Women’s 100m Freestyle - Marrit Steenbergen Moves to Eighth All-time to Become Next Dutch Champion

After blasting a 52.53 in the semi-finals, Marrit Steenbergen of the Netherlands swam even faster on Friday night in Doha to win her first ever World title in the 100m freestyle at 52.26, moving herself up two spots on the all-time list to eighth.

Steenbergen, coached by Patrick Pearson in Eindhoven, turned fourth at the 50m, with the race being led by Siobhan Haughey of Hong Kong, China, at 24.87. Haughey was the gold medalist in the 200m and the silver medalist last year in Fukuoka in the 100m and was the pre-race favorite after she swam 52.02 at last year’s World Cup - that was if she could get out away from Steenbergen.

But the 24-year-old Dutch woman closed in 26.96, the only finalist under 27 on the way back. This is the tenth overall 100m freestyle medal for the Netherlands but the first World title since Inge de Bruijn won in Fukuoka 2001 as Steenbergen improves on her bronze from last year.

“It’s amazing,” Steenbergen said. “I’m so excited! After missing the 200m final I just wanted some revenge for myself. I did not really think I was going to win here, l knew it would be very tough.

Steenbergen, who won her sixth career medal at the World Aquatics Championships, is entered in four individual events this week in Doha. She will also be racing the 50m freestyle tomorrow.

Haughey won her second straight silver at 52.56 for her third medal of the week, adding to her gold in the 200m freestyle and bronze in the 100m breaststroke.

“I didn’t think I was going for all three colours (medals) but I guess now I have them and it’s a nice collection,” Haughey said. “It’s definitely great to go home with some hardware.”

Australia’s Shayna Jack won the bronze medal at 52.83 after flipping third at the 50m (25.24). Jack, age 25, won her 14th total medal at the World Aquatics Championships but just her second individually after winning silver in the 50m freestyle last year.

Kate Douglass of the United States finished fourth at 53.02, replicating her finish from Fukuoka 2023 as she also had the 200m breaststroke final later in the session.

Great Britain’s Anna Hopkin, who was swimming in her first ever 100m freestyle Worlds final, finished fifth at 53.09. Hopkin will be much more dangerous in the 50m freestyle starting tomorrow, as she showed her opening speed in the 100m final, flipping second halfway.

Brazil’s Stephanie Balduccini (54.05), Poland’s Kornelia Fiedkiewicz (54.06), and Czechia’s Barbora Seemanova (54.64) also swam in the championship final.

Women’s 200m Breaststroke - Double Dutch! Tes Schouten Rips 2:19 for First World Title

Nearly 47 minutes after the Netherlands won its first swimming gold of the World Aquatics Championships - Doha 2024, Tes Schouten added one more to the tally, absolutely dominating the 200m breaststroke final at 2:19.81 to become the tenth swimmer to break 2:20 in history.

Schouten led the race from the word ‘go,’ turning at 1:07.20 halfway as she was pushing the world record pace early. Schouten, age 23, has improved tremendously since 2020, having not even qualified to race the 200m breaststroke at the last Olympics in Tokyo. Since then, she’s finished 12th in Budapest 2022, and third in Fukuoka 2023, and has broken numerous Dutch records in the 100m and 200m breaststroke. Schouten, who is coached by Mark Faber, moved to ninth all-time with her swim in Doha, as she had never broken 2:21 coming into the day.

“It is still a little bit of a surprise for me to win this gold medal,” Schouten said. “Actually, it was like two seconds faster than before I came here, so it is a surprise. I guess I have every color in my collection now and I am very glad. My main goal was to just go really fast and to keep the pace and the speed. So I think it worked really well. I did not have much to lose so it was nice. It is the 200m, and normally I am a bit nervous after the first 100, so I was just trying not to do that this final and that felt very good.”

Kate Douglass, who came in as the heavy favorite after swimming 2:19.30 in January, could not hang with the speed of Schouten, as the 22-year-old American turned at 1:08.08 at the 100m mark. Douglass had swum the 100m freestyle final 47 minutes earlier and perhaps felt the fatigue on the back end. Douglass has perhaps the best kick + line duo in the entire world, and she couldn’t close the gap on Schouten, splitting 1:12.83 on the back 100 to Schouten’s 1:12.61.

