Swimming World Championships: Australia win four gold medals as world records are smashed
Ariarne Titmus’ destroyed Katie Ledecky and Summer McIntosh to win the gold and reclaim her world record in the 400m free. The Aussie had the race wrapped up at the halfway point.
Bring on Paris.
The next Olympics can’t come quick enough for Australia’s super swimmers after a golden start to the world championships in Japan on Sunday.
Ariarne Titmus has got more Olympic gold in her sights again after she regained her world record with an incredible performance to win the women’s 400 metres freestyle.
In a hair-raising repeat of her unforgettable win at the Tokyo Olympics, Titmus demolished American legend Katie Ledecky and Canadian teenage sensation Summer McIntosh to win the gold.
A precursor to their showdown at next year’s Paris Olympics – already dubbed the race of the century – their three-way war on water didn’t actually live up the hype – because the Terminator was just too good.
Titmus won the gold in 3:55.38, regaining the world record she lost to McIntosh in March.
Ariarne Titmus YOU LEGEND! 💚💛
— Wide World of Sports (@wwos) July 23, 2023
An absolute demoliton to set a World Record! 💥🇦🇺
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Ledecky held on for second, while New Zealand’s Erika Fairweather was third and McIntosh fourth.
“It’s probably my most satisfying win, I’d say. I feel like I didn’t have the most perfect prep coming into this and it came together the last couple of months,” Titmus said.
“And to swim like that and swim really free and fearless, yeah, I feel really over the moon to get that one.
“It’s about trusting yourself.
“I have got fearless tattooed on my foot so I can see it right before I dive. Just trying to swim like that little girl that I was when I was first up against Katie, I was never afraid to take it to her
“And Summer and Katie are world record holders so I feel like the only way to beat them was to try and take it out and see who had the most fight and the most left in the tank at the end and it worked.”
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Titmus may not be the most technically gifted swimmer in the world, but she makes up for it with pure heart.
She took off early, established a lead after the first 100m and pulled away to win easily, reeling off a lightning fast 28.876 second last lap – the fastest of the race.
Australia’s Lani Pallister finished fifth.
Australia also won the men’s 400m freestyle – the first time ever the Dolphins have completed the middle distance double at the world championships – when teenager Sam Short sent a message for Sun Yang ahead of Paris.
“Bring it on,” Short said.
“I watched him race in 2012. I was only nine years old then. You know, I’ll be 20 in Paris.
“So, you know, I’m up to the challenge to come back for sure.’
Sun is currently banned from racing but is planning a comeback in Paris where his biggest rival will now be Short.
The Aussie showed he has what it takes when he won his first world title in brilliant fashion.
Short led for most of the race – under world record pace – before losing the lead one lap from home to Tuniasian Olympic champion Ahmed Hafnaoui.
But the Australian dug deep and clawed his way back to get his fingernails on the wall first, stopping the clock at 3:40.68, just 0.02 ahead of Hafnaoui.
“I’m stoked, I just couldn’t wait to get on the lane rope and start flexing to be honest,” Short said.
“That’s what you dream about as a young guy. I reckon. I was just over the moon.”
Short became the fourth fastest swimmer in the event in history, behind only Paul Biedermann, Ian Thorpe and Sun Yang.
He also gave Australia a record seventh world title in the race.
Australia’s defending champion Elijah Winnington finished seventh.
“I’m just filled with adrenaline right now,” Short said.
“I’m sure I’m going to be hurting later on. But I’m stoked and I reckon if I had to put it together again tomorrow, I could probably replicate that swim.”
11:10pm: AUSSIE MEN CAP OFF HISTORIC NIGHT
Someone stop the fight!
The Australians have just won an unprecedented fourth gold medal on the opening night of the world championships in Japan.
The men’s 4x100m freestyle relay – comprised of Jack Cartwright, Flynn Southam, Kai Taylor and Kyle Chalmers – have won gold for the first time at the world titles since 2011.
The Dolphins have some great nights in swimming – especially at Fukuoka in 2001 when Ian Thorpe was unstoppable – but they have never won four gold medals in a single session before.
They have now.
With this latest victory, the Australian men have already secured a place at next year’s Paris Olympics, along with Italy, who came second, and the United States who placed third.
Cartwright, Southam and Taylor, the teenage son of Hayley Lewis, who was watching from the stands, all broke 48 seconds while Chalmers, the best relay swimmer in history, motored home in a scarcely believable 46.50 – putting him right in contention for the individual race later in the week.
“It was set up for me,” Chalmers said.
“The boys were incredible. I knew that I had something special to give to the boys.
“To be world champions 12 years after Shanghai is so special and we’ve got a pretty young team so we’ve got something special next year.”
10:45PM: AUSSIE WOMEN DOMINATE ONCE AGAIN
Australia has broken another world record at the world championships in Japan.
The Australian women’s 4x100m freestyle relay have annihilated their opposition and the old world mark they set at the Tokyo Olympics two years ago.
