Notable Records Shattered at the 2024 Short-Course Swimming Championships
Notable Records Shattered at the 2024 Short-Course Swimming Championships
The much-hyped 2024 Short-Course Championships concluded on December 15, with a week of exceptional swimming performances showcasing elite swimmers achieving remarkable times and breaking decade-long records in compact pools. It was speculated that numerous records would be smashed in Duna Arena, Budapest, as numerous successful long-distance swimmers opted to debut in the event this year. However, the 2024 Championships will be remembered in swimming history for its crowd-pulling attendance, breaking 30 records across six days.
Below are some of the notable records that collapsed at the 2024 Short-Course Championship:
Gretchen Walsh Destroys 50-meter and 100-meter Fly Records Multiple Times
At the 2024 Championships, Gretchen Walsh, the 21-year-old senior from Virginia University, made headlines by setting eleven world records (nine individual) at her inaugural short-course championship. A double Olympic champion, Walsh demonstrated her mastery over the butterfly event, taking the first-place honors in both the 50-meter and 100-meter races. In the 50-meter prelims, Walsh shattered the previous super-suited mark set by Swedish swimmer Therese Alshammar by 0.36 seconds, recording a time of 29.34 seconds. The swimmer then bettered her own record by 0.08 seconds in the semifinals, eventually snagging her inaugural individual gold on day two in 24.01.
In the 100-meter Butterfly event, Walsh, who already had five world records and three golds, broke the world record thrice. Posting a time of 53.24 in the prelims, she outdid the 54.05 mark set by Canada’s Maggie Mac Neil at the 2022 Championships. Walsh continued her record-breaking streak in the semis, qualifying for the finals in an under-53-second world record-breaking time of 52.87. Finishing the race with an even swifter time of 52.71, Walsh claimed her well-deserved gold in the event, breaking her previous record.
Her remarkable accomplishments in the fly event in long-course became even more notable when, at the 2024 US Olympic trials, she recorded a time of 55.18, breaking the eight-year record set by Sarah Sjostrom in 2016. At present, Walsh holds the fastest time in long-course, short-course, and yards in the 100 fly event.
Jordan Crooks Breaks The 20-Second Barrier
Caymanian athlete Jordan Crooks secured gold in the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 20.19. However, Crooks' semifinal performance will forever be etched in swimming history as one of the most triumphant sprinters in the sport. Crooks clocked a time of 19.90, making him the first man to break beneath the 20-second mark and the quickest man in the 50 free SCM.
To showcase the magnitude of Crooks' achievement, consider that in 2020, Caeleb Dressel, a nine-time Olympic gold medalist, in an unofficial meet, swam in the fastest swimsuit, Speedo LZR Racer, but still fell short of sub-20. He completed his initial attempt in 20.41, with his second try clocked at 20.42. Surprisingly, before surmounting what seemed unattainable, Crooks achieved a time of 20.08 in prelims, surpassing Caeleb Dressel's 20.16 world record time at the ISL finals.
Additionally, Crooks claimed bronze in the 100-meter freestyle en route to a personal best in the semifinals in 45.22. “I'm just thrilled to be here, thrilled to have accomplished it once,” Crooks said following his impressive performance. “So to accomplish it a second time is even more thrilling.”
Summer McIntosh Wins The 400-meter IM
18-year-old Canadian sensation Summer McIntosh claimed three gold medals and broke three records in the Budapest waters. McIntosh garnered victories in the 400-meter freestyle and 200-butterfly in record-breaking times of 3:50.25 and 1:59.32, respectively.
And to cap off her three-gold medal tally with a record, she clocked a time of 4:15.48 in the 400-meter IM, erasing Spain's Mireia Belmonte's 2017 record of 4:18.94. She also surpassed her own world junior record (4:21.49) that she set at prior year's World Cup.
“Just stay in the present, take it stroke by stroke, and that’s how you can actually deliver the best race possible,” McIntosh said after the race, focusing on improving her butterfly strokes.
