2024 SC World Championships: Day 6 Prelims Live Recap

2024 SC WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

• December 10-15, 2024
• Duna Arena, Budapest, Hungary
• SCM (25m)
• Meet Central
• Roster Index
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• Pick’em
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results
• Prelims Live Recap: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5
• Finals Live Recap: Day 1  | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5

We have now reached the final day of competition in the 2024 swim season. This last prelims session shouldn’t disappoint. Today’s competition starts with some 200s, and in traditional international competition fashion, we wrap it up with the medley relays.

Day 6 Prelims Line-Up

• Women’s 200 free
• Men’s 200 free
• Women’s 200 back
• Men’s 200 back
• Women’s 4×100 medley relay
• Men’s 4×100 medley relay

In the first event, the women’s 200 freestyle, Siobhan Haughey will be looking for a spot in finals to make it three straight world titles in this event. The men’s event, meanwhile, has a brand new world record holder in Luke Hobson from the 800 free relays earlier in the meet. Can Hobson back up his swim individually?

This short course season, Regan Smith has been on a warpath in backstroke, breaking world records in all three distances at least once. This 200 backstroke could serve as her victory lap and perhaps an opportunity to set new records.

The final individual event is the men’s 200 backstroke. Reigning Olympic gold medalist, Hungary’s Hubert Kos, has a shot to win his first short course world title. However, he’ll face competition from a slew of European talent, including top seed Lorenzo Mora.

Women’s 200 freestyle

• World Record: 1:50.31 — Siobhan Haughey, HKG (2021)
• World Junior Record: 1:52.59 — Bella Sims, USA (2022)
• Championship Record: 1:50.31 — Siobhan Haughey, HKG (2021)
• 2022 Champion: Siobhan Haughey, HKG — 1:51.65

Top 8

1. Claire Weinstein (USA) — 1:52.51
2. Mary-Sophie Harvey (CAN) — 1:52.81  
3. Lani Pallister (AUS) — 1:53.01  
4. Leah Neale (AUS) — 1:53.48  
5. Siobhan Haughey (HKG) — 1:53.76  
6. Paige Madden (USA) — 1:53.94  
7. Freya Anderson (GBR) — 1:53.99  
8. Sofia Morini (ITA) — 1:54.29 

The first of the seeded heats, and the top seed overall, went to Team USA’s Claire Weinstein. The 17 year-old carried over the momentum from her monster 1:50 split in the 800 free relay, breaking Bella Sims’ World Junior record with a 1:52.51. It slashes nearly two seconds off her best time of 1:54.31 from the World Cup this year.

Weinstein’s teammate Paige Madden controlled following heat to qualify 6th overall in 1:53.94. Just behind her was Freya Anderson (1:53.99)

Canada’s Mary-Sophie Harvey took the final heat in a new personal best of 1:52.81. She had a very strong back half, overtaking defending world champion Siobhan Haughey in the final 50.

Men’s 200 freestyle

• World Record: 1:38.91 — Luke Hobson, USA (2024)
• World Junior Record: 1:40.68 — Matthew Sates, RSA (2021)
• Championship Record: 1:38.91 — Luke Hobson, USA (2024)
• 2022 Champion: Hwang Sun-woo, KOR — 1:39.72

Top 8

1. Luke Hobson (USA) — 1:41.55  
2. Lucas Pierre Henveaux (BEL) — 1:41.58  
3. Tomas Koski (FIN) — 1:41.92  
4. Kieran Smith (USA) — 1:42.22  
5. Tatsuya Murasa (JPN) — 1:42.28  
6. Rafael Miroslaw (GER) — 1:42.38  
7. Maximillian Giuliani (AUS) — 1:42.67  
8. Danas Rapsys (LTU) — 1:42.84 

Two new national records came out of heat 6. Belgium’s Lucas Pierre Henveaux won the heat in 1:41.58, eclipsing his own 1:42.14 national record. Tomas Koski touched second in a new Finnish record of 1:41.92. The record previously belonged to Matias Koski (1:43.51).

In the following heat, the Americans posted a 1-2 finish. Luke Hobson led the race from the start and never looked back, touching in 1:41.55. Kieran Smith trailed him in 1:42.22, narrowly out touching Japan’s Tatsuya Murasa and Germany’s Rafael Miroslaw to come back seeded 4th tonight.

