The pool competition of the World Aquatics Championships Fukuoka 2023 kicks off tonight in the U.S.  time zones (Sunday morning in Japan) with the first prelim session of the meet.  

With the finalists determined late in the evening here in the United States, here’s a closer look at the athletes competing in tonight’s prelims session: 

Women’s 200m Individual Medley
Athletes: Alex Walsh (Nashville, Tenn./Nashville Aquatic Club/University of Virginia) and Kate Douglass (Pelham, N.Y./New York Athletic Club) 

• Walsh and Douglass train together at the University of Virginia. This will be the second time that the Cavalier teammates will swim in the same event in an international competition. 
  Douglass’ 2:07.09 at the 2023 Phillips 66 National Championships was 1.95 seconds faster than her bronze medal swim at the Tokyo Olympics. 
• U.S. has medaled just four times since 2009. 
• Entering Fukuoka, only four women in history have gone sub-2:07.   

Men’s 400m Freestyle 
Athletes: David Johnston (Dallas, Texas/Longhorn Aquatics) and Kieran Smith (Ridgefield, Conn./Ridgefield Aquatic Club) 

• U.S. searching for just its second World Championships medal in the event since 1986. 
  Johnston’s 3:45.75, a new personal best set at the 2023 Phillips 66 Nationals, catapulted the Longhorn swimmer into 16th on the list of fastest Americans in event history. He’ll need to swim faster than 3:44.43 to enter the top-10.  
• Johnston makes his debut in a World Aquatics sanctioned, long-course meter international meet. He previously represented the U.S. at the 2022 Duel in the Pool and FINA World Championships (25m). 

Women’s 100m Butterfly
Athletes: Torri Huske (Arlington, Va./Arlington Aquatic Club) and Gretchen Walsh (Nashville, Tenn./Nashville Aquatic Club/University of Virginia) 

• Huske looks to defend her title after winning gold in 2022. Should she win in Fukuoka, she would join Sweden’s Sarah Sjöström (2013, 2015, 2017) and East Germany’s Kornelia Ender (1973, 1975) as the only females to repeat as the 100m butterfly world champion. 
• This event marks Walsh’s senior-level, international debut. The 11-time NCAA champion hasn’t represented the U.S. on an international stage since winning six gold medals at the 2019 FINA World Junior Championships. 

Men’s 50m Butterfly
Athletes: Shaine Casas (McAllen, Texas/Longhorn Aquatics) and Dare Rose (Jersey City, N.J./California Aquatics) 

• U.S. enters the meet having won back-to-back world titles in the event. 
• Last year, when Caeleb Dressel won gold and Michael Andrew won bronze, was the only time in competition history where two American men stood atop the 50m butterfly podium together. 

Women’s 400m Freestyle
Athletes: Katie Ledecky (Bethesda, Md./Gator Swim Club) and Bella Sims (Henderson, Nev./Sandpipers of Nevada) 

• Ledecky has won four of the last five world titles in the event. 
• Ledecky set a championship record in the event last year with her time of 3:58.15. 
• Sims’ 4:03.25 at June’s Phillips 66 National Championships shaved 3.16 off her personal best. That time currently puts her as the seventh fastest performer in U.S. history. 

Men’s 100m Breaststroke
Athletes: Nic Fink (Morristown, N.J./Metro Atlantic Aquatic Club) and Josh Matheny (Pittsburgh, Pa./Indiana Swim Club/Indiana University) 

• Fink has competed in this event at the three previous world championships. His best finish was bronze in 2022. 
• Matheny makes his senior-level, international debut for the U.S. at this World Championships. 
• The U.S. has medaled twice in the event since 2007. 

Men’s 400m Individual Medley
Athletes: Carson Foster (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mason Manta Rays) and Chase Kalisz (Baltimore, Md./Sun Devil Aquatics) 

• Foster and Kalisz look to medal again after their silver and bronze performances (respectively) at last year’s World Championships. The last time the same two Americans medaled in this event at back-to-back World Championships was Tyler Clary and Ryan Lochte, who shared the podium in 2009 and 2011. 
• As of July 1, less than 0.5 separated the top-three swimmers in the world in the event this year. Foster’s 4:08.14 puts him in the third seed. 

Watch Day 1 prelims on Peacock at 9:30 p.m. ET tonight and semifinals/finals at 7:00 a.m. ET tomorrow. The morning’s session will feature semifinals in the women’s 100m butterfly, men’s 50m butterfly, men’s 100m breaststroke, women’s 200m individual medley, and the men’s and women’s 4x100m freestyle relays. Finals will include the men’s and women’s 400m freestyle, the men’s 400m individual medley, as well as the men’s and women’s 4x100m freestyle relays.  

More than 1,110 swimmers from 192 countries and the World Aquatics Refugee Team have descended on the city of Fukuoka, Japan to compete in the swimming portion of the 20th edition of these world championships.