SwimSwam’s Awards for the 2023 World Championships — Men’s Edition

• July 23 to 30, 2023
• Fukuoka, Japan
• Marine Messe Fukuoka
• LCM (50m)
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We’ve ranked the top 15 male swimmers of the 2023 World Championships. Now, it’s time to turn our attention to SwimSwam’s Awards of the Meet, which we hand out after major championships. In this edition, we’re giving awards for the swimmer, swim, team, junior, breakout, and relay performer of the meet. At the end, we also talk about what we think was the storyline of the meet on the men’s side.

With so many incredible achievements, it’s a challenge to narrow these awards down, especially when it comes to the swims of the meet. As always, our criteria are based on a combination of objective and subject factors. If you disagree with our choices, please share your thoughts in a civilized manner in the comments below.

Swimmer of the Meet: Qin Haiyang, China

Historically, China’s swimmers haven’t been able to match their Nationals times at international meets. That trend plus the fact that the Asian Games are this fall made it hard to predict how China was going to perform at Worlds. They surprised us by putting together one of the strongest meets they’ve had in recent memory, and at the center of that charge was Qin Haiyang.

Up until now, we’ve known the 24-year-old Qin as primarily a 200 breaststroker. But at this meet, he treated us to a display of his newfound sprint capabilities that have come from changes to his training.

Qin Haiyang, courtesy of Fabio Cetti

In his first five swims, Qin set four Asian records. He lowered the 100 breast record three times, bringing it all the way to 57.69. That swim earned him his first ever World title and also made him the #2 performer in history behind only Adam Peaty.

Then, Qin turned his attention to the 50 breaststroke. His fastest time came in semifinals, where he ripped 26.20. In the middle of the race, he was right up against Peaty’s world record line. He was a bit off that speed in the final, but still earned his second gold medal of the meet in 26.29, once again distancing himself from the rest of the field. Similarly to what Leon Marchand accomplished in the 400 IM last year, Qin has made Peaty’s world records look vulnerable for the first time in a long time.

He got his world record in the 200 breaststroke, breaking Zac Stubblety-Cook‘s world record with a 2:05.48. Qin took a different approach to the race than Stubblety-Cook, who’s known for his back-half focused strategy. In Qin’s own words “for me, my strength is my speed, and I have very good confidence in my speed.”

His confidence is well-earned—across the entire eight days no one was able to match his breaststroke speed. That includes on the relays, where he put up 57-point in both the men’s and mixed medley relays. His fastest split was the 57.31 he swam on the mixed medley relay, helping China to their first gold in the event.

Qin completed a sweep in the 50/100/200 breaststroke, becoming the first person to sweep the 50, 100 and 200 in any stroke at Worlds. It’s this feat, where his times rank on the all-time list, and his performances on the relays that tipped the scales for us and made Qin our swimmer of the meet.

Honorable Mentions:

• Leon Marchand, France: Both Qin and Leon Marchand were impressive across the entire week in Fukuoka. World Aquatics named Marchand the Male Swimmer of the Meet and while we’ve named Qin as our “Swimmer of the Meet” that doesn’t take away from Marchand’s performance. We’ll get to his 400 IM in a minute, but he didn’t slow down after taking down Michael Phelps‘ world record. He followed up with two more gold medals, winning the 200 fly and 200 IM. Both swims were personal bests, moving him up the all-time list to #3 in the 200 fly (1:52.43). He’s now also the #3 performer in history in the 200 IM, as he roared to a new European record of 1:54.82. That swim makes him the only person besides Phelps and Ryan Lochte to break 1:55.
• Ahmed Hafnaoui, Tunisia: 400 free Olympic gold medalist Ahmed Hafnaoui flew under the radar in 2022, bypassing World Championships. Since the fall, he’s been training at Indiana and though he raced at some Pro Swims, we had many questions about the kind of form he was bringing into his highest-level meet since Tokyo. He let us know where he was at on the first night of the meet, racing Sam Short to the wall. He swam 3:40.70 for silver, a new African record and a best by almost three seconds. Hafnaoui got better as the week went on, earning double gold in the 800/1500 freestyles. In the 800, he swam 7:37.00, becoming the third fastest performer in history. Then in the 1500, he out-touched Bobby Finke after an epic race with an astounding 14:31.54 for new championship and African records.