Australian Edward Sommerville, who entered the meet as the top seed by half-a-second with a 1:40.67, swam 1:42.87. That left him in 9th place and out of the final by .03 seconds. He split 1:41.03 on a rolling start in the men’s 800 free relay earlier in the meet.

Women’s 200 backstroke

• World Record: 1:58.83 — Regan Smith, USA (2024)
• World Junior Record: 2:00.03 — Missy Franklin, USA (2011)
• Championship Record: 1:59.23 — Katinka Hosszu, HUN (2014)
• 2022 Champion: Kaylee McKeown, AUS — 1:59.26

Top 8

1. Summer McIntosh (CAN) — 2:01.52  
2. Anastasiya Shkurdai (Neutral BEL) — 2:01.78  
3. Carmen Weiler Sastre (ESP) — 2:02.16  
4. Phoebe Bacon (USA) — 2:02.36  
5. Regan Smith (USA) — 2:02.42  
6. Pauline Mahieu (FRA) — 2:03.26  
7. Iona Anderson (AUS) — 2:03.57  
8. Milana Stepanova (Neutral RUS) — 2:04.62 

As if freestyle and IM and butterfly weren’t enough, Summer McIntosh has now put the backstroke world on notice. The Canadian posted the top time of the morning in 2:01.52. This is a new best time by about 1.3 seconds. She is now a quarter a second away from Kylie Masse’s national record of 2:01.26.

McIntosh wasn’t the only newsworthy swimmer of the morning. Carmen Weiler Sastre had a phenomenal morning swim, winning the final heat and breaking a 13 year-old Spanish record. The 20 year-old dropped over two and a half seconds, going from 2:04.94 down to 2:02.16. She also got well under Duane da Rocha’s 2:03.23 national record from 2011.

Top seeds Regan Smith and Anastasiya Shkurdai both made it to the final comfortably.

Men’s 200 backstroke

• World Record: 1:45.63 — Mitch Larkin, AUS (2015)
• World Junior Record: 1:48.02 — Kliment Kolesnikov, RUS (2017)
• Championship Record: 1:46.68 — Ryan Lochte, USA (2010)
• 2022 Champion: Ryan Murphy, USA — 1:47.41

Top 8

1. Hubert Kos (HUN) — 1:48.02  
2. Mewen Tomac (FRA) — 1:50.34  
3. Jan Cejka (CZE) — 1:50.36  
4. Daiki Yanagawa (JPN) — 1:50.45  
5. Lorenzo Mora (ITA) — 1:50.97  
6. Guannan Tao (CHN) — 1:51.03  
7. Dmitrii Savenko (NAB) — 1:51.20  
8. Jack Aikins (USA) — 1:51.28 

Hubert Kos established himself as a pretty solid favorite to win the final individual event of the meet. The Hungarian Olympic gold medalist cut four and a half seconds from his best time to clock a 1:48.02, earning him the top seed by over two seconds.

Kos’ Olympic podium mates from this summer, Switzerland’s Roman Mityukov and Greece’s Apostolos Siskos, both missed the final.

Podium contenders for tonight include Mewen Tomac, Lorenzo Mora, Daiki Cejka, and Daiki Yanagawa, all of whom swam 1:50s. For Yanagawa, this was a new personal best, dropping from 1:50.94 to 1:50.45.

Women’s 4×100 medley relay

• World Record: 3:44.35 — United States (C. Curzan, L. King, T. Huske, K. Douglass) (2022)
• Championship Record: 3:44.35 — United States (C. Curzan, L. King, T. Huske, K. Douglass) (2022)
• 2022 Champion: United States (C. Curzan, L. King, T. Huske, K. Douglass) — 3:44.35