“I’m just really proud of myself,” Douglass said. “I executed it how I wanted to. I think finishing with 2:20 is an awesome time and doing that 200m breaststroke after a 100m free is a challenge, so I knew that I would have to be tough and finish it strong.”

This is Douglass’s third straight medal in the 200m breaststroke and the second straight silver.

“I saw Tes next to me the whole time and that helped me to finish the race stronger as it made me push myself in the last 50,” Douglass said. “It was a great practice for the trials coming up where I’m going to be doing the double again. I think because of where we are in training, it was really hard, and it hurt a lot, but I’m proud of myself for pushing through. Tomorrow, I have the 50m free and I’m just excited about that as it will be my first international meet for the 50m freestyle.”

Canada’s Sydney Pickrem (2:22.94) won her second medal of the week with a bronze as she matched her bronze from Gwangju 2019.

“I am excited,” Pickrem said. “I think it’s been almost five years since I have been on the podium in that event and I haven’t really gotten a chance to race it, so I’m happy to be back in this position and excited to see what can come from that event and a lot is still left.

“Every time we come to the Middle East it has been good,” Pickrem said. “The first time I ever won a world championship was in Abu Dhabi, so I am excited to return here. Doha has been wonderful; everyone has been so electric and nice – the crowd has been amazing.”

Alina Zmushka, the oldest in the field at age 27, finished fourth at 2:24.44 ahead of Ireland’s Mona McSharry (2:24.89), who matched her fifth place finish from the 100m.

Czechia’s Kristyna Horska (2:25.34), Brazil’s Gabrielle Silva (2:25.66), and Switzerland’s Lisa Mamie (2:26.23) also competed in the championship final.

Men’s 200m Backstroke - Hugo Gonzalez Finally Breaks through for World Senior Title

After being named the outstanding swimmer of the 2017 World Juniors, Spain’s Hugo Gonzalez had a hard time replicating that form at the senior level. The junior to senior level is a difficult transition for anyone, but Gonzalez hadn’t been higher than seventh in a World Aquatics Championships final, doing that twice in the 200m backstroke and 200m IM in Fukuoka last year.

On Friday evening in Doha, Gonzalez finally became World champion, winning the 200m backstroke final at 1:55.30 in a thrilling race with Switzerland’s Roman Mityukov (1:55.40). Gonzalez won his second medal of the week, winning silver in the 100m backstroke on Tuesday night, and winning gold in the 200m, knocking a full second off his best time to move from 55th to 19th on the all-time list.

“I think every guy in the final was capable of winning,” Gonzalez said. “I just gave my best and this time I’m happy it’s me.

Mityukov, last year’s bronze medalist, showed out early, flipping at the 100m at 56.02 and he carried that lead through the 150m at 1:25.67. Mityukov, age 24, was looking to take advantage of the wide open final, holding under 30’s on all of his 50s.

But Gonzalez, coached by Dave Durden and David Marsh at the University of California, Berkeley, found something on the last 50, storming home in 28.98 as he won Spain’s first World title in this event since Martin Lopez-Zubero won in Perth 1991.

Mityukov collected his second World Aquatics Championships medal.

“I am a little bit disappointed to miss the world title but it is still a good performance for February,” Mityukov said. “Let’s get ready for the Olympics and train more. The 200m Back is a tough race especially at the World Championships where you have to swim it three times. There are many guys who can swim fast so you have to manage in the way to arrive in the final in the best condition.”

The only one faster than Gonzalez on the last 50m was South Africa’s Pieter Coetze, who came home in 28.67 from lane eight to grab the bronze at 1:55.99. Coetze, who was the World Juniors champion in 2022, moved from eighth to third to break 1:56 for the first time in his career. He is the first African man to stand on the podium in this event at the World Aquatics Championships.