Odd-on favourites to win the race, the Aussie combination of Mollie O’Callaghan, Shayna Jack, Meg Harris and Emma McKeon left their rivals dead in the water to win in an almost unbelievable time of 3:27.96.
That was almost two seconds quicker than what it took to win the gold in Tokyo – and nearly four seconds faster than the United States, who finished a distant second.
“It was just four girls just having the best time of their life,” Jack said. “It’s Australia’s night. We’ve had a phenomenal night.”
Australia also has a great chase of winning the women’s individual 100m freestyle gold after O’Callaghan swam the lead off in 52.08, the fastest time in the world this year and a huge personal best, while McKeon swam the anchor in 51.90 with a flying start.
10:30PM: SWIMMING’S OLDEST WORLD RECORD SMASHED
The oldest world record in swimming has been sunk – leaving Michael Phelps without any more individual record on the books
French superstar Leon Marchand has done what many people thought was impossible – he has broken Michael Phelps’ longest standing world record in the 400 metres individual medley.
Marchand, 21, blitzed the field at the world championships in Fukuoka on Sunday to win gold in 4:02.50.
He finished more than four seconds ahead of his nearest rival but more significantly he demolished Phelps’ world record of 4:03.84 which the American set at the Beijing Olympics on his way to winning an unprecedented eight gold medals at a single Games.
Marchand is set to be one of the biggest stars at next year’s Paris Olympics – doing for France what Ian Thorpe did for Australia at Sydney in 2000.
And in a warning of what’s ahead, he declared “The best is yet to come.”
10PM: MCKEOWN SENSATIONALLY DISQUALIFIED AT WORLD TITLES
Kaylee McKeown has been sensationally disqualified from the women’s 200 metres individual medley at the world championships in Japan.
The Australian finished second in her semi-final in a time that would easily have got her into Monday’s final.
But her joy was short lived as the dreaded DQ appeared next to her name on the scoreboard with the pool announcer later explaining she had committed a rule violation on the backstroke leg.
McKeown is the red-hot favourite to win the 100m and 200m backstroke double but was also a strong contender in the 200m medley after Summer McIntosh pulled put to focus on the 400m freestyle where she was easily beaten by Ariarne Titmus.
Australia will be represented in the medley final by Jenna Forrester, who qualified fourth fastest.
AUSSIE SUN YANG DEFECTOR’S SECRET RETURN TO CHINESE TEAM
In an ominous warning that might just be the first big clue about what Sun Yang has in store for next year’s Paris Olympics, legendary Aussie swim coach Denis Cotterell has secretly rejoined the Chinese national team staff.
Cotterell, who coached some of Australia’s greatest swimmers including Grant Hackett before switching lanes and taking over as Sun’s personal coach, terminated his lucrative contract with the Chinese Swimming Association in 2020 after his star pupil was banned for destroying his samples before they could be tested for drugs.
But – with the Paris Olympics now just one year away and Sun reportedly training the house down behind closed doors in China – Cotterell has made a sudden backflip and returned to helping the Chinese coaching staff.
He was spotted by this masthead on the pool deck at the world championships in Fukuoka, Japan on Sunday, dressed in the Chinese team’s red uniform and pacing up and down the side of the same pool where Hackett broke the 1500 freestyle world record 22 years ago.
Only this time, he was barking orders to Chinese swimmers and consulting with the other Chinese team coaches.
Asked by this masthead, Cotterell would not comment on his reasons for rejoining the Chinese team but sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that he returned in an assistant coaching role.
It is not known if he is back yet working with Sun, who is still banned from training with the Chinese national team until his suspension officially ends in May next year.
A master tactician who helped Sun win multiple world and Olympic gold medals as well as set world records, Cotterell has always stood by the troubled star, despite quitting his job in 2020 when he had the book thrown at him.
Now in his 70s, Cotterill travelled with his wife to Switzerland to show his support for Sun when his anti-doping case was heard before the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Sun was found guilty and initially banned for eight years, but won an appeal to have it reduced to four years and three months, enabling him to return for the Paris Olympics.
Sun will be 32 in Paris and despite already having three Olympic gold medals, he has vowed to silence his critics and prove he’s still the best middle-distance swimmer in the world.
“I have not retired and still insist on swimming training every day,” he recently told Asian media.
“I have never said to the outside world that I am retired or not swimming. I have always believed that using my body and ability to do what I have to do and always be ready is my current state of mind.
“The most important thing about a person’s talent is to play well and make good use of it. When I learned the result that day, I was with the team, and I said that I wanted everyone to continue to support me, four years is not long, I want to stick with it.
“If a person can’t even do self-discipline, then he can’t succeed, which is the hardest thing in life, and it’s the same in life.” I was able to do it.”
“In the long run, I am not old, and I still have the physical ability, and I can last a few more years. A lot of athletes are role models for me, tennis players and NBA players, like (LeBron) James is 38 years old, right, and he can still play very well.”
If Sun does make it back for Paris – and there’s no reason to think he won’t because Chinese officials also want him back – his appearance in the 400m freestyle could be one of the most explosive races in Olympic history.
