2023 WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS
- July 23 to 30, 2023
- Fukuoka, Japan
- Marine Messe Fukuoka
- LCM (50m)
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- Day 1 Prelims Live Recap | Day 1 Finals Live Recap
- Day 2 Prelims Live Recap | Day 2 Finals Live Recap
- Day 3 Prelims Live Recap | Day 3 Finals Live Recap
- Day 4 Prelims Live Recap | Day 4 Finals Live Recap
- Day 5 Prelims Live Recap | Day 5 Finals Live Recap
- Day 6 Prelims Live Recap | Day 6 Finals Live Recap
- Day 7 Prelims Live Recap | Day 7 Finals Live Recap
- Day 8 Prelims Live Recap | Day 8 Finals Live Recap
World Aquatics have given out their official awards for swimming at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships, picking its Best Male Athlete, Best Female Athlete, and Best Team.
Award Winners:
- Best Male Athlete: Leon Marchand, France
- Best Female Athlete: Kaylee McKeown
- Best Team: USA
Team USA Captains accept the World Aquatics Trophy
At least two of the awards will be controversial, though World Aquatics uses a strict points system to determine its winners in an attempt to avoid controversy:
Relay points are not taken into account at all.
In this case, the men’s individual awards had to go to that last clause, where “a decision made by the World Aquatics” determined the winner.
McKeown won the 50 back (Oceania Record), 100 back (Meet Record), 200 back to score 15 points. She was the only female triple winner of the meet, ahead of a bunch of double winners – including countrymate Mollie O’Callaghan, Lithuania’s Ruta Meilutyte, Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom, and American Katie Ledecky – who thanks to a 2nd place finish in the 400 free actually ranked 2nd in this order.
The men’s award was murkier, with two swimmers scoring the same number of points:
- Leon Marchand, France – 200 fly (French Record), 200 IM (European Record), 400 IM (World Record)
- Qin Haiyang, China – 50 breast, 100 breast (Asian Record), 200 breast (World Record)
While World Aquatics hasn’t declared the criteria for a tie-breaker, there are checkmarks in the favor of either swimmer. Qin’s 50-100-200 triple is unprecedented in swimming history, and he also had a relay gold medal and a relay silver medal. His performance was also the less-expected of the two.
Marchand, on the other hand, broke the oldest World Record on the books, and the one remaining record from the most-accomplished male swimmer of all-time Michael Phelps. He also comes from the country that will host next year’s Olympic Games, and, cynically, creates a high profile marketing angle for the host country.
Practically, they probably broke the tie in the cleanest, most-objective way they could: Marchand’s 400 IM was the highest FINA Points swim of the meet (1016), just above Qin’s 200 breast (1011).
As for the team trophy: most independent observers will agree that Australia had the better meet, winning 13 golds to just 7 for the US (though a last-day surge of three gold medals for the Americans certainly closed that gap up substantially).
But the US had more total medals (38 versus 25), and far more depth than the Australians. In a system where individual races are scored 1-16 and relays are scored 1-8, the US still dominates. While the world is catching up to the Americans in a hurry in medals, the American depth is still unmatched globally. AQUA has not yet released the final points standings for the team trophy, but typically, the US has around twice-as-many points as their next-best opponents.
I’m an American swimmer\coach and to give the USA team of the meet is not right. Australia set five world records to our none and won more events. Maybe if you scored the top the places or the top 8 places, you might find the USA winning a team compeition, but Australia was the team of the meet.
We did this with a lot of young swimmers who benefitted from the experience, but give the Aussies credit for a great meet.
We need to reset our goals and focus on Paris.
Go USA!
Consolation award fot team USA, the NBC based medal count fot thus award
Queensland > New Jersey
https://swimswam.com/jersey-boys-dominate-the-demographics-of-the-2023-u-s-world-championships-team/#comment-1221411
Marchand was obviously the right pick. 3 golds in olympic events vs. 2 golds in olympic events and both with 1 world record. Personally i also would have ranked Hafanoui ahead of Qin.
Olympic events without a single australian athlete in the final: 6
Olympic events without a single american athlete in the final: 1 (Men’s 400 free, Smith finished 9th and missed the final by 0.34 seconds)
Olympic events with 2 australian athletes in the final: 9
Olympic events with 2 american athletes in the final: 19
Australian event winners: 13
American event winners: 7
Australian World records: 5
American World records: 0
This looks way more legit and elite.
I thought everyone agreed that Australia won the most gold medals and therefore also won the medal table, but i guess some people are a bit slower …
Everyone agreed that Australia won the most gold medals and therefore also won the medal table, but you’re just a bit slower …
The USA will always win Best Team since they are the only country that can send full team.
This is the correct answer. Not only that, but they’re the only team with the resources to just send whoever qualifies. Every other country has swimmers who could have “scored points” but was left behind because they don’t have the money to just throw everything at the wall and see what sticks
Yes, probably. If you want an other nation to win the “best team award” you have to hope that an other nation becomes better than the US in swimming, instead of just changing the criteria just so that you can call an other nation the best team. Obviously that makes this award somewhat “pointless” (if there is no real competition and the same nation always wins it).
Why is everyone surprised that USA is best team? They haven’t changed the scoring for this stuff in years?
World Aquatics needs to revise the team scoring point system:
Gold – 5 points
Silver – 3 points
Bronze – 1 point
As Inspector Clouseau would say “until we meet again and the case is sol-ved”.