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2024 SC Worlds Event Previews: Stacked Men’s Fly Field Forces Fast First Swims

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2024 SC Worlds Event Previews: Stacked Men’s Fly Field Forces Fast First Swims

2024 SHORT COURSE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Stacked. Loaded. Chock-full. Deep. Whatever descriptor you choose is valid to describe the depth of the men’s fly field. Despite the glaring absences of Nicholas Santos, Caeleb Dressel, and Kristof Milak, to name a few, the fly field in Budapest is going to cause some swimmers to be left by the wayside.

The 50 fly, which holds the crown as the most recently broken men’s world record, sees seven of the eight finalists from 2022 return to the field, a list that does not include one of the most talked-about swimmers in the NCAA. The 100 fly sees both the gold and silver medalists return, leading four other finalists as well, and the 200 fly returns six, with the champion and runner-up looking to repeat atop the podium. With so many returners, the pressure to ensure advancement is going to be paramount, and some fast prelims and semifinals times should be expected.

Men’s 50 Fly PREVIEW

21.75. The time that Nicholas Santos swam in 2018 (and later equaled by Sebastian Szabo in 2021) took down the super-suited record of 21.80 from 2009. It took nine years to do so, and it took Swiss star Noe Ponti less than two weeks to go from 21.67 to 21.50.

Ponti, a fly specialist, is no stranger to swimming fast. A 2020 Olympic bronze medalist in the 100, the Swiss swimmer is also a three-time SC Worlds medalist, most recently claiming the silver in this event in 2022, swimming a time of 21.96.

Yet in the intervening two years, the 23-year-old has found a new gear. Participating in the first leg of the World Cup Series in Shanghai, Ponti recorded a time of 21.67, a new WR and was just off it a night adding .01. Two weeks later, after two sub 21.9 performances in the intervening weekend, Ponti was back at it again swimming 21.50 in prelims to lower his own World Record. Again at night, he was a little off, swimming 21.64, but over the course of the three-meet span, the Swiss star swam the 50 four times faster than the previous World record, a feat that would make him the clear favorite to win the 50 in Budapest.

Except it’s not clear, because Ilya Kharun has thrown down the gauntlet and is ready to take that World Record.

Speaking to CBC before the start of Worlds, Kharun is recorded to have said.

“I’m coming for Ponti’s world record and I’m going to beat it,” “Gold medals are one thing. I want to win every event. And Ponti’s record. Those are the goals for this meet. I’m definitely within reach for Ponti’s record.”

And it is not all bluster, as the ASU-trained Canadian has been on fire this year. Winning bronze in both the 100 and 200 flies in Paris, Kharun just recently split 18.89 on the 200 Medley relay at his mid-season meet and posted a PB of 19.94 from a flat start in October of this year. Kharun has a personal best of 22.28, from his semifinal at the 2022 Worlds, where he tied for 8th with Daniel Zaitsev, ultimately losing the swim-off.

While the gap between 21.50 and 22.28 is massive, Kharun is not the only swimmer with their sights set on taking down Ponti. Nyls Korstanje, who finished runner-up to Ponti at each of the three World Cup stops, broke through in the finals of Singapore, as the Dutchman recorded a new mark of 21.74, to become the second fastest performer of all time.

While Korstanje’s PB is not as far removed as Kharun’s is, each will be buoyed by the fact that in two of the three World Cup stops, Ponti added time from prelims to finals.

The list of returning finalists is Szebasztian Szabo (Bronze), Teong Tzen Wei (4th), Chad le Clos (5th), Dylan Carter (6th), Marius Kusch (7th), and Daniel Zaitsev (8th), all have a chance to final again, but iw it will not be smooth sailing.

Kusch claimed bronze at the first two stops of the World Cup, but his fastest swim of 22.23 was only good for 4th as Tzen Wei Teong’s 22.11 bumped him off the podium.  Isaac Cooper who did not final in 2022 had three swims under 22.5, which should be worrying for le Clos, and Carter as each were not as fast.

Neither was home crowd favorite Szebasztian Szabo. The third seed with his time of 21.86 from the 2023 European Short Course champs is one four entered under 22.00, did not participate in the World Cup series but was 22.65 in earlier November at the Hungarian Nationals.

The Americans in the field, Dare Rose and Michael Andrew, might just have too much against them to make the podium as Andrew has recently relocated his training base to Tempe and both Rose and Andrew are entered in LCM times.  The Brits had two entrants, but with the withdrawal of Ben Proud, Jacob Peters will be their only hope. Peters, who missed out on making the Olympic roster for Team GB is the 5th seed with an entry time of 22.10.

SwimSwam’s Picks – Top 4

Rank Swimmer Season-Best Lifetime Best
1 Noe Ponti (SUI) 21.50 21.50
2 Ilya Kharun (CAN) N/A 22.28
3 Nyls Korstanje (NED) 21.74 21.74
4 Szebastian Szabo (HUN) 21.86 21.75

Men’s 100 Fly PREVIEW

While the hunt for the 50 fly record is certainly on, the 100 fly record may be a little further out of reach, but not impossible. Ponti’s success in the fly was not limited to just the 50, as the Swiss star recorded a new personal best of 48.40 to become the third fastest performer ever.