“It’s amazing,” Coetze said. “Just to get on the podium was a dream of mine since I was young. Normally this time of the year, I’m just training and relaxing, but getting on the podium and swimming is definitely going to boost my confidence for Paris.”

Jack Aikins of the United States was in the mix for a medal throughout the race, flipping second and the 100m and 150m turns, but he was run down by Coetze on the last 50m, touching fourth at the finish at 1:56.21. It’s the first time since Kazan 2015 no American is standing on the podium for the men’s 200m backstroke.

Korea’s Lee Ju-ho, who was swimming in his first championship final after three straight trips to the semi-finals, finished fifth at 1:56.38.

Greece’s Apostolos Siskos (1:56.64), Hungary’s Adam Telegdy (1:56.66) and Kai Van Westering (1:57.19) of the Netherlands also swam in the championship final.

Men’s 200m Breaststroke - Dong Zhihao Storms Home to Stop Dutch Triple Threat

Dong Zhihao of the People’s Republic of China moved from sixth to first across the final 50 meters of the 200m breaststroke to win his first ever medal at the World Aquatics Championships at age 18. Dong was the only swimmer to break :33 on the last 50m of either the semi-finals or the finals of the event, winning the gold medal at 2:07.94.

Dong broke 2:08 for the first time, moving up to 33rd all-time in the event as he improved on his fourth place finish from last year’s Worlds.

“The result was not what I expected because I didn’t practice much for the 200m,” Dong said. “I didn’t expect myself to win first place, and I was only thinking about securing third place. Again, it was totally unexpected.

Dong, coached by Ji Zhixiang, also won China’s third gold medal in an individual event this week in Doha.

“The pressure I felt mainly came from other people who kept telling me to win the gold medal,” Dong said. “To be honest, I felt a bit jealous these past few days seeing other athletes in the Chinese team winning medals. This time, I can finally show off my gold medal to them.”

It appeared Caspar Corbeau of the Netherlands would win the nation’s third gold medal of the night as the 22-year-old led the race at the 100m and 150m mark. In fact, Corbeau and Arno Kamminga were running first and second for the majority of the race as the Dutch momentum continued into this final.

Corbeau pushed through at the 100m at 1:01.09 with Kamminga following at 1:01.42. Corbeau stayed steady, splitting 33.08 to remain in the lead at the final turn at 1:34.17 with Kamminga following at 1:34.99. Corbeau was in his third straight 200m breaststroke Worlds final, placing seventh in Budapest 2022 and fifth in Fukuoka 2023, and was holding his own on the last 50m, but did not have enough to hold off Dong.

Corbeau won silver at 2:08.24 for his first medal at the World Aquatics Championships.

“I am bummed that it wasn’t gold but I am happy with silver,” Corbeau said. “I talked with my coach about this before and I would rather give it all and fight for the gold right away and get seventh, than see that I could have tried harder. You might as well fly high and put it all on the line.”

Nic Fink of the United States came off the pace, moving from fifth to third on the final 100 meters to grab the bronze medal at 2:08.85 as the 30-year-old won his 11th career medal at the World Aquatics Championships.

“The last fifteen meters was the most challenging part for me,” Fink said. “I knew these guys were going to be pretty quick on the last fifty. I just did the best I could to get my hand on the wall and I was happy that I was able to get third.”

Jake Foster, who came in as the top seed from semis for the United States, finished fourth at 2:09.31 as the Pan American Games Champion was competing in his first ever World Aquatics Championships at age 23.

Japan’s Ikuru Hiroshima (2:09.37) finished fifth ahead of Olympic bronze medalist Matti Mattsson (2:09.80) of Finland, Olympic silver medalist Kamminga (2:10.06) of the Netherlands, and 2022 Worlds silver medalist Erik Persson (2:10.21) of Sweden.

Men’s 4x200m Freestyle - People’s Republic of China Holds off Republic of Korea with Slew of 1:43 Splits from Pan & Hwang

It was a thrilling race to close out the sixth night of swimming at the World Aquatics Championships - Doha 2024 as the People’s Republic of China held off Republic of Korea to win the men’s 4x200m freestyle gold medal by a tenth of a second.

