SwimSwam Awards: 2024 Short Course World Championships (Men’s Edition)

2024 SHORT COURSE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

• December 10-15, 2024
• Duna Arena, Budapest, Hungary
• SCM (25m)
• Meet Central
• Live Results
• Prelims Live Recap: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6
• Finals Live Recap: Day 1  | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6
• Full Results (PDF)

The 2024 Short Course World Championships are in the books, and now it’s time to hand out some hardware.

Below, find the Swammy Awards for the competition on the men’s side.

• See the women’s awards here.

MEN’S SWIMMER OF THE MEET: NOE PONTI (SUI)

Noe Ponti was unstoppable at Short Course Worlds, going undefeated en route to three gold medals in the men’s 50 fly, 100 fly and 100 IM.

Not only did Ponti go three-for-three in individual finals, he was never beaten during an evening session, advancing out of the semi-finals of all three events as the top seed.

It didn’t take long for the Swiss native to announce his presence in Budapest, setting a Championship Record during the opening session in the heats of the men’s 50 fly, clocking 21.53 to fall just three one-hundredths shy of his world record and erase Nicholas Santos‘ CR of 21.78 from 2022.

Ponti went on to reset his world record of 21.50 in the semis of the 50 fly, touching in 21.43, and then brought the mark down to 21.32 en route to winning the final.

Next up for the 23-year-old was the 100 IM, where he broke the Championship Record twice, posting a time of 50.43 in the semis before clocking 50.33 in the final, winning gold by nearly eight-tenths of a second. The previous CR stood at 50.63 from Kliment Kolesnikov in 2018.

The swim ranks Ponti #4 all-time in the event, only trailing Caeleb Dressel (49.28), Leon Marchand (49.92) and Vladimir Morozov (50.26).

Ponti closed out his individual program in the 100 fly, rocketing to the gold medal in a time of 47.71, breaking Dressel’s world record of 47.78 set in 2020 while becoming just the second man in history under 48 seconds.

Ponti also broke his own European Record of 48.40, set during the World Cup in October, and also took down Chad Le Clos‘ World Championship Record of 48.08 from 2016.

Ponti’s lone relay swim came in the heats of the men’s 4×100 medley, where he split 48.29 swimming the fly leg for the Swiss men who ultimately finished 10th in a time of 3:24.74, a new National Record.

Using the World Aquatics Trophy scoring system, Ponti led all male swimmers by a massive margin, scoring 21 points to put him 10 clear of the next highest.

World Aquatics Trophy Rankings – Men

1. Noe Ponti (SUI), 21
2. Jordan Crooks (CAY), 11
3. Miron Lifintsev (NAB) / Qin Haiyang (CHN), 10
4. –
5. Luke Hobson (USA) / Hubert Kos (HUN) / Kirill Prigoda (NAB), 9

Honorable Mentions

• Miron Lifintsev (NAB) – The Russian native was a standout performer in Budapest for the Neutral Athletes ‘B’ team, sweeping the men’s 50 and 100 back with a pair of World Junior Records while walking away with five total golds. The 18-year-old won the 100 back in a time of 48.76, lowering the World Junior and Russian Record of 48.90 set by Kliment Kolesnikov in 2017. Lifinitsev edged out Hubert Kos (48.79) for gold while moving into #4 all-time in the event. Lifintsev followed up by winning the 50 back in a time of 22.47, breaking Isaac Cooper‘s World Junior Record of 22.52 from 2022. Lifinitsev also won three gold medals on the Neutral Athletes ‘B’ relays, including the men’s 4×100 medley relay squad that broke the world record in 3:18.68. Lifintsev led off the mixed 4×50 medley in 22.39, faster than his record swim in the individual 50 back, and was 48.90 leading off the mixed 4×100 medley and 49.31 on the men’s 4×100 medley. Five gold medals ranked him first among male swimmers.
• Luke Hobson (USA) – Hobson only had a handful of swims in Budapest, but he made the most of them with three gold medals and four world records. After splitting 45.18 on the U.S. men’s 4×100 free relay that won gold and set a new world record of 3:01.66, Hobson unleashed a stunning swim leading off the 4×200 free relay, clocking 1:38.91 to break Paul Biedermann‘s 200 free world record of 1:39.37 from 2009, which was the oldest SCM record on the books. The American men went on to win gold in the relay in 6:40.51, obliterating the world record. Hobson then one-upped himself in the individual 200 free, re-breaking the world record in 1:38.61, putting him 76 one-hundredths under Biedermann’s old record.
• Qin Haiyang (CHN) – Qin was one of just three male swimmers to win multiple individual titles, sweeping the men’s 50 and 100 breast. Qin kicked things off by winning the 100 breast in a time of 55.47, breaking the Championship Record previously held by Ilya Shymanovich (55.70) while downing his own Asian Record of 55.61 set in October. Qin followed up by winning the 50 breast in 25.42, just four one-hundredths shy of his two-month-old Asian Record from the World Cup. The 25-year-old Chinese native was also in the field in the men’s 200 breast, but was ninth in the prelims and missed the final.