Regan Smith Conquers All Three Events In Backstroke
The 2024 season has yielded great success for Regan Smith from the outset. At the US Olympic trials, Smith reclaimed her world record in the 100-meter backstroke, having first set it in 2019. Following this achievement, she set a new world record in the 100-meter event in a short-course pool at the 2024 Worlds, lording it over Kaylee McKeown, who opted out of the fall season. On the second leg of the 2024, she led the pack in posting a time of 54.41, reducing Kaylee McKeown’s world record by 0.15 seconds. In Singapore, Smith lowered the world record again to 54.27.
At her initial Short-Course Championships outing, Regan Smith aided Team USA in securing the gold medal with the quickest 100-meter backstroke time, pacing the mixed medley relay in 54.19. Although this record doesn't hold official recognition due to being part of a relay event, it underscores Smith's consistent performance in the backstroke, particularly after training with Bob Bowman.
Two days following her history-making show in the 100-meter race, Smith smashed another world record in the 50-meter backstroke event. She registered a time of 25.23, decimating Canada's Maggie Mac Niel's previous benchmark of 25.25 set in 2022.
In conclusion, Smith also bagged the 200-meter backstroke gold, aligning herself with Ryan Murphy's legacy, who achieved a full sweep of backstroke medals in the men's events in 2022. To further cement her legacy, Smith improved her own world record set in Singapore with her 1:58.04 effort, taking home all three titles while setting new SCM records. Summer McIntosh secured the second position with a new world junior record of 1:59.96.
Noe Ponti Dominates 50 and 100 Butterfly
The relentless efforts of Swiss swimmer Noe Ponti have significantly impacted the 50-meter butterfly over the past few months. Ponti kicked off the 2024 World Cup with a new world record of 21.67 at the first stop. He continued to break barriers, setting a new world record of 21.50 at the last stop of the 2024 World Cup. Furthermore, Ponti followed this up with two more world records in the 50 fly in Budapest. The 23-year-old swam a time of 21.43 seconds in the semi-finals, before improving the record by 0.09 seconds in the final.
In an intriguing turn of events, Ponti also broke another record in the 100-meter fly, managing to lower down Caeleb Dressel's standing record. Ponti clinched victory at every 100-meter fly World Cup stop finale with the best time of 48.40, ultimately decreasing Dressel's record by eight hundredths to 47.71 in Budapest. Dressel's previous record of 47.78 was established at the ISL finals in 2020 in the Duna Arena pool as well.
“It’s incredible,” Ponti expressed. “Caeleb, he’s a legend of our sport. It’s simply special, special to know that I’m as fast as he was, as he is.”
Kate Douglass Claims 200 IM and Breaststroke Records
Following her impressive performance at the 2024 World Cup, Kate Douglass added two new world records to her name – in the 200 IM and 200 breaststroke – in Budapest. At the 2022 Championships, Douglass fell short of a decade-long 200 IM world record by mere seconds, settling for a new American record instead. However, on the first day of the 2024 meet, Douglass brought down Katinka Hosszu's record to 2:01.63 to claim her first individual gold.
Subsequently, in the 200-meter breaststroke, Douglass successfully defended her 2022 gold while simultaneously lowering her own record of 2:12.72, which she had set at the last leg of the World Cup. The 23-year-old clinched victory with a time of 2:12.50, becoming the first woman to achieve multiple title victories.
After setting a new American record in the 200 IM at the 2022 Championships, Kate Douglass broke the decade-long world record in the same event during the 2024 Championships, recording a time of 2:01.63. Similarly, Regan Smith, who had previously set a world record in the 100-meter backstroke in 2019, lowered her own record in the event at the 2024 World Championships, swimming a time of 54.27 in a short-course pool.
Summer McIntosh, the 18-year-old Canadian swimmer, not only won the 400-meter IM with a record-breaking time of 4:15.48 but also set the fastest time in the 200-meter butterfly event at the 2024 Championships, recording a time of 1:59.32. Meanwhile, Noe Ponti from Switzerland, who had broken the world record in the 50-meter butterfly multiple times, also set a new world record in the 100-meter fly event at the 2024 Championships, managing to lower Caeleb Dressel's record by eight hundredths to 47.71.