Swim of the Meet: Leon Marchand, 400 IM

While writing up our awards, I spent a lot of time hemming and hawing over the distinction been a “swim”, a “race”, and a “performance.” We gave swimmer of the meet to Qin because of his performance across the meet, but the swim of the meet belongs to Marchand and his 400 IM. (We’ll get to the races of the meet in a bit.)

There was so much hype swirling around Marchand in the lead-up to Worlds. In 2022, he came shockingly close to Michael Phelps‘ world record of 4:03.84 by swimming a European record of 4:04.28—the closest anyone had come to the mark in a decade.

Leon Marchand, courtesy of Fabio Cetti

Marchand was coming off an undefeated NCAA season, which he capped off by producing jaw-dropping times at the 2023 NCAA Championships. There had been so much talk about whether the Frenchman would be able to break the 3:30 barrier in the 400-yard IM; a question he answered definitively by rocketing to 3:28.84.

So, Marchand rolled into Fukuoka riding a wave of momentum that had been building since last year. And the record he was chasing had since become even more legendary: in June, Phelps became the longest standing world record holder in the modern era, holding the 400 IM record for 20 years, 316 days and counting. But with the 400 IM on the first day and Marchand showing no sign of slowing down, the moment was primed for him to take his place in the record books.

In the final, Marchand opened his race with a 54.66 butterfly split. He took the lead and didn’t look back, exploding on the breaststroke split like he did in Budapest. Marchand split 1:07.64 on breaststroke, heading into the freestyle leg with a sizable lead on Phelps’ world record pace. In the NBC booth, Phelps was on the call, said simply “it’s gone.”

Marchand tore to a 4:02.50, smashing the world record. After the race, he seemed still in shock about what he’d just done, but promised that “the best is yet to come.” If you listened to the NBC broadcast, you heard Phelps say that Marchand could be the first swimmer to take this event below the 4 minute barrier. For me, that’s what solidifies this as the swim of the meet–it was an incredible performance not just for itself, but it also expanded our idea about what’s possible for our sport.

Honorable Mentions:

• Qin Haiyang, 200 breaststroke — We’ve already talked about this race, but as it was the other world record set on the men’s side of the meet, it deserves a mention here as well. After being very open about his dream to break the sprint breaststroke world records, Qin got it done in the 200 breast. With Stubblety-Cook, the defending world champion and world record holder, next to him, Qin fired off a 2:05.48, breaking the world record.
• Cameron McEvoy, 50 freestyle — Our very own Braden Keith called Cameron McEvoy‘s 50 freestyle “immaculate.” It’s a great description of this swim, which was truly something special to watch. A year ago, almost nobody would’ve chosen McEvoy to win 50 freestyle gold in Fukuoka; he didn’t race at any major international meets in 2022, and he hadn’t swam a best time since 2016. But at Australian Trials, he swam his first best time in seven years, cracking the 50 freestyle all-time top 10 list. He continued to drop at Worlds, hitting 21.25 in semifinals. Then, in the final he fired off a 21.06–making him the #4 performer in history, and second-fastest in a textile suit. At 29, it’s McEvoy’s first world title. Jack Alexy finished second in 21.57 and the .51 second difference is the largest margin of victory in a World Championships 50 freestyle final.

Nation of the Meet: Australia

Here’s how we determined this one: we made a medal table just for the men’s side of the meet (no mixed events). Australia and France were tied with four gold medals apiece, but Australia had more silvers than France, so they get the nod for nation of the meet.

