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

2024 SC WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

• December 10-15, 2024
• Duna Arena, Budapest, Hungary
• SCM (25m)
• Meet Central
• Roster Index
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• Pick’em
• Psych Sheets
• 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
• Complete final results (PDF)

After an eventful week in Budapest, the dust has settled at the 2024 SC World Championships. The meet was one for the history books, with 30 world records falling over 6 days, reminiscent of the infamous 2009 super-suited World Championships. Now, it’s time to reflect on the meet and determine the women’s swimmer of the meet.

Women’s Swimmer of the Meet – Gretchen Walsh, USA

Was there a sliver of doubt about who would win this award? Sure, in any normal year, one could have made the case that Summer McIntosh or Regan Smith could’ve picked up this award, but the meet that Gretchen Walsh just had was far from normal. In fact, it was exceptional. 

If the 2024 Olympics were Walsh’s breakout meet, then SC Worlds was her catapult into stardom. After years of dominant performances in the SCY pool throughout her NCAA career in Virginia, we were all wondering what Walsh would be able to conjure up in SCM. In her initial SCM debut this fall at the Virginia v. Florida dual meet, she shattered the World Record in the 100 IM, making her SC Worlds debut even more anticipated. However, none of us could have imagined what a show she would put on this week. In a chaotic week of 16 races, Walsh set a record almost every time she entered the pool. With so many records, it’s probably easier to sum up her accomplishments below:

Gretchen Walsh’s 2024 SC World Championships Summary:

• 5 individual gold medals
  • 50 free, 100 free, 50 fly, 100 fly, 100 IM
• 2 relay gold medals
  • Women’s 4×100 medley relay, women’s 4×100 freestyle relay
• 9 individual world records 
  • 50 free (2x) – 22.83, 22.87
  • 50 fly (2x) – 23.94, 24.02
  • 100 fly (3x) – 52.71, 52.84, 53.24
  • 100 IM (2x) – 55.11, 55.71
• 2 relay world records
  • Women’s 4×100 medley relay, women’s 4×100 freestyle relay
• Most World Records ever set at a Championship Meet
  • Previously held by Michael Phelps with 5 WRs at 2005 SC World Champs
• First swimmer to ever break the World Record in the prelims, semis, and finals of the same race 
  • 100 butterfly
• 2nd American woman to win 7 gold medals at a single edition of the World Championships
  • Olivia Smoliga won 8 in 2018
• First American woman to win 5 individual golds at a single edition of the World Championships
• First swimmer to go under 54 and 53 seconds in the 100m butterfly 
• First swimmer to go under 24 seconds in the 50m butterfly 
• World Aquatics female swimmer of the meet
• Over $290,000 in estimated earnings 
  • More than every country aside from the United States

Even with a slightly reduced field in Budapest, Walsh was still besting some of the fastest swimmers of the world, making it look easy at times. When she was breaking World Records, she was annihilating the fastest time in history by wide margins. Many of those records were set by legendary names in the sport of swimming such as Katinka Hosszu (who held the 100 IM record prior to Walsh’s swim in October), Maggie MacNeil, Ranomi Kromowidjojo, and Therese Alshammar. 

Walsh’s meet will still go down as one for the history books, a fact that is hard to dispute. Across her 18 races this week, Walsh set a record (World, American, or Championship) 15 of the times she entered the water, the only exceptions being the final of the 50 butterfly, prelims of the 100 freestyle, and prelims of the women’s 4×100 freestyle relay. 

Honorable Mentions (In No Particular Order):

