Men’s 200m Freestyle - Hwang Sun-woo Conquers the World for First Long Course World Title

After two straight trips to the podium in 2022 and 2023, Hwang Sun-woo of the Republic of Korea broke through to win the World title on Tuesday night in Doha at 1:44.75. Hwang previously won the World Short Course title in 2021 and 2022, as well as two medals in this event at the World Aquatics Championships - silver in Budapest 2022 and bronze in Fukuoka 2023.

“It was a pleasure to swim here today,” Hwang said. “This gold medal was very important for my career and finally I got it. I think the most important part of this race was the last 50m. I pushed it hard to the finish and it showed me that I am well prepared. This event is very painful and my body really hurts after this. But I can say that this is my most favorite one.”

Hwang, age 20, finally broke through to win a major World title in long course meters, the second gold of the championships for Korea, and the first for the nation in this event. Hwang’s swim, along with Kim Woo-min’s 400m gold from Sunday, sets up a strong 4x200m effort later in the week for Korea. The time for Hwang is off his best time of 1:44.40 from 2023.

Hwang led the field through 100 meters at 50.57, before American Luke Hobson hit the gas on the third 50. The 20-year-old American, who trains with coach Eddie Reese at the University of Texas, split 26.66 on the third 50 to grab the lead and it looked like an American would win a major 200m freestyle final for the first time since 2011.

But Hwang found something else on the last 50, splitting 26.89 to overtake Hobson, with the American fading to 27.81 on the last lap. Hobson wound up with the bronze at 1:45.26 for his first individual medal at the World Aquatics Championships.

“I think this is a promising result to build on and I can’t wait for the rest of the season,” Hobson said. “It’s amazing, I am still grappling with the result, super happy to be leaving with a medal."

“The reason I came to this meet is mainly for experience. It was a tough race, and I was out really well and seized the last stretch a little bit. I think that’s because of where we are in training right now but I am still happy to be walking away with my first individual Worlds medal and a great experience at this meet.”

Lithuania’s Danas Rapsys won the silver medal at 1:45.05 for the first medal of his career. It’s been a long way to the top for Rapsys, who swam his fastest time in the semifinals last night since September 2019 at 1:44.96.

Leading into the 2020 Olympics, Rapsys was the gold medal favorite in the 200m freestyle but he only managed eighth in the delayed Tokyo final. With his swim on Tuesday night, it’s his first medal at the World Aquatics Championships after winning six career medals at the World Short Course Championships.

“I tried to go faster but in the final you don’t know what’s going to happen, so that’s good,” Rapsys said. “I couldn’t improve my time in the final but it was almost the same as in the semis. A final is different in everything, mentally it’s not the same.

“Our job in the water at the start of the year has been solid, so we need to work a little bit more now.”

Germany’s Lukas Martens nearly caught Hobson on the final 50m to grab the bronze medal but it was not enough as he finished fourth at 1:45.33 ahead of teammate Rafael Miroslaw (1:45.84) which sets up an intriguing 4x200m team for Germany on Friday evening.

Great Britain’s Duncan Scott (1:45.86), Australia’s Elijah Winnington (1:46.20), and Brazil’s Guilherme Costa (1:46.87) also competed in the championship final.

Women’s 1500m Freestyle - Simona Quadarella Puts on Endurance Clinic to Dominate

Italy’s Simona Quadarella grabbed the lead in the 1500m freestyle final and never looked back, swimming a 15:46.99 for the third fastest time of her career. This is Quadarella’s second career gold medal at the World Aquatics Championships, backing up her title from 2019 as this is her sixth medal overall in her fifth straight 1500m Worlds final.

Quadarella, age 25, is coached by Christian Minotti.

“It’s so exciting to win here in Doha!” Quadarella said. “I always need consistent races, consistent results. I expected the victory, but it’s always difficult. It was a very tiring race, but I’m really pleased with my time and with the gold medal of course.”

Li Bingjie of the People’s Republic of China won her second silver of the week with a 15:56.62, backing up her silver from the 400m earlier in the week, and elevating her bronze from last year’s Worlds in Fukuoka. Li also returned later in the session to race in the 200m freestyle semifinals where she got the last spot in the final in a tie for seventh.

“When I return home, I have to practice endurance in water,” Li said. “Because I was running out of energy near the end of the 1500m race. At around 500m, I was feeling a bit defeated seeing myself lagging behind other competitors. At around 1000m, I saw the German swimmer slowing the pace, which motivated me to go as fast as I could. I had another race, it was 200m, which was very tiring for me.”