Australian Men’s 4×100 Free Relay Team, courtesy of Fabio Cetti

The Australian men weren’t as dominant as the women—who also earned nation of the meet—but they were still impressive. They made the podium in all freestyle events but one (the 200 free) and won three of them. Those wins came from three different swimmers: McEvoy in the 50 free, Kyle Chalmers in the 100 free, and Sam Short in the 400 freestyle.

It was Short who got the ball rolling for the Australians in the 400 freestyle final—the first final of the meet. There, Short outdueled Hafnaoui, getting ahead of Hafnaoui’s long reach to win his first world title in a personal best of 3:40.68, which also makes him the #4 performer in history.

From there, things snowballed. Not just for Short, who made the podium in all three of his events–but for the entire Australian team. They kept up their performances high the entire week, adding to their successes with strong performances from Zac Stubblety-Cook (200 breast, silver) and Matt Temple (100 fly, fourth).

Along with their indiviudal successes, they were one of only two teams to medal in each of the three men’s relays. The high point for them came on the first night when Jack Cartwright, Flynn Southam, Kai Taylor, and Chalmers won gold in the men’s 4×100 free relay, beating a deep field. It was their first gold in the event since 2011. They followed it up with bronze medals in the other two men’s relays, with Chalmers being the backbone again.

While Australia doesn’t have the stroke depth that other countries like the U.S., China, and Italy have, here at the 2023 World Championships, they’re freestyle strength and their relays earned them more than enough medals to take “Nation of the Meet.”

Honorable Mentions:

• China — As we’ve discussed, China had an excellent meet. They were led by Qin, but he wasn’t the only one who stepped up. Sun Jiajun was on the medal podium with him in the 50 breast, and Xu Jiayu also got onto the podium with bronze in the 50 back. While Pan Zhanle didn’t have the individual success he was likely hoping for, he fired off a 46.62 free split on the 4×100 medley relay, powering past China past France to a silver medal. Alone, the Chinese men earned more medals in Fukuoka than the combined team did in Budapest.
• United States — Don’t mean to start this debate again, but the U.S. earned the most total medals on the men’s side of the meet. They also medaled in all three relays, an impressive display of depth that only the Australians could match. While they didn’t earn as many gold as they’re used to, they had a lot of silver and bronze finishes. Many of those second and thirds were from Worlds debutants, which is a strong foundation for the American newcomers to build on a year out from Paris.
• France — The French men tied with the Australian men for four golds. However, their teams couldn’t be more differently structured. While the Australians got their medals from a range of swimmers, all of France’s medals (not just their golds) came from two swimmers: Marchand and Maxime Grousset. Grousset was a particular bright spot for the French team a year out from their home Games. Now, they’ll need to build on this strong duo and see if they can elevate their medley relay into a medal position.

Junior of the Meet: Dong Zhihao, China

As the only male swimmer to break a world junior record in Fukuoka, Dong Zhihao earns our “Junior of the Meet” award. And, he didn’t do it just once–he lowered his own 200 breaststroke record twice en route to his fourth-place finish in the final.

Dong Zhihao, courtesy of Fabio Cetti

Dong set the world junior record at 2:08.83 at the Chinese Spring Championships earlier this spring. Then, in the semifinals, he dropped a 2:08.47, qualifying fourth for the final. He split his race 29.30/33.31/33.75/32.11, echoing the hard-closing strategy that we’ve seen pay off for swimmers like Zac Stubblety-Cook and Matt Fallon. In fact, Dong’s 32.11 was the fastest closing split in the semifinal field.

In the final, Dong lowered his record once again, bringing the mark all the way down to 2:08.04. He changed up his strategy a bit, splitting his race 29.05/32.87/33.56/32.56. It was that middle 100 that made the most difference from his semifinals swim, as he was able to keep his second 50 sub-33. He didn’t have enough left in the tank to keep himself ahead of the charging Fallon, but he was just .30 seconds off the podium–a solid result for the junior.