The first race of the swimming program, Sun could find himself up against two Aussies – Elijah Winnington, Sam Short or possibly Mack Horton.
Winnington succeeded Sun as world champion in 2022 while Shirt is the fastest qualifier for Sunday’s final in Japan.
It’s no secret Sun has a prickly relationship with Australia after he was beaten by Horton in the 400m final at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
Sun avenged that defeat when he got the better of the Australian at the 2019 world championships in South Korea, but the result was overshadowed by Horton staging a protest at the medal ceremony.
Although Sun had already been charged with destroying his samples – a serious offence under anti-doping regulations – international swimming officials allowed him to compete and keep his gold medal.
He missed the Tokyo Olympics, leaving most to believe his career was over, but there’s more to come.
HOW AUSSIE CREATED THE SWIMMING MONSTER
Unbeaten for five years, Australian swim star Ariarne Titmus has vowed she won’t be conceding her 400m freestyle title without a fight.
Guilty of poking the bear, Titmus will be under siege from two great rivals at Sunday’s world championships in Fukuoka.
The first is American legend Katie Ledecky, who Titmus famously beat at the Tokyo Olympics.
The other is Canadian teenage sensation Summer McIntosh, who recently broke the world record Titmus took from Ledecky.
Their three-way clash is one of most anticipated races in swimming history and Titmus as a warning for her two rivals.
“The 400m is my favourite race. I feel like it’s my baby,” Titmus said.
“It‘s just exciting for the sport. I wish that I could watch from the outside.
“I don‘t really remember as an athlete seeing three women that have kind of held the world record within 18 months all together racing each other. I really hope we put on a good show.”
A natural-born fighter, the Terminator has had Ledecky measure ever since she beat her for the first time at the 2019 world championships.
Titmus has never lost to McIntosh but the 16-year-old will go in as the slight favourite after snatching the world record off the Aussie earlier this year.
“I don’t personally know Summer too well, but from what I’ve seen and how she is around the pool deck and how she races, she reminds me a lot of myself when I was her age,” Titmus said.
“I was completely fearless going up against Katie as a 16, 17 year old. I was never afraid to take it to her and I feel like Summer is exactly the same.
“I feel a sense of pride in the fact that maybe I‘ve kind of paved the way in that sense but Summer’s her own person and I think that what she’s doing is amazing. She’s 16 and it’s exciting for the sport.”
The youngest of the trio, McIntosh has made no secret of the fact that she paid close attention to the way Titmus went about beating the seemingly invincible Ledecky.
But the Canadian has taken it to whole another level, where she is arguably the most executing swimmer in the world right now.
As well as the 400m freestyle, she also holds the 400m individual world record.
She is already the reigning world champion in 400m medley and 200m butterfly and is ranked No. 1 in the world in the 200m medley and second in the 200m freestyle.
She could have possibly won an unprecedented five individual events – a feat that no woman has achieved at a single world championships (Michael Phelps is the only man to do it), but withdrew from the 200m medley because it overlapped with the 400m freestyle.
The noise around McIntosh is getting louder by the day, with the pressure and expectation on her building ahead of next year’s Paris Olympics.
“After breaking the world record, I think nothing‘s really changed,” she said.
“Obviously it‘s a huge accomplishment and I’m very proud that I was able to do that. But it’s just another thing that I’m trying to keep and improve on and just trying to push forward as much as possible.”
Titmus has questioned how the Canadian will cope with all the extra attention but so far, McIntosh hasn’t taken the bait.
“She’s nice. I’ve talked to her before,” McIntosh said.
“I kind of met her at the (2022) Commonwealth Games and I talked to her before the 400m free in the ready room.
“Not just her, but everyone that I‘ve met so far that I’ve looked up to since the little kid has been really sweet and nice to me in person. And I’m just really excited to race and see what kind of goes down.”
Despite all her success, Titmus is used to not being the favourite.
Even in her own mind, she was the underdog when she beat Ledecky at the 2019 world titles in South Korea, but said she had more confidence in herself now.
“It‘s crazy to think my last worlds was four years ago, where I had my major breakthrough,” Titmus said.
“Coming into 2019, I didn’t have the belief in myself that I was going to win. Katie was a 3:56 swimmer, I was a 3:59 swimmer, I truly didn’t believe that I was going to beat her.
“I thought that I could be in the race, but I didn‘t think that was going to be my first race where I would beat her but this one’s different.
“I feel like I can no longer fly under the radar. And that‘s the way the sport is. You kind of announce yourself and people want to see how you go and watch you race and things like that. But that’s a privilege in sport and I’m just excited to go out there and do my best.
“You have to play to your strengths. Summer obviously did that to break the world record, but you don‘t know what anyone’s going to do on the day. I think you really have to just streamline your focus, put your blinkers on and do a race that capitalises on your own strengths.
“And that‘s what I have to do on Sunday. I don’t know how anyone in the field is going to race, so I think I’d be stupid to try and make a race plan to beat someone else’s.”
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