Germany’s Isabel Gose, who trains with coach Bernd Berkhahn, won her second bronze of the week as well with a 15:57.55 in the 1500m as she also solidified Olympic qualification for herself in this event for Paris 2024.

“I’m feeling a little tired but here we go again with a bronze medal,” Gose said. “I trained a lot for this event. Everyday, me and my coaches worked on new things and made them better and better. We were focusing on various areas while training. Swimming is my job and I love it. It is my second Olympic ticket by getting under the top four and swimming is a sport full of joy, so I will see what comes next.”

New Zealand’s Eve Thomas swam a lifetime best in fourth at 16:09.43 as the Kiwis have quietly had a good week in Doha on the backs of Erika Fairweather’s 400m gold on Sunday.

France’s Anastasiia Kirpichnikova (16:12.98), China’s Yang Peiqi (16:13.08), and Australia’s Maddy Gough (16:16.85) also competed in the championship final.

Chile’s Kristel Kobrich competed in her eighth 1500m final at the World Aquatics Championships in finishing eight at 16:18.90. Kobrich, age 38, coached by Daniel Garimaldi, is competing in a record 12th Championships. She has not missed since first appearing in the 800m freestyle in Barcelona 2003, four years before sixth place finisher Yang Peiqi was born.

“I think I was tenth in Fukuoka, and I know I should be very proud of myself,” Kobrich said. “But right now I’m just thinking about the time and that’s not what I was working for, but I know it means something to be at the top for 20 years. It’s a lot of work with my team and very resilient and persistent because I love what I do. I love competing for my country and I love competing with the best swimmers.”

Women’s 100m Backstroke - Claire Curzan Wins First Individual World Title for First Half of American Sweep

Swimming in her second of five individual events this week in Doha, American Claire Curzan won her second medal of the week to win gold in the 100m backstroke on Tuesday evening in Doha. Curzan scored a new best time at 58.29, moving herself up to tenth all-time as she came in with a 58.35 lifetime best. This is Curzan’s first individual gold medal at the World Aquatics Championships as she earlier won silver in the 100m butterfly on Monday and won bronze in this event in Budapest 2022.

Curzan has been a rising star in the United States since breaking out as a high school star in 2019. Curzan, age 19, trains with coaches Todd DeSorbo and Blaire Bachman at the University of Virginia, and will also be racing the 50m and 200m backstroke, as well as the 50m freestyle and butterfly this week in Doha, which means she’d have 18 swims if she advances to all three rounds.

“I actually didn’t get that much tapering going into this meet,” Curzan said. “My coaches thought I’d rest a little bit because this meet is long and I am swimming the whole time, so more tapering as we go and I am feeling better everyday and excited for how the next couple of days will go.

“I can’t put into words standing on the podium. I remember going to my first junior worlds and hearing the national anthem being played for people and I knew that one day I wanted that to happen for me. So to think it’s happening is so exciting.”

Curzan, out in 28.25, was hardly challenged, as she won ahead of Australia’s Iona Anderson, who won silver at 59.12 in a lifetime best time. This is Anderson’s first medal at the World Aquatics Championships in her first appearance as she won silver at last year’s World Juniors.

“It is very special to compete in the Australian colors at the World championships,” Anderson said. “To win a medal, it is very rewarding after all the hard work we have been through. It is tough sometimes. It is just great to be a part of the whole team, as we have a great swimming history, and it is pretty cool to come out with a medal.”

Canada’s Ingrid Wilm also won her first major medal with bronze here at the Aspire Dome at 59.18. At age 25, this is her third World Aquatics Championships as she has three career medals in the short course version, but had never been higher than fourth in a long course final.

“It’s really nice to know so early in the year that I can work for the next 6 months to do my best later on,” Wilm said. “I know I was long into the turn and long into the touch, so I think I will need to just speed up my stroke rate to finesse that touch so it's perfect. I am someone who has missed out on the past two Olympic teams by just a little bit. I’m going to do my best this time to qualify for Paris, third time is the charm and I really hope that I make it this time.”

Australia’s Jaclyn Barclay, who was last year’s World Juniors champion in the 100m backstroke, just missed the senior podium in finishing fourth at 59.28, but the 17-year-old swam a lifetime best time.