A couple lanes over, his teammate Qin broke the world record. Having these two Chinese swimmers reset both the world and world junior records in the same race is a great example of the meet that China had. It wasn’t just one swimmer who impressed; across the board, their team put together one of the strongest meets we’ve ever seen from them at the Olympic/World level.

Note: We define a “junior” swimmer as a swimmer who is eligible to set World Junior Records.

Honorable Mention: 

• Thomas Heilman, United States — Thomas Heilman is another junior who impressed at Worlds. If you’ve been following U.S. junior swimming, then you’ve known Heilman’s name for a while, but it was still surprising to see him explode at U.S. Trials to make the team in the 100/200 fly. Many were expecting 2024 to be Heilman’s big break (and it still could be) but he put together a strong showing in Fukuoka. At 16, he just missed the podium in the 200 fly. He clocked 1:53.82, lowering his own 15-16 NAG and becoming the fastest 18&under American boy in history.

Breakout Performer of the Meet: Jack Alexy, United States

One of the biggest surprises of the 2023 U.S. Trials came on the very first day, where there were major shakeups in the men’s 100 freestyle. Leading the charge of newcomers who just punched their ticket to their first international team was national champion Jack Alexy.

Jack Alexy, courtesy of Fabio Cetti

As the national champion, Alexy was suddenly the go-to guy for the American sprint relays—a daunting position for someone on their first Worlds team. In addition to the relays, Alexy had two individual events to swim: the 50/100 freestyle. In both, he was an interesting outside factor, but wasn’t in the mix of favorites to walk away with a medal.

But, he walked away with two individual medals, both silver. He rebounded after a bad start in the 100 free semis to grab a finals lane by just two-hundredths. Then from lane 8, he showed us some serious outside smoke. He leapt out to the lead at the halfway point, and held on in the closing meters to grab silver. He clocked 47.31, a huge personal best that makes him the second fastest American behind Caeleb Dressel.

Alexy showed off his speed again in the 50 freestyle. Behind McEvoy, Alexy led the charge ahead of the rest of the field. He held off defending champion Ben Proud for silver by a hundredth, hitting 21.57 for another silver medal and personal best time.

Alexy also played his part in the relays, and got faster as the week went on. He split 47.00 in his final swim of the meet in the medley relay, nearly going sub-46 for the first time. Alexy’s overall medal count gets a boost from the depth of the American relays (he earned three relay medals) but it’s his individual performances that earned him breakout performer of the meet. He proved that not only he can handle the responsibility of being the U.S.’s go-to sprinter, but he’s capable of storming through deep fields to get his hand on the wall in a medal position.

Honorable Mentions:

• Matt Richards, Great Britain — Matt Richards is another of the big breakouts of the 2023 World Championships. He’d qualified for the 200 freestyle, but got to add another event when Duncan Scott dropped the 100 freestyle before the meet began. Richards took advantage of every opportunity in Fukuoka. When David Popovici began to tighten up in the last 50 meters of the 200 free final, Richards was there. He powered home, passing a fading Popovici and winning his first long-course individual world title in a new personal best of 1:44.30. In the 100 freestyle, he lowered the British record through each of the three rounds. He brought it down to 47.45 and finished fifth in the final, just three-hundredths away from the podium. In addition to his individual successes, Richards also threw down multiple 46-point 100 freestyle splits, breaking that barrier for the first time in his career. And, he added another gold medal to his collection in the 4×200 free relay, (1:44.65 split).
• Hubert Kos, Hungary — Hubert Kos didn’t get the relay boost to his medal haul that both Alexy and Richards got. However, Kos was plenty impressive in his individual events. He claimed his first world title in the 200 backstroke, roaring to a new Hungarian record of 1:54.14. That was his second national record of the meet, as earlier he’d cracked the 100 back record, with his seventh-place 53.11 swim. The most impressive part of Kos’s week is that his successes came in backstroke, not the IM where we’re used to seeing him. “Honestly I never thought I would swim backstroke, and now here I am, a world champion,” said Kos after his 200 backstroke. If this is what he can do in backstroke after just six months training with Bob Bowman, he’ll be a major threat at the 2024 Games.