MEN’S SWIM OF THE MEET: LUKE HOBSON (USA), 200 FREESTYLE

Luke Hobson had two jaw-dropping performances in the men’s 200 freestyle in Budapest, breaking the world record leading off the U.S. men’s 4×200 free relay before re-lowering the record in the individual event.

Coming into the meet, the oldest individual SCM world record on the books was in the men’s 200 free, with Paul Biedermann having established a mark of 1:39.37 in November 2009. And once Gretchen Walsh broke the women’s 50 fly record during the opening session in Budapest, Biedermann’s record was the lone SCM record remaining from the super-suit era.

Then came the men’s 4×200 free relay, where Hobson unleashed a time of 1:38.91, knocking 46 one-hundredths off Biedermann’s record.

The Americans went on to win gold, smashing the relay world record, but the Swim of the Meet came two nights later in the 200 free.

Rather than playing it safe and ensuring the win, Hobson went out even more aggressively than he did in the relay, powering to a time of 1:38.61 to knock three-tenths off his 48-hour-old world record and put him 76 one-hundredths under Biedermann’s previous record.

Split Comparison

Hobson also demolished the American Record of 1:40.49, which was set by fellow Texas Longhorn Townley Haas in 2020, and he also downed the Championship Record of 1:39.72 set by Hwang Sunwoo in 2022.

Honorable Mentions

• Noe Ponti (SUI), 50 fly – Ponti broke the world record in the 50 fly twice, culminating with a time of 21.32 in the final after going 21.43 in the semis. He’s now broken the all-time record in the event four times in the last two months, doing so twice on the World Cup circuit. After the world record stood at 21.75 for nearly three years, Ponti brought it down by 43 one-hundredths in short order. His swim in the final scored 1061 AQUA (FINA) points, the most of any male swim.
• Noe Ponti (SUI), 100 fly – Ponti resetting the world record in the 50 fly was no surprise, but his performance in the 100 fly was a bit of a shocker. Coming into the final owning the European Record of 48.40, Ponti got all the way down to 47.71 in the final, breaking Caeleb Dressel‘s world record of 47.78 set in 2020 while becoming just the second swimmer in history to break 48 seconds.
• Jordan Crooks (CAY), 50 free – Crooks took down the elusive 20-second barrier in the semis of the men’s 50 free, producing a scintillating 19.90. That came after he broke Dressel’s world record in the prelims, bringing the American’s previous mark of 20.16 down to 20.08. Crooks went on to win the final in 20.19.
• United States, 4×200 free relay – The U.S. men absolutely obliterated the world record in the 4×200 free relay, with Hobson’s lead off distancing them from the field early before they ultimately won by five seconds. Following Hobson’s 1:38.91, we saw elite splits from Carson Foster (1:40.77), Shaine Casas (1:40.34) and Kieran Smith (1:40.49), finishing in a time of 6:40.51 to knock 3.61 seconds off the previous record of 6:44.12 set by the U.S. team in 2022.

MALE JUNIOR SWIMMER OF THE MEET: MIRON LIFINTSEV (NAB)

Miron Lifintsev was the best male junior swimmer at the meet by a wide margin, winning two individual and five gold medals while breaking a pair of World Junior Records.

As previously mentioned, Lifintsev won gold with new World Junior Records in the men’s 50 back (22.47) and 100 back (48.76), and he was even faster in the 50 back leading off the Neutral Athletes ‘B’ (NAB) winning mixed 4×50 medley relay (22.39).

The 18-year-old added lead-offs en route to wins for NAB in the mixed 4×100 medley relay (48.90), also a new world record, and the men’s 4×100 medley relay (49.31).

