Tuesday, December 13, 2022
Two American Records Fall at the First Short Course Worlds Finals Session in Melbourne
The first day of racing at the 2022 FINA World Championships (25m) in Melbourne, Australia was loaded with record-setting swims, American medalists and more.
The marquee event of the day for the American contingent in Melbourne was the women’s 200-meter individual medley, which saw a 1-2 finish from American (and University of Virginia) teammates Kate Douglass and Alex Walsh. Douglass’ 2:02.12 is good for a new American record by 1.94 seconds, while Walsh’s time moves her up to No. 3 on the all-time list of women’s 200m IM swimmers in history.
“This morning’s swim felt really smooth, so I was really excited for the race tonight. I wanted to be relaxed and get after it at the end,” Douglass said.
“I swim with (Douglass) every single day so I know she knows how to race. I’m pretty proud of us for swimming short course meters which we don’t do very often,” Walsh added. “It's great to know it was a well-executed race for the both of us.”
The two teammates are now the only Americans in history to go sub-2:04.
Longhorn Aquatics’ Carson Foster added a 200m IM medal of his own, going a new best of 1:50.96 en route to silver in the men’s event, only behind South Africa’s Matthew Sates for gold. The swim gives Foster his second FINA World Championships (25m) 200m IM silver medal in as many years, and he will search for gold in the 400m event (alongside his brother, Jake) on Saturday.
Leah Smith (Pittsburgh, Pa./Longhorn Aquatics) continued her successful 2022 calendar year by kickstarting the night with a bronze medal in the 400m freestyle, going 3:59.78 to mark the first medal for the United States in the competition. The bronze is Smith’s fifth-career FINA World Championships (25m) medal and is the U.S.’ first medal in the event at this competition since 2016.
“It's super fun to be in Australia again, swimming outdoors,” Smith said. “It’s always a good time. Happy to get a medal for Team USA and get us started.”
Her American teammate, Erin Gemmell, finished sixth in 4:01.82.
Rounding out the session were the men’s and women’s 4x100m freestyle relays, featuring a silver-medal performance from the American women and a bronze from the men. The U.S. women were represented by Torri Huske, Kate Douglass, Claire Curzan and Erika Brown in the final, and were edged out by a world-record time of 3:25.43 from the Australian team. Both Gemmell and Natalie Hinds receive silver medals, as well, via their swims for the U.S. in the event’s prelims.
For the men, Drew Kibler, Shaine Casas, Carson Foster and Kieran Smith handled the U.S. legs in the final and also earned bronze medals for David Curtiss and Trenton Julian for their efforts in the event’s prelims. The race saw Italy capture gold in 3:02.75, good for another relay world record.
In semifinals action, the 50m butterfly and 100m backstroke were contested Tuesday night. Huske and Curzan advanced as third and sixth seeds, respectively, in the butterfly. Curzan and Isabelle Stadden advanced as the third and seventh seeds, respectively, in the women’s backstroke event and Ryan Murphy claimed top seed for the men’s 100m backstroke final on Wednesday.
Racing continues with prelims at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday, December 13 in the U.S., while the next finals session will start at 3:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday, December 14. Both sessions can be streamed in the U.S. on www.youtube.com/fina1908.
Click here for results, schedule, athletes and more on the event.