Masiuk & Wasick Rattle World Rankings At Polish Winter Championships

2023 POLISH WINTER CHAMPIONSHIPS

• November 23rd – November 26th
• Poznan, Poland
• LCM (50m)
• 2024 Olympic Games Qualifying Competition
• Results

18-year-old Ksawery Masiuk was in the water competing at the 2023 Polish Winter Championships that just concluded last night.

The 2022 World Championships bronze medalist solidified his status as the top backstroker from his nation, sweeping the discipline before the competition was all said and done.

In the 50m back, Masiuk stopped the clock in a time of 24.69 to get to the wall first. That scored the sole outing of the field under 25 seconds, with Kacper Stokowski earning runner-up status in 25.28 while Pawel Smolinski bagged the bronze in 25.56.

Masiuk’s result came within .25 of his lifetime best, a mark which stands at the 24.44 produced at the Polish Grand Prix in February. He now ranks 4th in the world on the season.

In the 100m back, Masiuk notched a gold medal-worthy 53.91 to top the podium. Opening in 26.34 and closing in 27.57, Masiuk once again held a comfortable advantage over Stokowski who settled for silver in 54.17.

Bronze in this race went to Radoslaw Kawecki, a staple in Polish backstroking at the age of 32, who hit 55.55.

The 200m back also fell victim to Masiuk, with the World Junior champion stopping the clock in 1:56.48. That beat the field by over 3 seconds, with Mikolaj Malec next in line in 1:59.63 and Kawecki collected another bronze in 1:59.87.

Masiuk’s 1:56.48 established a new lifetime best, overtaking his previous career-quickest 1:56.62 from when he took gold at last year’s European Junior Championships. He takes over the 4th slot in the world rankings.

Additionally, his result dipped under the World Aquatics Olympic Qualifying time of 1:57.50 needed to be considered for the 2024 Olympic Games.

Masiuk also grabbed the gold in the men’s 100m free, putting up one of two sub-49-second results of the field. He touched in 48.62 to get the job done as Mateusz Chowaniec joined him on the podium in 48.93 for silver. Kamil Sieradzki rounded out the top 3 performers in 49.09.

This outing marked Masiuk’s first-ever foray into the 48-second zone, as his previous PB entering this competition rested at the 49.20 registered earlier this year.

At one time Masiuk was headed to NC State to compete for the Wolfpack within the NCAA. However, in April of this year, the rising star changed his mind and decided to stay in Poland to train for the Paris Olympic Games. His results here are indicative that his decision is working for him, keeping to his tactic of concentrating on long course meters.

The women’s side of the championships saw Kasia Wasick and Kornelia Fiedkiewicz make some noise in the sprint freestyle events.

Wasick posted a swift 24.21 to take the 50m sprint, turning in the 5th-fastest performance of her career. The 31-year-old World Championships silver medalist in this event last year in Budapest owns the Polish national record in 24.11 from the semi-final there.

Fiedkiewicz was the silver medalist behind Wasick at these championships, registering a sub-25-second time of her own in 24.91. Anna Dowgiert also landed on the podium in 25.29.

Wasick ranks 3rd in the world on the season and her time earned Paris 2024 Olympic Games qualification.

Fiedkiewicz upgraded to gold in the 100m free, however, putting up a solid swim of 54.27. That sliced .18 off of her previous PB en route to putting Wasick’s Polish record of 54.22 from 2019 on big-time notice.

Fiedkiewicz is fresh off competing at the British Universities & Colleges (BUCS) Championships in Sheffield, England. Representing Loughborough, she won the short course 50 freestyle in 24.40 and the 100 freestyle in 53.37 to help her squad win the overall championships trophy.