Thursday, December 15, 2022
U.S. Rattles Off Five Golds in Six Events on Third Night in Melbourne
The third session of the 2022 FINA World Championships (25m) featured a massive gold-medal haul for the United States, leaving the team at the top of the medal table going into the back-half of the competition. Competition continues through Sunday in Melbourne, Australia.
The event got off to a slow start for the U.S. before a stretch of five world titles in six events ensued. The first came in the women’s 200-meter butterfly, where Dakota Luther and Hali Flickinger posted a 1-2 finish in 2:03.37 and 2:03.78, respectively. The gold is the U.S.’ first world title in the event since Mary Descenza in 2008.
“It was super fun,” Luther said. “I was a little out of my element in short course meters but I felt really great. I had an awesome time racing Hali (Flickinger) and being under the bright lights with the USA flag on my cap was a great experience.”
The swim moves Luther up to No. 3 on the all-time list of American performers in the event, only behind Kelsi Dahlia (2:01.73) and Flickinger (2:03.35).
Next up was the women’s and men’s 100m breaststroke, which saw another dominating performance by Lilly King and Nic Fink. For King, her gold-medal time of 1:02.67 was just 0.31 off the world record and was the only performance under 1:03 in the field.
“Well, I tried to go out really fast and I went out pretty fast but wasn’t the fastest out,” King explained. “Then I just tried to hang on for dear life the second 50 (meters) and it worked, so it was good.”
Immediately after King’s title, Fink took the crown in the men’s event on a strong back-half surge past the field, touching in in 55.88 to give the U.S. its first world title in the event since Brendan Hansen in 2004.
“It was a stacked field and (in) the middle of the meet,” Fink said. “It was good to keep the momentum going for Team USA. I saw Lilly (King) won the race before me and it’s all about momentum. Just trying to keep it up for the team.”
The win now gives him four-consecutive 100m breaststroke (SCM) golds in international competitions this year following his event sweep across all three legs of the 2022 FINA World Cup.
Keeping the win streak alive on the day was Kieran Smith, who beat out the 400m freestyle field in an American-record time of 3:34.38. The time was 0.43 seconds faster than the previous American record, set by Peter Vanderkaay in 2009.
“It is the first time that I have been at the top of the podium so it's a new chapter in my career,” Smith said. “It was an exciting race and I knew that those guys were going to be tough but I was ready.”
The swim gives Smith his first international medal in a senior-level individual event in his career. Smith’s U.S. teammate Jake Magahey also swam in the final, finishing seventh in 3:38.12.
The final U.S. gold on the session came via the women’s 4x50m freestyle relay. Torri Huske led off with a 24.08 split, followed by Claire Curzan’s 23.30, Erika Brown’s 23.74 and Kate Douglass’ 22.77. The overall time of 1:33.89 set both a meet record and a new American record.
“Once again, the ladies stepped up to close the evening session with a fabulous 200 freestyle relay,” head coach Braden Holloway said. “We jumped on the lead early, pressed forward and never let it go. I’m really happy with the way they held their composure through their races and getting their hand on the wall first.”
Erin Gemmell, Natalie Hinds and Alex Walsh also earn medals for their efforts in the event’s prelims.
Also contested today were the finals of the women’s 100m freestyle, where Torri Huske finished fifth and Natalie Hinds finished eighth; the men’s 200m butterfly, where Trenton Julian finished seventh; and the men’s 4x50m freestyle relay, where the U.S. finished fifth.
In semifinals action, the men’s 100m individual medley saw Michael Andrew and Shaine Casas claim top-two seeds, respectively. Claire Curzan went an American-record time of 25.60 to claim top seed in the women’s 50m butterfly, and the men’s 100m backstroke featured Ryan Murphy finishing first and Hunter Armstrong finishing in a tie for eighth. Armstrong will compete in a swim-off in the next prelims session to decide the lone remaining spot in the event’s final.
Action continues through Sunday at the Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre. Daily prelims start at 7 p.m. ET while finals take place beginning at 3:30 a.m. ET. All sessions can be streamed in the U.S. on FINA’s YouTube channel. Click here for results, schedule, athletes and more on the event.