Clutch Relay Performer of the Meet: Kyle Chalmers, Australia

No surprises here, Kyle Chalmers continued to shine in the relays at Worlds. We’ve come to expect him to deliver for Australia on the relays, and once again he delivered in Fukuoka.

Kyle Chalmers, courtesy of Fabio Cetti

He swam on four relays—all three men’s relays and the mixed 4×100 free relay—and helped Australia medal in all four events. On the first night of competition, he dove in as the anchor on the men’s 4×100 free relay in a familiar spot: third, behind the Italians and the Americans. It’s a spot that Chalmers loves to be in, and he rose to the challenge. He split a field best 46.56, stopping the clock at 3:10.16 to deliver gold for the Australians. It’s the first time the Australians have won the relay since 2011.

Chalmers was back up in the 4×200 freestyle relay, where he teamed with Taylor, Alexander Graham, and Thomas Neill for bronze. There, Chalmers split 1:45.19, faster than what he split on this relay in Tokyo. Along with his individual 100 freestyle time (47.15) it’s a sign that Chalmers is back at his best one year out from Paris.

He was back on 100 freestyle duty for the mixed 4×100 free relay and the men’s medley. In the former, he helped lower the world record that the Australian team set last year. On the last day of the meet, he threw down another sub-47 split on the medley relay (46.89). He was able to run down the French team for bronze, ensuring that Australia was on the podium for all three men’s relays.

It’s the first time since 2001 that all three men’s relays made the podium at a World Championships. As a member of all three relays, Chalmers was an integral part of that accomplishment.

Honorable Mentions: 

• Ryan Murphy, United States — Ryan Murphy earned his first 100 backstroke world title with a 52.22. Compared to last year, it was a slow final and we’ve seen Murphy be a lot faster. We didn’t have to wait long for that speed from the American captain. It’s not unusual for Murphy to find an extra gear on the relays, and he once again did that here in Fukuoka. On both the mixed and men’s medley relays, he went faster than his gold-medal time. He was 52.02 to lead-off the U.S.’s bronze medal effort in the mixed medley. Then, he backed that speed up with a 52.04 on the men’s medley, helping the team set a championship record.
• Maxime Grousset, France — The French men didn’t medal in a single relay, but we just can’t let Grousset’s 49.27 100 fly split pass by without a mention. Grousset’s split was the eighth sub-50 100 fly split in history. The only person who has been faster than him on a relay is Dressel, who went 49.03 on the U.S.’s world record-breaking relay in Tokyo. The swim was just a day removed from Grousset becoming the 100 fly world champion (50.14), and cemented him as a serious threat in sprint fly.

Storyline of the Meet: A New Golden Age of Men’s Distance Swimming is Here

Let’s talk about it–the distance events were the most exciting races to watch on the men’s side of the meet. Earlier this year, we wrote about whether the sport was entering a new golden age of men’s distance swimming. The athletes at 2023 Worlds told us that we’re no longer entering that age, it is here.

Men’s 1500 Freestyle Worlds Podium, courtesy of Fabio Cetti

Suddenly, the field is littered with competitors and it’s a fight just to get into the final. We saw distance ace Florian Wellbrock miss out on both the 800/1500 finals. And, when the championship heat steps up to the blocks, it feels like the win could come from anywhere. It’s no longer about individual swimmers turning in legendary performances where they race against the clock, it’s the combination of speed and the number of swimmers in on the action.

That was on display in both the 800 and 1500 finals in Fukuoka. The 800 freestyle saw a rematch of the 400 freestyle between Sam Short and Ahmed Hafnaoui. The two went out hard with Lukas Märtens, setting the pace ahead of Bobby Finke and Daniel Wiffen. Short had the lead at the 400m mark, under world record pace.