Great Britain had two finalists in Lauren Cox (59.60) and Kathleen Dawson (1:00.42) finishing fifth and sixth, while the Dutch had Maaike de Waard (1:00.64) and Kira Toussaint (1:00.73) in seventh and eighth.

Men’s 100m Backstroke - Hunter Armstrong Carries the American Flag to Gold

Hunter Armstrong kept the momentum rolling for the United States into the men’s 100m backstroke final, completing the sweep for the Americans with a gold medal at 52.68. It is not a best time for Armstrong, who makes his third trip to the Worlds podium after two straight bronze medals in 2022 and 2023, as this is his fifth career gold medal at the World Aquatics Championships.

Armstrong out-touched his training partner in Spain’s Hugo Gonzalez, who won silver at 52.70 to improve on his best time and move to 20th all-time. Armstrong and Gonzalez train together at the University of California, Berkeley for coaches Dave Durden and David Marsh. This is also Gonzalez’s first career medal at the World Aquatics Championships after finishing 11th two years in a row in this event, and it is Spain’s first men’s swimming medal at the World Aquatics Championships since 2009.

“I think it is a great result for Spanish swimming,” Gonzalez said. “Coming here, one of my main aims is to inspire people back at home – in swimming, it is a pretty small fan base compared to basketball or soccer so I just hope that I can inspire all these swimmers back at home that they can do it and if they dream about it, they can achieve it.”

Out in 25.61, Armstrong only trailed Gonzalez (25.53) at the one and only turn, before turning on the jets to grab the second straight gold medal for the United States in this event and the ninth overall since 1978.

“It feels really special to win this medal - to get to share the podium with Hugo; this dude is my brother and a training partner so it is awesome,” Armstrong said. “It is just one thing to win the title but to share it with the person that you love, that makes it much better.  This cooperation means a lot – he (Hugo Gonzales) focuses more on 200m, and I focus more on 50m so we meet in the middle and we complement each other.”

The bronze went the way of Greece’s Apostolos Christou (53.36), who won his first medal in his sixth World Championships. Christou also won Greece’s third medal at the Worlds as he previously finished as high as fifth in 2022.

“I am very pleased with this medal, although not so (pleased) with my race itself,” Christou said. “I have now won the medal I’ve been wanting to get for so many years and this is what matters. My time doesn’t really represent what I can do, but this isn’t so important.”

He was joined in the final by teammate Evangelos Makrygiannis (53.38), who moved from eighth to fourth on the final 50, but it was not enough to catch Christou as Makrygiannis swam to a lifetime best.

South Africa’s Pieter Coetze, who won silver at the 2022 World Juniors in this event, finished fifth at 53.51 ahead of Switzerland’s Roman Mityukov (53.64), Czechia’s Miroslav Knedla (53.74) and United States’s Jack Aikins (54.50).

Women’s 100m Breaststroke - Tang Qianting Dominates to Move to 12th all-time

Tang Qianting of the People’s Republic of China scored a new national record to close out the third night of swimming finals from the World Aquatics Championships - Doha 2024, taking the 100m breaststroke gold medal at 1:05.27 to move up to 12th all-time as the fastest Chinese woman ever. Tang won China’s third World title in the 100m breaststroke and the first since Luo Xuejuan won back to back in 2003 as the 19-year-old matched her World short course title from 2021.

“There were some changes to the training, and I made a big progress in terms of tactics and skills,” Tang said. “Honestly, I didn’t expect myself to win this race, because I wasn’t doing really well since the competition in Japan last year… didn’t even make it to the semifinal. That’s why I wasn’t thinking of winning this time. I was thinking it wasn’t a big deal to lose since I have lost so many races. When I finished the race and got out of the water, I was wondering about my ranking. And I was surprised to find out that I won first place after getting out of the swimming pool.

“I’m glad I have wonderful teammates, we helped each other a lot during the hardest time. Now I’m feeling super excited and the coach has been my main motivation. She is already 60 years old, but she is more like a friend to me. My coach and I are very close. The medal means a lot to me and gives me lots of confidence to do well in the Paris Olympics. I believe that Chinese New Year also brought me good luck.”

Tang, out in 30.25 and back in 35.02, improved on her 20th place finish from Fukuoka 2023 and her seventh place finish in Budapest 2022.

Tes Schouten of the Netherlands charged home to 34.36 to take the silver at 1:05.82, moving from sixth to second as this is her second career medal at the World Aquatics Championships at age 23.

