2024 SC Worlds Previews: Walsh, Douglass, and Haughey Highlight the Women’s Sprint Events

2024 SHORT COURSE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

• December 10-15, 2024
• Duna Arena, Budapest, Hungary
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The women’s sprint events are missing quite a few of the big-name athletes at this year’s World Championships just like most of the other disciplines.

There are a mix of reasons why athletes aren’t competing at Short Course Worlds from retirement, Emma McKeon, to a post-Olympics break, Mollie O’Callaghan, Ariarne Titmus, and Sarah Sjostrom, to withdrawing from the meet, Torri Huske.

Despite missing big-name talent, the women’s sprint events will still be exciting to watch with Americans Kate Douglass and Gretchen Walsh highlighting the field in the 50 and 100 free, while World Record holder, Siobhan Haughey from Hong Kong is defending her title in the 200 free and fighting for the gold in the 100.

WOMEN’S 50 FREE PREVIEW

• World Record: 22.93, Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED) – 2017
• World Championship Record: 23.04, Emma McKeon (AUS) – 2022
• 2022 SC World Champion: Emma McKeon (AUS), 23.04
• Returning 2022 SC World Finalists: Kasia Wasick, Meg Harris
• 2024 Olympic Finalists In The Field: Meg Harris, Gretchen Walsh, Kasia Wasick

The women’s 50 freestyle is looking like a very different race than the 2022 final, with only two of the finalists returning to compete at this year’s championships.

In 2022, the event went to Australia’s Emma McKeon, who recently retired from the sport. Kasia Wasick from Poland took silver and is one of the two returning athletes. The third 3rd place spot went to Great Britain’s Anna Hopkin who will not be attending this year. Meg Harris, who placed 6th, is the only other swimmer from the final who is competing this year.

It is a very similar story when considering the Olympic final from earlier this year. Only the silver medalist, Harris, and two additional finals swimmers will be at the meet, Gretchen Walsh (4th) and Wasick (5th). Olympic Champion and LCM world record holder Sarah Sjostrom, and bronze medalist Zhang Yufei are noticeably absent.

With the reigning Short Course World’s champion, and the Olympic champion out of the meet, the top 4 spots in the women’s 50 freestyle are shaping up to be a photo finish. Walsh, Wasick, Harris, and Kate Douglass (who did not swim the event at the Olympics) are separated by just over a tenth when comparing their long course times.

It is more difficult to compare SCM times, as only Wasick and Walsh have recent swims. Their personal bests are exactly the same at 23.10. Walsh swam this time earlier this season at the Virginia vs Florida dual meet in October. Wasick’s time is older and she hasn’t been this fast since she set it at the Indianapolis leg of the Fina World Cup in 2022. Her season best is 23.23 from the Singapore leg of this year’s World Cup.

Harris also has a best time from 2022, but she hasn’t swam the event since. At the 2022 World Championships, she clocked 23.73 in the event for 6th. The same year she went a best time of 24.32 in the 50 LCM in July. At this year’s Olympics, Harris went 23.97 to win the silver, almost 4 tenths faster than her 2022 time.

Douglass has never swam the event at an international meet, and her current listed best time of 24.39 comes from the first 50 of her 100 at the World Cup in Singapore. She has the fastest LCM best time of 23.91, and she is the only one of the four to not swim the event at the Olympic Games.

Walsh has been over a tenth second faster than anyone else this season, giving her the edge over Wasick for the gold. She is also coming in as the fastest swimmer ever in short course yards at 20.37, leaving the world record potentially in play. She is less than two tenths off the current record of 22.93 from 2017.

Wasick won the triple crown for the 50 freestyle events at the World Cup series, but Walsh did not compete due to her NCAA season and neither did Harris. Douglass did compete, but she did not swim the 50 freestyle. This consistent racing experience is ultimately what gives her the silver prediction over Douglass and Harris who are looking at 2+ years since racing the event.

It is hard to predict where Douglass will end up, as she did not swim this event at the Games, and also has never swam it short course meters, but her holding the fastest 50 free time long course led to the choice of her at bronze. This puts Harris at 4th.

Australian Alexandria Perkins and Italy’s Sara Curtis are also potential top 4 contenders, with Perkins going 23.77 to win the event at Australia’s National Championships, and Curtis breaking Italy’s national record to also go 23.77 at Italy’s Nationals.

Danielle Hill (24.00) of Ireland and Shuhan Liu (24.06) from China round out the top 8 seeds in the event.

SwimSwam’s Picks – Top 4

WOMEN’S 100 FREE PREVIEW

• World Record: 50.25, Cate Campbell (AUS) – 2017
• World Championship Record: 50.77, Emma McKeon (AUS) – 2022
• 2022 SC World Champion: Emma McKeon (AUS), 50.77
• Returning 2022 SC World Finalists (Top 8): Siobhan Haughey, Beryl Gastaldello
• 2024 Olympic Finalists In The Field: Siobhan Haughey, Gretchen Walsh

Similar to the 50 frees, the 100 free is lacking a lot of the star power that has highlighted the event in past years. Only two swimmers from the 2022 Short Course Worlds final will be swimming in the meet this year, silver medalist Siobhan Haughey and 7th place finisher Beryl Gastaldello. The gold went to Emma McKeon, who also won the 50, but she will not be defending her title.