Honorable Mention:

• Kuzey Tuncelli (TUR) – Besides Lifintsev, Tuncelli was the only other male junior swimmer to win a medal in Budapest, claiming bronze in the men’s 1500 free. The 17-year-old clocked 14:20.64 in the event, breaking Gregorio Paltrinieri‘s World Junior Record of 14:27.78 set in 2012. (Grant Hackett is still the fastest junior ever at 14:19.155, done in 1998 prior to World Junior Records being recognized.) Tuncelli also set a new Turkish Record and blowed past his previous best time of 14:38.61 set last December.

MEN’S BREAKOUT PERFORMER OF THE MEET: MIRON LIFINTSEV (NAB)

Lifintsev has been out of the limelight during his rise to becoming an elite backstroker due to the ban on Russian athletes competing internationally, making his performance in Budapest a true breakout.

The 18-year-old’s five gold medals led all male swimmers and his World Junior Record swims in the 50 and 100 back were some of the fastest in history.

Coming into the meet, Lifintsev held best times of 22.75 in the 50 back and 49.26 in the 100 back, and got down to 22.47 (22.39 unofficially) and 48.76 racing under the lights at his first World Championships.

Honorable Mentions:

• Ahmed Jaouadi (TUN) – Jaouadi has been on a steady rise up the ranks over the last year, notably making a pair of Olympic finals in Paris, and he continued his progression by winning his first world title in Budapest. The 19-year-old topped the men’s 1500 free in a time of 14:16.40, which edged out the 14:17.27 produced by Florian Wellbrock in one of the early heats. Jaouadi followed up by winning bronze in the 800 free in 7:31.93, marking a new African and Tunisian Record. He also placed seventh in the 400 free (3:39.32 – 3:38.57 prelims), having set personal bests across the board. He came into the meet with best times of 3:38.74 in the 400 free, 7:33.84 in the 800 free and 14:24.68 in the 1500 free.
• Gui Caribe (BRA) – Caribe had already started to make an impact on the international stage to go along with his NCAA success coming into the meet, but the Brazilian took a big step forward by winning the first two major international medals of his career in Budapest. Caribe won silver in the men’s 100 free, clocking 45.47 to set a new South American and Brazilian Record. He backed that up by snagging another silver in the 50 free, touching in 20.57 to go 1-2 with University of Tennessee teammate Jordan Crooks while missing Cesar Cielo‘s South American and Brazilian Record of 20.51 by just six one-hundredths. Caribe also placed 10th in the 50 fly (22.18) and split 45.79 on the Brazilian men’s 4×100 free relay that finished fifth.

MEN’S CLUTCH RELAY PERFORMER: JACK ALEXY, USA

Alexy had a trio of blistering relay performances for the Americans to earn him Clutch Relay Performer honors.

The 21-year-old set a new American and Championship Record in the 100 free leading off the U.S. men’s 4×100 free relay, clocking 45.05 as the team won gold and set a new world record.

Next up for Alexy in terms of relays was the mixed 4×100 medley, where he dropped a scintillating 44.63 anchor leg to come within eight one-hundredths of running down the NAB team for gold. Trailing by six and a half seconds when he dove in, racing against female sprinter Daria Klepikova, Alexy brought the U.S. team in for a time of 3:30.55, just behind the NAB team of 3:30.47, which had a quick 51.08 anchor leg from Klepikova.

At the end of the meet in the men’s 4×100 medley relay, Alexy dropped another scorching anchor leg, this time 44.53, to push the Americans to the silver medal, less than four-tenths behind the world record-breaking NAB. France’s Maxime Grousset was the only split faster, going 44.51 for the French team that finished seventh.

Honorable Mentions:

• Luke Hobson (USA) – Hobson’s 1:38.91 lead-off gave the U.S. men clear water as they rolled to a dominant world record performance in the 4×200 free relay. In addition to that swim, Hobson had the fastest flying split in the entire field in the 4×100 free relay, swimming 45.18 on the second leg. The only split that was faster was from Jack Alexy on the lead-off leg at 45.05.
• Kirill Prigoda (NAB) – Prigoda was the lynchpin that carried the NAB teams to three medley relay victories, providing some key breaststroke splits. Prigoda was 55.15 on the men’s 4×100 medley relay, was 24.94 on the mixed 4×50 medley, and was 54.86 on the mixed 4×100 medley. All three were the fastest in the field, helping guide NAB to a world record in the men’s medley (3:18.68) and a European Record in the mixed 4×50 medley (1:35.36).