2024 World Championships: Day 1 Finals Preview

2024 WORLD AQUATIC CHAMPIONSHIPS

• February 11th – February 18th
• Doha, Qatar
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• Official Entries
• Live Results (Omega)
• Day 1 Prelims Recap

NIGHT 1 FINALS HEAT SHEET

Tonight’s Schedule

• Men’s 400 free final
• Women’s 100 fly semifinal
• Men’s 50 fly semifinal
• Women’s 400 free final
• Men’s 100 breast semifinal
• Women’s 200 IM semifinal
• Women’s 4×100 free relay final
• Men’s 4×100 free relay final

The finals of the men’s 400 freestyle will kick off the night. 2023 Worlds silver medalist in the event Ahmed Hafanoui missed the final as he finished 17th. Australia’s Elijah Winnington led the way this morning swimming a 4:44.37. Winnington won the 2022 World title in the event but finished 7th in the event in 2023. Winnington will look to rebound out of lane four tonight. Germany’s Lukas Martens is the highest returning swimmer from 2023 Worlds in this final as Martens won bronze in Fukuoka and will swim next to Winnington tonight. Felix Auboeck of Austria is also one to watch out for as he swam the 5th fastest time this morning. Auboeck was 4th in the event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The first semifinal of the night is the women’s 100 butterfly. Angelina Kohler of Germany led the way this morning swimming a personal best by over half of a second. Kohler was the only woman under the 57 second mark as she swam a 56.41, in fact, Kohler led the heats by over a second. Sweden’s Louise Hansson is coming off of a European Title in the SCM 100 fly from December and will look to qualify for the final and translate her success into LCM. Kohler’s swim was so fast this morning compared to the rest of the field that only Claire Curzan of the USA has ever been faster. Curzan swam the 5th fastest time this morning.

In what is not a surprise, the men’s 50 fly field was separated by just half of a second this morning so it will be a close battle to make the top 8 for Monday’s final. Nyls Korstanje of the Netherlands led the way just 0.01 seconds ahead of Michael Andrew (USA). Diogo Riberio of Portugal will look to advance to the final to defend his silver medal finish from Fukuoka.

Back to a finals event is the women’s 400 freestyle. New Zealand’s Erika Fairweather came into the meet as the only swimmer under the 4:00 mark and the bronze medalist from 2023 Worlds. Fairweather swam the second fastest time this morning and will be next to Li Bingjie of China who swam the top time. The only other finalist from 2023 Worlds swimming in the event tonight is Isabel Gose (Germany) who swam the third fastest time this morning.

13 men swam under the 1:00 mark in the 100 breaststroke this morning as Nic Fink led the way in a 59.19. Fink finished just ahead of Italy’s Nicolo Martinenghi who swam a 59.27. The two won silver and bronze in the event at 2023 Worlds, respectively. Making his return to the LCM World Championships was World Record holder Adam Peaty who swam the 3rd fastest time this morning.

Defending World Champion Kate Douglass led the heats of the women’s 200 IM swimming a 2:10.01 and will continue to be the heavy favorite through the race. Other swimmers from the 2023 Worlds final include Marrit Steenbergen of the Netherlands who swam the 3rd fastest time this morning and Israel’s Anastasia Gorbenko who swam the 8th fastest time of the morning.

The women’s 4×100 free relay will be the first relay of the meet. As expected, Australia led the way this morning swimming a 3:38.33, about a second ahead of Italy (3:39.20). The men’s 4×100 free relay will take place right after as the US led the way this morning just ahead of Italy.

Day 1 Finals Scratches And Swim-Off Note:

• Women’s 200 IM: Letitia Sim (13th)
• Men’s 50 fly swim-off: Singapore’s Teong Tzen Wei won the three-way swimoff against Sinmon Bucher (Austria) and Stergios Bilas (Greece) swimming a 23.42 to make the semifinal.