2024 World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m)
- December 10-15, 2024
- Duna Arena – Budapest, Hungary
- SCM (25 meters)
- Meet Central
- Full Schedule
- Day 1 Prelims Recap
- Live Results
We got off to a speedy start on day one of the 2024 World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m) with two national records biting the dust in the heats of the women’s 200m IM.
First, South Africa’s Rebecca Meder captured the 4th seed this morning, firing off a new personal best of 2:06.15. That obliterated her previous PB and South African standard of 2:07.42 established at the Shanghai stop of this year’s World Cup series.
Meder’s result also came within .02 of Olympian Kirsty Coventry‘s African continental record of 2:06.13 that’s been on the books since 2008.
Comparing Meder’s old and new records, the 22-year-old elevated her breaststroke leg to another gear, beating her previous split of 37.16 from October by over a second to make the game-changing difference.
| Meder’s New Record – 2:06.15 | Meder’s Old Record – 2:07.42 |
| 27.00 | 27.16 |
| 31.98 | 32.13 |
| 36.12 | 37.16 |
| 31.05 | 30.97 |
The second national record came at the hands of Ellen Walshe, who nailed a new Irish standard of 2:06.50 en route to snagging the 6th seed.
If we thought Meder’s new record was head-turning, Walshe’s new personal best demolished her previous record of 2:08.32 logged at last year’s Irish SC Championships. She hacked nearly 2 seconds off that former outing.
The difference for Walshe accumulated across all 4 legs with the biggest differential noted on the backhalf, including knocking nearly a second off the final free split.
| Walshe’s New Record – 2:06.50 | Walshe’s Old Record – 2:08.32 |
| 27.48 | 27.40 |
| 32.23 | 32.45 |
| 36.78 | 37.37 |
| 30.22 | 31.10 |
We’ll see what both Meder and Walshe come up with during the medal-contending race here in Budapest. At the 2022 edition of these championships, it took at least 2:03.57 to make it onto the podium.
Women’s 200 IM
- World Record: 2:01.86 – Katinka Hosszu, HUN (2014)
- World Junior Record: 2:04.48 – Yu Yiting, CHN (2021)
- World Championship Record: 2:01.86 – Katinka Hosszu, HUN (2014)
- 2022 SC World Champion: Kate Douglass, USA – 2:02.12
Top 8 Qualifiers:
- Abbie Wood (GBR) – 2:05.16
- Mary-Sophie Harvey (CAN) – 2:05.99
- Kate Douglass (USA) – 2:06.08
- Rebecca Meder (RSA) – 2:06.15
- Emma Carrasco Cadens (ESP) – 2:06.42
- Elle Walshe (IRE) – 2:06.50
- Alex Walsh (USA) – 2:06.63
- Tamara Potocka (SVK) – 2:07.17
