Kasia Wasick’s 22.90 Anchor Helps Poland Claim Second Relay Medal At 2024 SC Worlds

2024 Short Course World Championships

• December 10-15, 2024
• Duna Arena, Budapest, Hungary
• SCM (25m)
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The big shock of the morning was that the United States’ gamble with its relay lineup did not pay off and the team finished ninth, missing the final. With that news, the race in the mixed 4×50 freestyle relay was wide open and what we saw was a competitive final between Italy, Canada, Poland, and the Neutral Athlete ‘B’ teams.

So often, Italy’s weakness on these mixed relays has been that their female sprinters haven’t been able to match up against other nations. But that wasn’t the case today: Leonardo Deplano and Alessandro Miressi had the Italians in the medal hunt after the first 100 meters. Silvia di Pietro and Sara Curtis maintained that, with Curtis pulling the team from third to first on her anchor leg to claim Italy’s first gold in Budapest.

Coming into the meet, Poland had never won a relay medal at the World Championships. Now, they have two as Kasia Wasick‘s 22.90 anchor pushed the nation’s relay onto the podium in the event as the quartet went from fourth to third on her relay leg.

1st Leg (Flat Start)

Ilya Kharun and Leonardo Deplano tied at 20.80 for the fastest lead-off leg. The swim is a lifetime best for both swimmers. For Kharun, this was his first time racing the 50 freestyle in short-course meters. Meanwhile, this marked Deplano’s first sub-21 swim, bettering the 21.05 best he held from the 2023 European Short Course Championships.

This was also Egor Kornev‘s first sub-21 second swim. He’d been 21.15 on three separate occasions, including last month at the Russian Short Course Championships, but hadn’t been able to break through the barrier until his swim today, which put the Neutral Athletes ‘B’ into third at the first exchange.

All the nations opted to go male, male, female, female for their relay lineups, which has become widely accepted as the fastest configuration for a mixed freestyle relay.

2nd Leg (Flying Start)

Yuri Kisil turned in a huge 20.57 split, giving the Canadians sole control of the lead. Italy was second after Alessandro Miressi‘s 21.01 split, ceding the Canadians a .44 second advantage heading into the second half of the race.

Kamil Sieradzki split 20.89, joining Kisil sub-21 seconds, pulling Poland from eighth to fourth. Earlier this meet, Poland claimed its first relay medal at the World Championships in the men’s 4×100 freestyle relay. Sieradzki led off that relay in 46.33.

Among the other lead changes in the field, Nicholas Lia‘s 21.02 split, fourth-fastest on this leg of the relay, moved Norway from seventh to fifth, while Hong Kong fell from fourth to eighth.

3rd Leg (Flying Start)

The third leg marked the beginning of the women’s turn in this relay. Arina Surkova clocked 23.04, which stands as the second-fastest split among the female swimmers in this field, moving the Neutral Athletes ‘B’ into silver medal position with 50 meters remaining.

Canada still held the lead at the final exchange, but the field had crept up on as Surkova, Silvia di Pietro, and Kornelia Fiedkiewicz all outsplit Wilm’s 21.72. Siobhan Haughey did as well; she moved her team into seventh, but the squad was a ways back from medal contention.

4th Leg (Flying Start)

The 18-year-old Curtis dropped a 23.34 split, a hundredth faster than di Pietro’s split on the previous leg. She flew home, and her split helped the Italians beat the Canadians by a tenth for the gold medal. Mary-Sophie Harvey–a versatile swimmer but not typically a sprinter–turned in a solid 23.51 split. It was third-fastest among the anchors and Canada earned the silver medal.

Kasia Wasick swam the fastest split among the women in the field, clocking a 22.90. The Polish sprint star had a little too much ground to make up to catch Italy or Canada, but was able to pass the Neutral Athletes ‘B’ and help Poland claim its second relay medal of the World Championships.