2023 WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS
- July 23 to 30, 2023
- Fukuoka, Japan
- Marine Messe Fukuoka
- LCM (50m)
- WORLD CHAMPS WATCH PARTY – DAILY
- Meet Central
- SwimSwam Preview Index
- Entry Book
- Live Results (Omega)
There were 10 World Records broken in Fukuoka at the 2023 World Championships. Turns out, that number isn’t super high in terms of big international meets all-time. However, it does track for the last few decades in terms of world championships and where global swimmers seem to be coming into these meets.
Below is the all-time list, with this 2023 Worlds coming in at #26
| RANK | MEET | WRS |
| 1 | World Championships Roma, Lazio 2009 | 43 |
| 2 | Olympic Games Montréal, Québec 1976 | 29 |
| 3 | Olympic Games München, Bavaria 1972 | 28 |
| 4 | Olympic Games Beijing 2008 | 25 |
| 5 | World Championships Beograd (Belgrade) 1973 | 18 |
| 6 | European Championships Wien (Vienna) 1974 | 17 |
| 6 | USA Olympic Trials Long Beach, California 1968 | 17 |
| 8 | GDR Olympic Trials Berlin 1976 | 16 |
| 8 | Olympic Games Seoul 1988 | 16 |
| 10 | Olympic Games Sydney, New South Wales 2000 | 15 |
| 10 | World Championships Melbourne, Victoria 2007 | 15 |
| 12 | Olympic Games Tokyo 1964 | 14 |
| 12 | USA Olympic Trials Chicago, Illinois 1972 | 14 |
| 12 | World Championships Barcelona 2003 | 14 |
| 15 | AAU Championships Los Angeles, California 1970 | 13 |
| 15 | Men’s NAAA Championships Los Angeles, California 1961 | 13 |
| 15 | World Championships Berlin 1978 | 13 |
| 18 | Olympic Games Los Angeles, California 1984 | 12 |
| 18 | Pan American Games Winnipeg, Manitoba 1967 | 12 |
| 18 | Pan Pacific Championships Sydney, New South Wales 1999 | 12 |
| 21 | Olympic Games Moskva (Moscow) 1980 | 11 |
| 21 | USA Spring Nationals Austin, Texas 1980 | 11 |
| 21 | USA Summer Nationals Los Altos, California 1964 | 11 |
| 21 | World Championships Budapest 2017 | 11 |
| 21 | World Championships Kazan 2015 | 11 |
| 26 | AAU Championships Lincoln, Nebraska 1966 | 10 |
| 26 | Olympic Games Barcelona 1992 | 10 |
| 26 | USA v GDR Dual Meet Concord, California 1974 | 10 |
| 26 | World Championships Roma, Lazio 1994 | 10 |
| 26 | World Championships Gwangju 2019 | 10 |
| 26 | World Championships Fukuoka 2023 | 10 |
However, I wanted to see how this ranked in terms of the last couple decades. Here is the list just for the 2000s:
| RANK | MEET | WRS |
| 1 | World Championships Roma, Lazio 2009 | 43 |
| 2 | Olympic Games Beijing 2008 | 25 |
| 3 | Olympic Games Sydney, 2000 | 15 |
| 3 | World Championships Melbourne, 2007 | 15 |
| 5 | World Championships Barcelona 2003 | 14 |
| 6 | World Championships Budapest 2017 | 11 |
| 6 | World Championships Kazan 2015 | 11 |
| 8 | World Championships Gwangju 2019 | 10 |
| 8 | World Championships Fukuoka 2023 | 10 |
| 10 | World Championships Montreal, 2005 | 9 |
| 10 | Olympic Games London, 2012 | 9 |
| 12 | Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, 2016 | 8 |
| 13 | World Championships Fukuoka, 2001 | 6 |
| 13 | Olympic Games Athens, 2004 | 6 |
| 13 | World Championships Barcelona, 2013 | 6 |
| 16 | Olympic Games Tokyo, 202(1) | 5 |
| 17 | World Championships Budapest, 2022 | 3 |
| 18 | World Championships, Shanghai, 2011 | 2 |
As we can see from this list, especially focusing in on world championships, 2009 is the obvious outlier. We know the full-body, uber-buoyant super suits helped world records fall in bundles. And looking at this, we also see that swimming seems to have bounced back and evened out. In 2011, just 2 world records fell, then in 2013 it was up to 6. By 2015 it was 11, and since then we’ve seen 10-11 world records fall at every subsequent world champs (with the exception of 2022, which was pushed back and, in my mind, affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic).
Hard to even predict which LCM WR marks may fall next, particularly at the Paris Olympics. I suspect the irregular cadence with Worlds in Feb 2024 will throw off some swimmers’ ability to peak “at the right meet”. The 2021 Tokyo Olympics (5 WRs) are such a low bar that I struggle to see us landing below that in Paris. I’ll guess 8.
I think this world championship has had more impact because of the records that have been broken, such as Federica Pellegrini’s 200 free and Michael Phelps’s 400 IM, those records made the difference
W400m free WR was also ridiculous.
Excellent report, Coleman!
Awesome left shoulder tattoo! Give you provide your fans with a bit of backstory about it?
Funny that there are US national meets on here, really shows how much more dominant the Americans were then vs now. Also interesting that it seems more WRs fall at WC vs OG. This could be for a number of reasons I suppose, but I would think that because the games are held in higher regard that more records would fall there as that is the most important meet for pretty much every swimmer.
It’s because the Olympics are a lot more about winning, not about the time.
Like said LBSWIM, medals are more important that time. And more pressure, tension. Often big times are made in the semi finals but it is slower in the finals. And one more thing. 50′ strokes are not Olympic except 50 free. In Fukokua, 3 world records on the 50 have been broken by Meilutyte and Sjœstrœm.