The team of Ji Xinjie (1:46.45), Wang Haoyu (1:45.69), Pan Zhanle (1:43.90), and Zhang Zhanshuo (1:45.80) won the gold medal at 7:01.84, holding off a valiant effort from the Asian Games champion Korea at 7:01.94.

The Koreans were represented by the likes of Yang Hae-joon (1:47.78), Kim Woo-min (1:44.93), Lee Ho-joon (1:45.47), and Hwang Sun-woo (1:43.76) in winning their first ever relay medal at the World Aquatics Championships.

“We all expected a place on the podium and of course a gold medal would have been nice, but still this is the first relay medal in our history at the World Championships,” Hwang said. “It has got a special meaning to us and it also gives us a good position on our way to the Olympic Games.”

It was one of the fastest fields in history with the likes of Pan and Hwang splitting under 1:44 during the race as those two nations had to run down the United States (7:02.08), who won the bronze medal from lane eight after front loading its team.

The American team of Luke Hobson (1:45.26), Carson Foster (1:43.94), Hunter Armstrong (1:45.73), and David Johnston (1:47.15) held a three second lead over China and Korea on the front end, with Hobson and Foster setting the pace early with their splits. Foster had never split under 1:44 as he put his name in the hat for the Olympic relay this summer.

Foster, Pan, and Hwang had never split under 1:44 in their careers as the thrilling race came down to whether the World Champion Hwang could run down the five-time World Juniors medalist Zhang. The 16-year-old Zhang held his own as the Chinese celebrated a win over the Koreans after they were beat by that same team at the Asian Games last year.

“I was feeling lots of pressure because I was responsible for the last leg and I didn’t want to let my teammates down,” Zhang said. “I’m super grateful for my team members because they were able to make the whole race a lot easier. This was a group work, not an individual work. I wouldn’t be able to make it without the help of my teammates. I trained every day and learned to meditate to release the pressure. And most importantly, I learned to be humble and always look for a better result.”

“I was anchoring the race but I didn’t notice the margin the leading team had before jumping into the water,” Hwang said. “As I was racing I could feel the gap becoming smaller and that gave me extra energy to push harder. Eventually we didn’t make it to the first place, but still it’s a first-ever medal for our relay team and it’s a really big accomplishment.”

The defending World champions Great Britain (7:05.09) were hardly a factor in the race in placing fourth as they were not at full strength here in Doha.

Italy (7:07.00), Greece (7:09.10), Lithuania (7:11.57), and Spain (7:11.65) also swam in the championship final.

The quickest splits outside the medalists came from Great Britain’s Duncan Scott (1:45.59), Italy’s Matteo Ciampi (1:46.09), Great Britain’s Matthew Richards (1:46.22), and Lithuania's Danas Rapsys (1:46.37).

Semis Wrap

Men’s 100m Butterfly

Portugal’s Diogo Ribeiro followed up his gold medal in the 50m butterfly from Monday night to snag the top seed in the 100m butterfly final after his 51.30 in the semi-finals. The time is a best for the 19-year-old, who was the World Juniors champion in this event in 2022.

He is seeded ahead of Poland’s Jakub Majerski (51.33) and Austria’s Simon Bucher (51.39), who both swam in the final in Budapest 2022 two years ago, placing seventh and sixth, respectively.

South Africa’s Chad Le Clos, who was World champ back in Barcelona 2013 and Kazan 2015, advanced to his first Worlds final since Gwangju 2019 as he is seeded fifth at 51.70.

“I'm very happy,” Le Clos said. “It's my first long course final in a couple of years now so I’m very happy. I think it was just a strange one - this morning was really strange just because everyone's so close. So I’m just happy to be in the final. I'm clearly not the favorite for tomorrow but you know when I race, I race. I’m just grateful to be in the final again and up against the top dogs.”