The Olympic champion, Sarah Sjostrom, will also not be competing. Also absent is silver medalist Torri Huske who pulled out of the meet. The bronze went to Haughey, and the only other returning swimmer from the final is 8th place swimmer Gretchen Walsh.

When looking at what swimmers have done in the 100 freestyle this season, American Kate Douglass seems to be the favorite. She only swam the event at one leg of the Short Course World Cup, but she won, and nobody has been faster this season. On the last stop of the tour in Singapore, she broke the American record with her 50.82 to become the first American woman under 51, and the 5th fastest performer in history. The 4th fastest performer is Siobhan Haughey.

Haughey of Hong Kong has a faster recorded time than Douglass at 50.79 from 2021, and she won the first two legs of the World Cup, but she was second the one time Douglass swam it in Singapore, going her season-best 51.56. She does have the fastest 100 freestyle long course, coming in over half a second faster than Douglass, but, when it comes to the short course race, Douglass gets the edge.

Deciding on the bronze medalist was difficult. American Gretchen Walsh has never swam the event, but has the 3rd fastest long course time, and we know she has plenty of short course experience, just in yards. She could also make a case for the gold medal given her yards times compared to Haughey’s and Douglass’s. The podium will likely be these three in some order, and none of them would be shocking.

France’s Beryl Gastaldello has swam the 100 free this season, though not at the World Cup, and she is coming in with the 2nd fastest time at 51.48. She also has a recorded best time of 51.16 from December of 2020, but hasn’t been faster than her 51.48 since. Gastaldello is a short course specialist, and isn’t out of podium contention, but she hasn’t been as consistent as the other three.

Douglass, Gastaldello, and Haughey are the only swimmers who have been under the 52-second mark during the qualifying period. Daria Klepikova and Kasia Wasick are other potential medalists, coming in at 52.03 and 52.04 respectively.

SwimSwam’s Picks – Top 4

WOMEN’S 200 FREE PREVIEW

• World Record: 1:50.31, Siobhan Haughey (HKG) – 2021
• World Championship Record: 1:50.31, Siobhan Haughey (HKG) – 2021
• 2022 SC World Champion: Siobhan Haughey (HKG), 1:51.65
• Returning 2022 SC World Finalists (Top 8): Siobhan Haughey, Leah Neale
• 2024 Olympic Finalists In The Field: Siobhan Haughey, Mary-Sophie Harvey, Claire Weinstein

The 200 free is the only women’s sprint freestyle event with the reigning world champion coming back to defend her title. Siobhan Haughey won the event in 1:51.65 two years ago, a time she has already bested this season during the World Cup. Also returning is 6th place finisher, Australian Leah Neale.

Three Olympic finalists are also competing, Haughey took the bronze and is the only medalist at the meet. Mary-Sophie Harvey from Canada took 4th, and is looking to pick up a medal this time, and American Claire Weinstein took 8th and she will also be competing.

When it comes to predicting the gold medal, Haughey comes away as the clear favorite. Not only is she almost a second faster than anyone else in the field and the reigning world champ, she is also the World Record Holder in the event at 1:50.31 from her win at the 2021 World Championships. She also won the triple crown in the event at this year’s World Cup, with her Incheon swim coming in at her top time this season at 1:51.02. It is worth noting, that even her slowest World Cup swim, 1:51.80 in Singapore, was still almost a second ahead of the next fastest competitor at the World Championships.

The silver medal prediction goes to Australian standout Lani Pallister coming in with a personal best, and season-best time of 1:52.73. Pallister has had a very fast season so far with just one meet, winning the 200, 400, and 800 freestyle events at the Australian Short Course Championships. She has made a name for herself as a distance swimmer, placing 6th in the 800 freestyle at the 2024 Olympic Games, but this will be her first 200 freestyle individually at any senior level Worlds or Olympics.

Great Britain’s Freya Anderson could also challenge for the silver. Her best time is 1:51.87 from November of 2020, but she hasn’t been under 1:52 since. She went 1:52.16 in December of last year, which earned her the second seed in the event, but she has been dealing with illness on and off since then, and withdrew from the British Championships earlier this year due to training struggles as a result. She still competed at the Olympic Games as a relay swimmer, but her relay performances in the event were off her best time also from 2023.

Mary-Sophie Harvey is a medal contender with her personal and season best of 1:53.36. Harvey swam the event at two of the World Cup stops, in Shanghai and Incheon. Shanghai is where she set her new personal best in pursuit of her second-place finish. She dropped the final of the event in Incheon after earning the top seed out of prelims.

Leah Neale of Australia is another potential medalist. Neale is a veteran in the 200 free, being the only other finalist from 2022 in the field. Her best time of 1:52.84 came from those world championships, but she has struggled to get back under 1:53 since that swim. She most recently swam the event at the Australian Short Course Championships where she was second in 1:53.60. She is coming off a disappointing summer in the event after failing to make the semi-finals at the Olympic Trials, but she has been 3rd fastest in the field.

Nikolett Padar from Hungary is entered at 1:53.51 from December of 2023 to be the 5th seed in the event, and could also throw a wrench in the podium.

There are eight entries that fall within four-tenths of a second from 1:54.20 to 1:54.62 that will be battling it out for the finals positions including Olympic finalist Claire Weinstein.

SwimSwam’s Picks – Top 4