2022 FINA SHORT COURSE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Tuesday, December 13 to Sunday, December 18, 2022
- Melbourne Sports and Aquatics Centre, Melbourne, Australia
- SCM (25m)
- Prize Money
- Meet Site
- Meet Schedule
- How To Watch
- Meet Roster Index
- Psych Sheets (Updated)
- Live Results
Swimmers wasted no time getting the 2022 FINA Short Course World Championships started off with a bang, as we saw two relay World Records fall in addition to numerous national records.
While the Australian women, Italian men and a sprinkling of others kicked off the competition with big-time performances, a few notables didn’t quite see their swims go as planned.
Who’s Hot
Emma McKeon
The most decorated Australian Olympian ever did not disappoint, with 28-year-old Emma McKeon producing the fastest SCM 100 freestyle split ever.
While anchoring her Aussie women’s 4x100m freestyle relay, McKeon crushed a split of 49.96 to become the first woman in history to get under the 50-second threshold.
Along with teammates Mollie O’Callaghan (52.19), Madi Wilson (51.28), and Meg Harris (52.00), McKeon helped establish a new World Record in the event. They collectively clocked a result of 3:25.43 to take the gold and overtake the previous WR of 3:26.53 set by The Netherlands 8 years ago.
Kate Douglass
Versatile American Kate Douglass raced her way to gold in the women’s 200m IM, producing a monster effort of 2:02.12.
Her time beat a stacked field by over a second, giving her the gold against the likes of fellow American Alex Walsh and multi-Olympic gold medalist Kaylee McKeown.
But 21-year-old Douglass’ result also clocked a new American record, surpassing the 2:04.06 Melanie Margalis put on the books in 2020. In doing so Douglass became the #2 performer of all time in this 2IM event, sitting only behind Hungarian Katinka Hosszu’s World Record of 2:01.86.
Matt Sates
The South African World Cup dynamo proved once again he is a formidable force in short course, taking the men’s 200m IM this evening in a new national and continental record.
Sates stopped the clock in a personal best of 1:50.15, beating out the likes of runner-up Carson Foster and bronze medalist Finlay Knox of Canada in the process.
With his performance, Sates becomes the #2 performer in history while also putting American Ryan Lochte’s World Record of 1:49.63 on notice.
Thomas Ceccon
The men’s edition of the 4x100m freestyle relay also saw a World Record go down, as the combination of Alessandro Miressi, Paolo Bonin, Leonardo Deplano and Thomas Ceccon produced a victorious 3:02.75.
Their time tonight captured the first-ever sub-3:03 result in history, overwriting the previous WR of 3:03.03 the Americans put up in 2018.
Ceccon, the reigning long course World Record holder in the men’s 100m back, scorched a final split of 45.13 to help his squad top the podium.
That was not only the quickest leg of his own team but it was also the 2nd fastest split of the entire field. Only Aussie Kyle Chalmers‘ 44.98 anchor was quicker.
Who’s Not
American Men
Yes, Carson Foster took silver in the men’s 200m IM event this evening. But, on the whole, the American men did not perform up to expectations on night one.
In the 2IM, Shaine Casas entered the competition as the favorite, having become the 2nd fastest performer of all time after producing a time of 1:50.37 at the FINA World Cup Series top in Toronto. Instead, Casas settled for a 4th place finish in a time of 1:51.31.
Also, the American men had to settle for bronze in the 400m free relay, instead watching Italy take the gold and Australia snag silver. Anchor Kieran Smith logged the quickest split of the stars n’ stripes squad in 45.77, but their overall time of 3:05.09 failed to upgrade the same bronze medal position from Abu Dhabi.
Ryan Murphy posted a strong showing in the men’s 100m back, claiming the top seed out of the semi-final in 49.17. However, his compatriot Hunter Armstrong didn’t make it out of the heats, placing 17th.
Finally, with Michael Andrew finishing 14th in the men’s 50m fly, the Americans will be without representation in that event’s final on day two.
Daiya Seto
Once again Japanese Olympic medalist Daiya Seto entered an international competition as one of the medal favorites in this 200m IM event and the 28-year-old missed the mark.
