The Italian, who swam a 8:14.36 in Otopeni, holds a personal best of 8:07.99 dating back to 2021. When looking at her international medal count, Quadarella seems better suited (or at least trains more for) LCM, as she has a total of 17 medals in LCM across both Worlds and Euros as compared to just the seven in the short course. That said, the two SC Worlds medals did come in the 800 free: a silver in 2018 and a bronze in 2021 behind Li Bingjie and Kirpichnikova.

Gose, too, follows a similar pattern, having won 6 individual medals in the long course at Worlds and Euros as compared to just three in the short course. The German, who was 5th in Paris, won silver earlier in the year at the 2024 Worlds in Doha, from which her entry time of 8:17.53 comes and, if converted, becomes 8:04.72, but she has only swam as fast as an 8:08.26, so may find the more turns in scm not to her liking.

Pallister, who was 6th in Paris, won the 800 in Melbourne in a new Austalia record of 8:04.07, taking the win by a margin of over six seconds. More recently, at her home nation’s qualifying meet, the Aussie cruised to victory in 8:06.71, winning handily. Pallister, who is not competing in the 1500, is the top seed in this event and thus will swim in the timed final at night, will have a conflict as she has opted to contest the 100 free, which has its prelims and semifinals on the same day.

Japan’s Namba and Brazil’s Gabrielle Roncatto were both in the 2022 final, with the Japanese swimmer snapping up the bronze and the Brazillian placing 8th. Both find themselves back in the event, but Namba is much better placed to make the top 8 again as her 8:16.68 makes her the 6th see,d whereas Roncatto, like the home nation’s Ajna Kesely and Vivien Jackl, is not seeded in the top 8, and will have to swim in the morning and hope their results are enough to get them near the podium.

Swimming as a neutral athlete, Russian Ksenia Misharina brings some youth to the event. Born in 2009, Misharina is the 7th seed as her time of 8:17.01 from this past November could challenge some of the more established veterans.

While Pallister is a world-class athlete, the potential double and Madden’s form at the Olympics seem to give the edge to the Americans, but it could easily go the other direction. Kirpichnikova had a poor 1500 at the French Championships in November, but it was her only swim, and based on her familiarity with the event, she gets a slight edge over Grimes, but expect the fight for bronze to be tight as Quadarella and Gose will be up there as well.

SwimSwam’s Picks – Top 4

Rank Swimmer Season-Best Lifetime Best
1 Paige Madden N/A N/A
2 Lani Pallister (AUS) 8:06.71 8:04.07
3 Anastasiia Kirpichnikova (FRA) N/A 8:04.65
4 Katie Grimes (USA) 8:14.36 8:12.20

Women’s 1500 Free PREVIEW

With just 25 entrants, an improvement on 18 from Melbourne, the number of possible medalists whittle down to just a select few.

With no Pallister, no Madden and no Grimes, Kirpichnikova, the Olympic silver medalist, jumps to the top of the back. The Frenchwoman who beat Gose by less than a second and Quadarella by under four seconds will have a fight on her hands from the pair, but last December, she was crowned champion in Romania, as she won in the new French record of 15:20.12, 16 seconds ahead of Quadarella and 31 ahead of Kesely. Gose, who beat out Quadarella for the bronze in Paris, owns a personal best of 15:25.50 as compared to the Italian’s 15:29.74.

The three European veterans occupy the top three entries, albeit with Quadarella’s scm time of 15:33.40 ahead of Gose’s 15:41.16 from the Olympics. After the trio comes more Europeans, albeit one’s just looking to make their mark on the international stage.

The previously mentioned Russian Misharina is one of two 15-year-olds with a top-five seed. The other teenager is Great Britain’s Amelie Blocksidge. While both are entered in the shorter distances, the 1500 better suits the Brit. Misharina’s time of 15:45.72 is from just a few weeks ago, whereas Blocksidge’s entry is from December of last year.

While both likely have a chance to finish amongst the top 8, they aren’t the only swimmers looking to break through at Worlds. The only two returners from the 2022 Worlds, Turkiye’s Deniz Ertan and the USA’s Jillian Cox, were 6th (15:53.73) and 8th (16:09.72), respectively. Both swim collegiately in the United States, with Ertan competing for ASU and Cox with Texas. Ertan has not competed in the mile yet this season, but Cox just recently dropped 24 seconds to record a new PB of 15:34.66, which converts to a 15:40.26.

Moesha Johnson and Beatriz Dizotti, while not returning finalists, each made the final in Paris. Johnson, who picked up the silver medal in the 10k open water, placed 6th in Paris in a result of 16:02.70, just ahead of the Brazilian’s 16:02.86. Each, however are entered with other times as Johnson, the 10th seed, will enter with her 15:57.85 (LCM) from Australian trials, and Dizotti, the 8th seed, enters with a 15:53.25 (SCM) from the Jose Finkel meet this past August. Seeded ahead of Johnson is her compatriot, Tiana Kritzinger. The pair went head to head in September, with Kritzinger taking the win 15:52.90 to 15:59.36, avenging her 3rd place at trials.

Hungary’s Kesely finished 3rd at the most recent European Championships, recording a result of 15:51.34. Seeded amongst the top 8, the Hungarian, in front of a home crowd could improve upon that personal best but she’ll be locked in a tough battle with Misharina, Blocksidge, and Cox, with the American getting the edge due to the massive drop in the mile at the Texas Hall of Fame Invite. The only caveat to that is as a time final, Cox and her LCM time will not be in the final heat, so she will likely be racing out front alone.

SwimSwam’s Picks – Top 4

Rank Swimmer Season-Best Lifetime Best
1 Anastasiia Kirpichnikova (FRA) 16:30.39 15:18.30
2 Isabel Gose (GER) 15:25.50
3 Simona Quadarella (ITA) 15:33.40 15:29.74
4 Jillian Cox (USA) N/A 16:09.72

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Hank
1 month ago

Not to put any pressure on her but Summer will break several WRs at this meet.

Samboys
1 month ago

It looks like the women’s distance events will be pretty interesting.