Nyls Korstanje (51.75) of the Netherlands and Zach Harting (51.78) of the United States also advanced to tomorrow’s final as they each have World Championship finals experience, with Korstanje finishing fifth in Fukuoka last year, and Harting sixth in the 200m butterfly in Gwangju 2019.

Spain’s Mario Molla Yanes (51.48) and Bulgaria’s Josif Miladinov (51.72) also advanced to tomorrow’s championship final.

Women’s 200m Backstroke

After winning both the 50m and 100m backstroke in convincing fashion, Claire Curzan of the United States eased through the 200m semifinals with a 2:07.01, the fastest time of the semis by nearly two full seconds.

Curzan, age 19, could be just the second swimmer ever to win all three backstroke races in the same World Aquatics Championships, something that Australia’s Kaylee McKeown did last year in Fukuoka.

Australia’s Jaclyn Barclay, who was fourth in the 100m backstroke on Tuesday, swam to the second seed at 2:08.85, just off her lifetime best of 2:08.76. Barclay, age 17, was the World Juniors champion in the 100m backstroke last year and is one of the rising stars in Australia.

Hungary’s Eszter Szabo-Feltothy (2:09.42) advanced to her first final at the World Aquatics Championships after she was ninth in Fukuoka last year.

Poland’s Laura Bernat (2:10.00) and Hungary’s Dora Molnar (2:10.31), who were two of the top junior performers in 2022, advanced to the final in sixth and seventh. Bulgaria’s Gabriela Georgieva (2:09.95) will be the only swimmer in tomorrow’s final born before the year 2000 as the fifth seed advanced to her first World Aquatics Championship final at age 25.

Anastasiya Shkurdai (2:09.76) also advanced to the championship final.

Men’s 50m Freestyle

Australia’s Cameron McEvoy sprinted to an impressive 21.23 in the semi-finals to grab the top seed as the 29-year-old is going for his second straight World title and possibly a world record in tomorrow’s final. McEvoy blasted 21.13 in the heats as he nears the 20.91 world record set in 2009 by Cesar Cielo. Only two men in history have broken 21 seconds, and McEvoy could be the third.

Vladyslav Bukhov of Ukraine is seeded second at 21.38 as he was ninth in Fukuoka 2023 and tenth in Budapest 2022. The 21-year-old swam to a lifetime best time as he moved to 16th on the all-time list. Bukhov qualified for his first final at the World Aquatics Championships after winning the World Juniors title in 2019.

2022 World champ Ben Proud of Great Britain is seeded third at 21.54, while 2019 silver medalist Kristian Gkolomeev of Greece is fifth at 21.72.

Sweden’s Bjorn Seeliger (21.67) and Kenzo Simons (21.73) of the Netherlands advanced to their first individual finals at the World Championships.

Australia’s Isaac Cooper (21.74), who was fourth in Fukuoka last year, and United States’s Michael Andrew (21.77), who won silver in Budapest 2022, also advanced to tomorrow’s final.

Women’s 50m Butterfly

Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom appears to be well on her way to a sixth straight World title in the 50m butterfly after a 25.08 in the semi-finals. Sjostrom has not lost this race since she first won in Kazan 2015 as she holds the 22 fastest times in history in the event.

It would be a monumental upset if someone stopped Sjostrom from joining Katie Ledecky (800m freestyle) as the only six-time winners in history, but France’s Melanie Henique perhaps has the best chance. Henique, age 31, is in her eighth World Aquatics Championships and is the second seed for tomorrow’s final at 25.27.

Egypt’s Farida Osman (25.80), who heard the cheers from her supporters in the stands, is seeded third as she is in her seventh straight World Championships final in the 50 butterfly.

China’s Yu Yiting, who won bronze in the 200m IM, is seeded fourth at 25.81 in a tie with Australia’s Alexandria Perkins (25.81). South Africa’s Erin Gallagher (25.86) and Australia’s Brianna Throssell (25.97) also advanced to the championship final.

Germany’s Angelina Kohler, who won the 100m butterfly on Monday, beat Greece’s Anna Ntountounaki in a swim-off for eighth place at 25.79 to 25.97 after the pair tied in the semis at 25.98.