Seto entered the competition ranked 3rd in the world with a season-best of 1:51.83. Despite getting under the 1:51 threshold twice in his short course career, Seto clocked 1:51.39 tonight to ultimately place 5th.
The Podiums
Women’s 400m Free
- GOLD: Lani Pallister (Australia) – 3:55.04
- SILVER: Erika Fairweather (New Zealand) – 3:56.00
- BRONZE: Leah Smith (USA) – 3:59.78
Women’s 200m IM
- GOLD: Kate Douglass (USA) – 2:02.12
- SILVER: Alex Walsh (USA) – 2:03.37
- BRONZE: Kaylee McKeown (Australia) – 2:03.57
Men’s 200m IM
- GOLD: Matt Sates (South Africa) – 1:50.15
- SILVER: Carson Foster (USA) – 1:50.96
- BRONZE: Finlay Knox (Canada) – 1:51.04
Men’s 1500m Free
- GOLD: Gregorio Paltrinieri (Italy) – 14:16.88
- SILVER: Damien Joly (France) – 14:19.62
- BRONZE: Henrik Christiansen (Norway) – 14:24.08
Women’s 400m Free Relay
- GOLD: Australia – 3:25.43 (WR)
- SILVER: United States – 3:26.29
- BRONZE: Canada – 3:28.06
Men’s 400m Free Relay
- GOLD: Italy – 3:02.75 (WR)
- SILVER: Australia – 3:04.63
- BRONZE: United States – 3:05.09
Day 1 World Records
Day 1 World Junior Records
Day 1 National Records – Relays
- Australian women’s 4x100m freestyle relay – 3:25.43
- Italian men’s 4x100m freestyle relay – 3:02.75
- American women’s 4x100m freestyle relay – 3:26.29
- Spanish men’s 4x100m freestyle relay – 3:07.19
- Canadian men’s 4x100m freestyle relay – 3:07.10
- Canadian women’s 4x100m freestyle relay – 3:28.06
Day 1 National Records – Individual Women’s
- Kate Douglass – American Record of 2:02.12 in women’s 200m IM
- Kaylee McKeown – Australian Record of 2:03.57 in women’s 200m IM
Day 1 National Records – Individual Men’s
- Teong Tzen Wei – Singaporean Record of 22.01 in men’s 50m fly
- Noe Ponti – Swiss Record of 22.01 in men’s 50m fly
- Ilya Kharun – Canadian Record of 22.32 in men’s 50m fly
- Finlay Knox – Canadian Record of 1:51.04 in men’s 200m IM
- Matt Sates – South African Record of 1:50.15 in men’s 200m IM
- Damien Joly – French Record of 14:19.62 in men’s 1500m free
- Shogo Takeda – Japanese Record of 14:25.95 in men’s 1500m free
- Apostolos Christou – Greek Record of 49.66 in men’s 100m back
- Pieter Coetze – South African Record of 49.85 in men’s 100m back
“Had to settle for bronze” give me a break
Less big names.
Hot – Junevik, Ruck, Steenbergen
Not – Acevedo (at least individually), Wood, Yang
I agree on Steenbergen…her split was divine. Plus Anna Hopkin as lead-off on GBR…#3 British performer all-tie in women’s 1free now.
Yang not being on form is another blow for the Chinese 4×2. Will they even make the podium now after looking like the favourites before the meet started?
Manaudou is simultaneously too hot, and sadly not hot enough
You’d have to think that Ceccon could’ve contended for gold in the 100 back but I guess the team was prioritising getting a WR record in the 4×100.
I was surprised about a non-1back as well.
New Zealand also got two national records – Helena Gasson 50m butterfly and the mens relay. Why werent they included?
We’ll get them added!
Steenbergen’s 200 IM was a Dutch record
And second fastest split behind Emma!!
Didn’t the Aussie mens relay set a national record?
Pretty negative assessment of the US men on day one. . .. . time will tell.
Right, it’s only day one after all.
i mean it says “on day one” literally in the title