The closing 100 meters of the race were heart pounding. Finke was charging, Märtens was fading, Short and Hafnaoui weren’t giving each other an inch. Hafnaoui earned his first world title in 7:37.00, becoming the third fastest performer all-time. And behind him, the second through fifth place finishers all set a record of some kind. Short set a new Oceanic record for silver (7:37.76), Finke earned bronze with a new American record (7:38.67), Wiffen set a European record (7:39.19), and Märtens swam a German record (7:39.48).

Märtens’ time makes him the #11 performer in history, and the four swimmers ahead of him all cracked the top 10.

Top 10 All-Time Performers, Men’s 800 Freestyle (LCM):

1. Zhang Lin, China — 7:32.12 (2009)
2. Oussama Mellouli, Tunisia — 7:35.27 (2009)
3. Ahmed Hafnaoui, Tunisia — 7:37.00 (2023)
4. Sam Short, Australia — 7:37.76 (2023)
5. Sun Yang, China — 7:38.57 (2011)
6. Grant Hackett, Australia — 7:38.65 (2005)
7. Bobby Finke, United States — 7:38.67 (2023)
8. Ian Thorpe, Australia — 7:39.16 (2001)
9. Daniel Wiffen, Ireland — 7:39.19 (2023)
10. Gregorio Paltrinieri, Italy — 7:39.27 (2019)

Less swimmers were in on the action in the 1500 freestyle, but that didn’t make it any less exciting. Short took the race out hard, and couldn’t counter when Hafnaoui and Finke made their moves at the 1000 meter mark. Neither one could shake the other in the last 500 meters. They both turned on the jets at the end of the race, but that did nothing to separate them.

They barreled towards the wall together, and at the touch, it was Hafnaoui who won gold by five-hundredths, 14:31.54 to 14:31.59. Hafnaoui set a new championship record, breaking the mark that Gregorio Paltrinieri set just last year. Before Finke and Hafnaoui dove in, Sun Yang had swum the only 14:31 in history. Now, there have been three 14:31s.

Top 10 Men’s LCM 1500 Performers All Time (As of 5/8/23)

1. Sun Yang (CHN) – 14:31.02, 2012
2. Ahmed Hafnaoui (TUN) — 14:31.54
3. Bobby Finke (USA) — 14:31.59
4. Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA) – 14:32.80, 2022
5. Grant Hackett (AUS) – 14:34.56, 2001
6. Florian Wellbrock (GER) — 14:34.89, 2023
7. Daniel Wiffen (IRL) – 14:34.91, 2023
8. Mykhailo Romanchuk (UKR) – 14:36.10, 2022
9. Ous Mellouli (TUN)/Sam Short (AUS) – 14:37.28, 2009/2023
10. (tie)

Behind them, Short held on for bronze in 14:37.28, also cracking the top 10 list. Finke was previously on this list, but now he’s vaulted all the way up to #3. And perhaps the most exciting thing about this list? More than half the swims were done in the last year.

Finke and Hafnaoui, courtesy of Fabio Cetti

After 1500 free, Hafnaoui and Finke exchanged caps. Both credited the other, with Hafnaoui saying “he [Finke] pushed us to do the ‘14:31’.” Finke responded in kind, saying that Hafnaoui “pushed [him] to go faster than [he] thought he could go.”

Hafnaoui, Finke, and Short showed they had the form here in Fukuoka. But don’t expect Wiffen, Wellbrock, Paltrinieri, and Mykhailo Romanchuk to quietly cede either Paris podium.

Hafnaoui, Finke, Short, and Wiffen are all young. Finke is the eldest of the four at 23 years old. Of the main contenders, Paltrinieri leads the field at 28 years old. So, expect these rivalries to renew themselves over and over again—in Paris of course, but if we’re lucky, we’ll get to watch these swimmers battle it out for years to come and push each other to new heights in distance swimming.

If these have been the races you’ve used for a bathroom break, we’d recommend changing your approach—and quickly.