Top 8

1. United States (Katharine Berkoff, Emma Weber, Alex Shackell, Alex Walsh) — 3:48.56
2.  China (Xinan Qian, Qianting Tang, Luying Chen, Shuhan Liu) — 3:49.10
3.  Sweden (Hanna Rosvall, Olivia Klint Ipsa, Louise Hansson, Sara Junevik) — 3:49.79
4.  Great Britain (Abbie Wood, Angharad Evans, Eva Okaro, Freya Anderson) — 3:50.20
5.  Italy (Sara Curtis, Benedetta Pilato, Elena Capretta, Sofia Morini) — 3:50.80
6.  Neutral Russia (Elizaveta Agapitova, Yuliya Efimova, Arina Surkova, Daria Trofimova) — 3:51.81
7.  Hungary (Lora Fanni Komoroczy, Henrietta Fangli, Panna Ugrai, Petra Senanszky) — 3:51.92
8.  Japan (Aimi Nagaoka, Kotomi Kato, Mizuki Hirai, Yume Jinno) — 3:52.25

Today’s relay portion got off to a pretty dramatic start with two powerhouse countries missing the final.

Canada was disqualified. There was a -.18 reaction time between butterflier Ingrid Wilm and freestyler Penny Oleksiak.

Australia, meanwhile, finished 10th this morning. The team of Iona Anderson, Tara Kinder, Lily Price, and Milla Jansen combined for a 3:53.82, about 1.5 seconds outside of the top 8.

The United States earned the top spot of the morning with a 3:48.56. They have several stars such as Kate Douglass, Regan Smith, Lilly King, and Gretchen Walsh in the vault to potentially swim tonight. 

While the Americans are the favorites for tonight, Canada and Australia have made the race to the podium a lot more open. In the middle lanes on either side of the United States tonight will be the Asian and European record-holding countries: China and Sweden. Only three seconds separate #2 through #8.

The Australian women finished 10th, missing the final by a second-and-a-half in spite of having some pretty good swimmers on their relay. The breaststroke split of 1:07.08 from Tara Kinder really hurt them and their freestyle anchor of 53.26 from Milla Jansen, usually the strength of this team, wasn’t enough to overcome that.

Men’s 4×100 medley relay

• World Record: 3:18.98 — Australia (I. Coopers, J. Yong, M. Temple, K. Chalmers) / United States (R. Murphy, N. Fink, T. Julian, K. Smith) (2022)
• Championship Record: 3:18.98 — Australia (I. Coopers, J. Yong, M. Temple, K. Chalmers) / United States (R. Murphy, N. Fink, T. Julian, K. Smith) (2022) 
• 2022 Champion: Tie – Australia (I. Coopers, J. Yong, M. Temple, K. Chalmers) / United States (R. Murphy, N. Fink, T. Julian, K. Smith) — 3:18.98

Top 8

1. Poland (Kacper Stokowski, Jan Kalusowski, Jakub Majerski, Ksawery Masiuk) — 3:21.70
2. Russia Neutral (Pavel Samusenko, Aleksandr Zhigalov, Andrei Minakov, Dmitrii Zhavoronkov) — 3:22.08
3. Canada (Blake Tierney, Finlay Knox, Ilya Kharun, Yuri Kisil) — 3:22.66
4. United States (Shaine Casas, Aj Pouch, Zach Harting, Chris Guiliano) — 3:22.83
5. Australia (Isaac Cooper, Joshua Yong, Matthew Temple, Harrison Turner) — 3:23.45
6. Italy (Christian Bacico, Simone Cerasuolo, Simone Stefani, Alessandro Miresi) — 3:23.53
7. Japan (Masaki Yura, Taku Taniguchi, Takaya Yasue, Kaiya Seki) — 3:23.67
8. France (Yohann Ndoye-Brouard, Roman Fuchs, Clement Secchi, Maxime Grousset) — 3:23.88

The Polish men continue their week of unprecedented relay success by earning the middle lane in the final tonight. They also smashed their seven-year-old national record by five seconds, going from 3:26.50 to 3:21.70. Kacper Stokowski started them off on the right foot with a field-leading 49.36 backstroke leg. He was followed by Jan Kalusowski (57.24), Jakub Majerski (49.11), Ksawery Masiuk (46.01).

The 2nd-4th teams, Russia, Canada, and United States, had one field-leading split each. Russian breaststroker Aleksandr Zhigalov rocked a 56.37, Canada’s Ilya Kharun turned in a 48.48 on butterfly, and American anchor Chris Guiliano hit a 44.99 freestyle leg.

Only two seconds separate #1 from #8 going into the meet’s last event tonight.