arena Swim of the Week: Mary-Sophie Harvey Caps Standout Worlds With 1:51.49 200 Free

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Disclaimer: Swim of the Week is not meant to be a conclusive selection of the best overall swim of the week, but rather one Featured Swim to be explored in deeper detail. The Swim of the Week is an opportunity to take a closer look at the context of one of the many fast swims this week, perhaps a swim that slipped through the cracks as others grabbed the headlines, or a race we didn’t get to examine as closely in the flood of weekly meets.

Canadian Mary-Sophie Harvey had a phenomenal performance at last week’s Short Course World Championships in Budapest, taking on an incredibly busy schedule and delivering blistering swims every time out.

Coming into the last session on Sunday night, the 25-year-old had won a pair of medals and raced 14 times, including four 400-meter events, and yet she managed to save her best for last.

In the final of the women’s 200 free, Harvey was fifth with 50 meters to go, but turned on the jets coming home and snagged the silver medal in a time of 1:51.49, setting a new Canadian and Americas Record with one of the fastest swims in history.

Coming into the meet, Harvey owned a personal best of 1:53.36, set during the World Cup circuit in October, and she brought that down to 1:52.81 in the prelims.

In the final, her swim lowered Rebecca Smith‘s Canadian Record of 1:52.15, Allison Schmitt‘s Americas Record of 1:51.67, and moved her into #6 all-time in the event.

Split Comparison

In moving up from fifth to second on the last 50, Harvey ran down, among others, American Claire Weinstein, who won bronze in 1:51.62, which ranks her #8 all-time in the event.

World record holder Siobhan Haughey won gold in 1:50.62, just over three-tenths shy of her all-time record set in 2021.

All-Time Performers, Women’s 200 Freestyle (SCM)

1. Siobhan Haughey (HKG), 1:50.31 – 2021
2. Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), 1:50.43 – 2017
3. Federica Pellegrini (ITA), 1:51.17 – 2009
4. Katinka Hosszu (HUN), 1:51.18 –2014
5. Ariarne Titmus (AUS), 1:51.38 – 2018
6. Mary-Sophie Harvey (CAN), 1:51.49 – 2024
7. Yang Junxuan (CHN), 1:51.61 – 2022
8. Claire Weinstein (USA), 1:51.62 – 2024
9. Camille Muffat (FRA), 1:51.65 –2012
10. Emma McKeon (AUS), 1:51.66 –2015

Harvey’s swim in the 200 free was her second individual Canadian Record of the meet, having also claimed one in the 100 IM (57.04), and her third medal, adding to the bronzes she won in the women’s 400 free and the women’s 4×100 free relay.

Overall she set personal bests in five of the six events she raced (plus two relay splits), only narrowly missing out on her PB in the 400 IM, which she set in early November at the World Cup.

Harvey’s Personal Bests In Budapest

In addition to her medals in the 200 and 400 free, Harvey placed fourth in the 100 IM, 200 IM and 400 IM at the competition, putting her versatility on full display.

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