• Regan Smith (USA) – Coming off of a strong showing at the World Cup, Smith continued her momentum in this meet, resetting World Records in all three women’s backstroke events, while sweeping the golds in those events as well. Though she already broke the World Records in the 100 and 200 backstroke at the World Cup series, she reset both records at Worlds and added the 50 backstroke to her collection. After chasing Maggie MacNeil’s 50 backstroke World Record of 25.25 all season, Smith finally got under that mark in the event’s final, swimming a time of 25.23 for gold. She reset her own 200 backstroke World Record in the final for that event, dropping a 1:58.04 en route to holding off Summer McIntosh for the gold. Though she couldn’t eclipse her own World Record of 54.27 in the 100 backstroke final, she still set a Championship Record of 54.55. However, in the following days she broke her mark twice (technically), first posting an (unofficial) World Record of 54.19 to lead off the mixed 4×100 medley relay, then adding an official mark of 54.02 leading off the women’s 4×100 medley relay (with the relay setting a World Record by over 3 seconds). Smith walks away from this meet with 7 medals, including 3 individual gold medals and 1 relay gold medal. She also picked up an individual silver medal in the 200 butterfly. 
• Summer McIntosh (CAN) – With Walsh’s dominant performance, McIntosh’s meet went slightly under the radar. However, it was a historic performance that deserves some attention of its own. The 18-year-old phenomenon wrapped up a fantastic year that saw her be named World Aquatics Female Swimmer of the Year with 3 more individual gold medals and world records. In her first event, the 400 freestyle, McIntosh blew away the field with a 3:50.25, winning gold and breaking Li Bingjie’s World Record of 3:51.30 by over a second. She then took down  Mireia Belmonte Garcia’s decade-old World Record in the 200 butterfly, becoming the 2nd woman to break the 2:00-barrier with a 1:59.32. McIntosh’s most impressive swim of the meet came in the 400 IM, where she demolished Belmonte Garcia’s World Record by over 3 seconds, dropping an earth-shattering 4:15.48, also leading the field by almost 5 seconds in her victory. Though she finished second to the aforementioned Smith in the 200 backstroke, she added a World Junior Record to her collection, swimming a 1:59.96 to break Olympic Champion Missy Franklin’s previous mark of 2:00.03, also becoming the 7th-fastest performer in history. McIntosh ended her meet with 3 individual golds, 3 world records, 1 individual silver, and 1 relay bronze medal, an incredible haul for the young star. 
• Kate Douglass (USA) – Douglass was the only other swimmer to break an individual world record at this meet, resetting her own mark of 2:12.77 in the 200 breast from last month with a 2:12.50 en route to a gold in the event. She also set a surprising World Record in the 200 IM, shattering Katinka Hosszu’s decade-old mark of 2:01.86 with a time of 2:01.63 in the event’s final. Throughout the meet, Douglass also posted historic times in the 50m free (23.05), 100m free (50.73), 100 IM (56.49), all of which would’ve set American Records if not for Walsh’s incredible meet. She was also a key contributor to the US women’s 4×100 freestyle and 4×100 medley relays, both of which took home gold medals in World Record fashion. Douglass departs Budapest with a medal haul of her own that includes 2 individual gold medals, 2 relay gold medals, 2 individual World Records, 2 relay World Records, 2 silver medals, and 1 bronze medal. 

Women’s Swim of the Meet: Gretchen Walsh – Women’s 100 Butterfly

This was a close one as there were so many notable swims that occurred this week. However, Walsh’s 100 butterfly was barrier-shattering in more ways than one. In her first 100 SCM butterfly ever, Walsh broke Maggie MacNeil’s World Record of 54.05 with a 53.24, becoming the first swimmer to ever dip under the 54 second barrier, doing so by a wide margin. She then took that record to a whole new level during the semi-finals of the race with a 52.84, slicing almost a half second off of her record from the morning and becoming the first swimmer under 53 seconds as well. Walsh lowered that mark even further, hitting a 52.71 to win gold in the final of the event, becoming the first swimmer to ever break the world record in the prelims, semis, and finals of the same event at a meet. Though there were many other world records that were set throughout the meet, Walsh gets this win due to her consistency throughout all three rounds of the event. 

Honorable Mentions: 

• Summer McIntosh’s 400 IM – As previously mentioned, McIntosh threw down a blazing performance in the final of the 400 IM to win gold in a time of 4:15.48, taking 3 seconds off of Mireia Belmonte Garcia’s decade-old World Record in the process. With her time, McIntosh also won the race by almost 5 seconds over the field. 
• US Women’s 4×100 Medley Relay – The team of Regan Smith, Lilly King, Gretchen Walsh, and Kate Douglass demolished the World Record in this event on the final night of competition, closing off the meet on a high note. The team combined for a time of 3:40.41, taking a huge chunk of time off of the previous record of  3:44.35 set by the US team at the 2022 World Championships. They also won the race by a large margin of 7 seconds. 

Women’s Junior of the Meet – Summer McIntosh, Canada 

As mentioned above, in almost any other year, McInosh’s performance would’ve likely earned her the swimmer of the meet honors as well. The 18-year-old Canadian star was unstoppable in her main events, setting 3 World Records, 4 World Junior Records, and winning 3 individual gold medals. Her World Junior Records in her 4 events, the 200 butterfly, 400 IM, 400 Freestyle, and 200 Backstroke, will likely stand for a long time, as she currently ranks well ahead of her competitors in all 4 events. 