“I didn’t really expect to get on the podium on the 100m, because normally on the 100m I am a bit slower compared to the other girls, so I’m just really happy with it!” Schouten said. “It was kind of a surprise to win a medal, because in Fukuoka I didn’t make it to the final. I was also very pleased with my time, only one tenth above my PB, so I’m grateful!”

Hong Kong, China’s Siobhan Haughey won the bronze medal at 1:05.92 for a new best time and her first international medal in a non-freestyle race. Haughey, who has built up her career as a 100 and 200m freestyler, moved up to 31st all-time in the 100m breaststroke, winning her second career medal at the World Aquatics Championships. Haughey turned second at the 50m, and looked to give Tang a run for her money, but she was caught by Schouten, and still won the bronze.

“I had zero expectations coming into this race,” Haughey said. “I just wanted to see what I could do, and I think I surprised myself. I just did the 100m breaststroke for fun – I don’t know what I expected, but I am really happy with how it turned out.

“Before I walked out for the 100 breaststroke, I told myself 'how often do you get to be in the final of 100m breaststroke? Not often -- so, just have fun and enjoy it and that's what I did.”

Lithuania’s Kotryna Teterevkova nearly caught Haughey on the back end, but finished fourth at 1:06.02 for a new best time.

Ireland’s Mona McSharry (1:06.42) finished fifth, ahead of Alina Zmushka (1:06.58), China’s Yang Chang (1:06.75), and Canada’s Sophie Angus (1:07.09).

Semis Wrap

Men’s 50m Breaststroke

Australia’s Sam Williamson swam to a new national record in pacing the semifinalists at 26.41, moving himself up to seventh on the all-time list as the Melbourne based 26-year-old has never been higher than fourth at World Championships.

100m champion Nic Fink (26.77) also advanced along with last night’s silver medalist Nicolo Martinenghi (26.65) and world record holder Adam Peaty (26.85).

Italy’s Simone Cerasuolo (26.98), Germany’s Lucas Matzerath (27.01), Slovenia’s Peter Stevens (27.04), and Aruba’s Mikel Schreuders (27.05) also advanced to tomorrow’s championship final.

Women’s 200m Freestyle

Nearly 48 hours after winning a historic gold in the 400m freestyle, New Zealand’s Erika Fairweather is the top seed for tomorrow’s 200m freestyle final with a 1:55.75 to lead the semi finalists. The 20-year-old out of Dunedin will have her hands full however with the reigning World short course champion Siobhan Haughey of Hong Kong, China, who raced to bronze in the 100m breaststroke shortly after the 200m freestyle.

Haughey is seeded second at 1:56.04 ahead of Australia’s Shayna Jack (1:56.80).

Li Bingjie of the People’s Republic of China also had a double on Tuesday evening, finishing seventh in the semifinals here after winning silver in the 1500m earlier in the night. Li came roaring home on the last 50 to just scrape into the final at 1:57.13 in a tie for the last spot alongside 2022 World Juniors champion Nikolett Padar (1:57.13) of Hungary.

Czechia’s Barbora Seemanova (1:57.00), Australia’s Brianna Throssell (1:57.09), and Brazil’s Maria de Oliveira (1:57.11) also advanced to the championship final tomorrow night.

Men’s 200m Butterfly

It appeared as if the Polish twins Krzysztof Chmielewski (1:54.52) and Michal Chmielewski (1:55.38) were back to back winners of the 200m butterfly semifinals looking to duel for the gold medal on Wednesday night. But last year’s silver medalist Krzsysztof was disqualified for a one hand touch at the 100m turn and will have to watch the final and cheer on his 19-year-old twin brother to a medal.

The top seed for tomorrow will be Italy’s Alberto Razzetti (1:55.09) ahead of last year’s bronze medalist Tomoru Honda (1:55.20) of Japan. The gold looks to be up for grabs as all eight finalists are separated by less than a full second. Razzetti was ninth last year in Fukuoka and will have a chance to win his first medal at the World Aquatics Championships.

Austria’s Martin Espernberger (1:55.40) and Estonia’s Kregor Zirk (1:55.64) will go for their nation’s first ever medals in this event tomorrow night. New Zealand’s Lewis Clareburt (1:55.82), South Africa’s Matthew Sates (1:55.88), and Hungary’s Richard Marton (1:56.04) will also compete in tomorrow’s championship final.