Honorable Mentions:

• Eva Okaro (Great Britain) – Narrowly missing out on the medals in the 50 freestyle, the 18-year-old Okaro set a new World Junior Record, swimming a time of 23.66 to break Anastasyia Shkurdai’s previous mark of 23.69 from 2020. Okaro now ranks as the second-fastest British swimmer of all-time in the 50 free, just 0.22 seconds off Fran Halsall‘s British Record time of 23.44 from 2009. 
• Claire Weinstein (USA) – Winning her first major individual international medal, American Claire Weinstein broke the World Junior Record in the 200 freestyle to finish 3rd in the event with a time of 1:51.62, taking down former Sandpiper teammate Bella Sims’ mark of 1:52.59, also setting a new American Record in the event. Weinstein also was a member of the US women’s 4×200 freestyle relay that set the World Record in the event en route to winning gold with a 7:30.13, splitting a massive 1:50.31 on the anchor leg. 

Women’s Breakout Swimmer of the Meet – Mary-Sophie Harvey, Canada

At 25-years-old Mary-Sophie Harvey had the best meet of her career in Budapest, picking up her first career World Championship medals in individual races. The Canadian star won silver in the women’s 200 freestyle, setting a personal best, Canadian, and Americas record of 1:51.49. She also took home a bronze in the women’s 400 freestyle, swimming a time of 3:54.88, also a personal best. 

Harvey had previously narrowly missed the podium at the 2024 Olympic Games, finishing 4th in 4 different events throughout the meet, so this competition marks a huge breakthrough for her as she continues to look forward to 2028. 

Honorable Mentions: 

• Isabel Gose (Germany) – Despite being on the scene for several years, Gose hadn’t won a gold medal at a World Championships until this week when she claimed gold in the women’s 1500 freestyle. Gose threw down a dominant performance in the race, winning by over 10 seconds in a time of 15:24.69. She also picked up a silver medal in the 800 freestyle to add to her collection. 
• Tessa Giele (Netherlands) – Dutch star Tessa Giele threw down a huge performance in the 100 butterfly to claim her first individual WC medal, winning silver behind Walsh in a time of 54.66. 
• Eve Okaro (Great Britain) – In only her 3rd international meet, Okaro was pivotal to Great Britain’s relays and proved to be a force individually. Though she just missed the podium in the 50 freestyle, Okaro dropped a World Junior Record in the 50m freestyle with a 23.66. She was also a member of Great Britain’s runner-up team in the women’s 4×100 medley relay, picking up her first major international medal with a silver. After rising through the ranks on the national scale a few years ago, Okaro battled a back injury that stalled her progress in the junior ranks. However, the 18-year-old seems to be on track to make an impact on the international level in the coming years and has seen significant progress, dropping .4 off of her 50 freestyle already this season.

Women’s Clutch Relay Performer – Regan Smith, USA

There were several swimmers who threw down on the relays to help their teams out. However, only one of them set a World Record, making Regan Smith the pick for clutch relay performer. After winning the 100 backstroke in a new Championship Record, Smith threw down a 54.19 to lead off the United States’ mixed 4×100 medley relay, unofficially breaking her own World Record in the process. Though her time didn’t stand, her split significantly helped the US, as the team won a silver medal. Smith then officially broke the World Record leading-off the women’s 4×100 medley relay, swimming a 54.02 to demolish her two previous times and help the US team break the World Record in the relay by over 3 seconds. 

Honorable Mentions:

• Kate Douglass (USA) – Douglass played a pivotal role on two of the US women’s relays, helping both teams to World Record performances. In the 4×100 freestyle relay, Douglass led-off in a 50.95-split to immediately give the team a 1-second advantage over Australia’s previous record. She then anchored the 4×100 medley relay team in a 50.47, almost exactly the same time that she posted on the same relay in 2022 to hit the wall in a new World Record. 
• Claire Weinstein (USA) – Weinstein threw down a historic 1:50.31 anchor leg on the women’s 4×200 freestyle relay to lead the US to victory in World Record fashion. When Weinstein entered the water, the US team was behind the World Record line by a decent margin. However, she slowly chipped away at the mark throughout her leg of the race to eventually hit the wall in 7:30.13 to break the mark. 
• Gretchen Walsh (USA) – Walsh also played pivotal roles on the 4×100 medley and 4×100 freestyle relay. Specifically, her butterfly split of 52.84 was the fastest in history, giving the US women a nearly 2 second advantage over the previous World Record split of 54.53 from Torri Huske.