Like in the 50, Korstanje was ever Ponti’s shadow, taking the silver at each of the stops to Ponti’s golds and like Ponti, the Dutchman recorded a new mark of 48.99 to join the sub 49.00 club.

Throwing down some strong performances and reminding people why he is the second faster performer and former WR holder in the event was South Africa’s Chad le Clos. le Clos, who won gold in 2022 in a time of 48.59, was less than a second off that in Singapore, a good sign for his potential in Budapest. However, what is worrying is that he was just 5th as both Teong and Matthew Temple were faster, 49.37 and 49.49, respectively.

As in the 50, Ponti is the top seed, but some new faces make appearances amongst the top 8 entrants. France’s Maxime Grousset, who claimed gold at the 2023 Worlds is entered with a time of 48.94 from his semifinals at the 2023 European. He would go on to claim the silver behind Ponti, albeit back by over half a second. Grousset struggled a little in Paris, finishing just 5th in front of his home nation.

Two Russian athletes take up the 7th and 8th seeds, with Andrei Minakov‘s 49.71 placing him ahead of compatriot Roman Shevliakov‘s 49.81. The pair will both compete under the Neutral-Athlete “B’ designation.  Minakov, who is competing with Stanford this season, participated at the Incehon stop of the World Cup, where he posted a time of 49.71, which, while good for third, was .9 off Ponti’s winning time.

Like in the 50s, there are several dangerous low-seeded entrants, Kharun again foremost among them.  The 2022 runner-up and a 2024 Olympic bronze medalist, the Canadian is the 16th seed with his 50.45 from the Olympics. In yards, the ASU swimmer recently set a new PB of 43.85 and should easily reset his SCM PB of 49.03 from 2022, but the question is by how much? 43.85 converts to 48.67, but conversions are not perfect, and regardless of how it ultimately plays out, the winner most likely needs to be under 48.5 to win.

Kharun isn’t the only one, however, whose LCM entries should give some pause to concern to the other athletes. Just .01 back of Kharun is the USA’s Dare Rose. Rose had a tough summer, failing to qualify for the Olympic team after winning bronze at the 2023 Worlds with a PB of 50.46. The Cal Bear, like Kharun and Minakov, is still competing in the NCAA, and the trio raced each other, with Kharun taking the win in 44.01 ahead of Minakov’s 45.47 and Rose’s 45.73.

Ponti vs. Kharun is close, very close, but we are giving Ponti the edge as Kharun just has a few more questions lingering around him; chief among them, how many relays is Kharun going to be asked to swim? After those two it seems likely to go with the hot hands of Korstanje for the bronze, but Grousset or le Clos could be in for a return to form.

SwimSwam’s Picks – Top 4

Men’s 200 Fly PREVIEW

While just as strong of a field as the 50 and 100, the 200 exchanges some of the more sprint-orientated butterfliers for the more distance-orientated ones. However, that is not to say that there are no swimmers who can range from 50 to 200, as Chad le Clos and Ilya Kharun‘s presence attests to this event.

Le Clos, a former World Record holder in the event, won the event last go-around, taking down Daiya Seto, who was also a previous WR holder.  The South African, who has won the event four times since 2010, is one of the dominant 200 fliers in history; claimed gold in 2022 in 1:48.27, a new PB and African record. Seto won in 2018 and was close to a second back, finishing in 1:49.22.  Of the two, le Clos appears to have an easier path to making the final again, as Seto did not contest the 200 fly in his one World Cup appearance and has recently been revealed to be battling a cracked rib.

For le Clos, the path to back-to-back gold is no easy matter, though. Over the three World Cup stops le Clos improved each swim, taking silver at the first two stops in 1:51.46 and 1:51.07, and won gold in the last stop, passing the USA’s Trenton Julian en route to a season-best time of 1:50.42, a result that makes him the #2 seed just ahead of Julian.

The American’s fastest performance came at the second of the World Cup stops, as he recorded a result of 1:51.00. Julian, who fell short of making the US Olympic roster, has a fair amount of short-course racing, having competed at both the 2021 and 2022 Short Course Worlds. In Melbourne, he swam 1:49.93 to take the top seed into finals but could not replicate the result and had to settle for 7th in a time of 1:50.94, one spot ahead of Kharun.

Kharun, like Julian, swam well in prelims, hitting the wall in a Canadian record of 1:50.86, but was unable to replicate the result as he finished 8th in 1:52.21. Two years later, Kharun returns to Short Course Worlds as potential favorite and as the reigning Olympic Bronze medalist. His result in Paris was 1:52.80 and stands as new Canadian record, giving the ASU star both the LCM and SCM national records.

When converted to SCM, the time becomes 1:50.00, but his best in-season 200-yard fly time converts to 1:49.60, which was from a duel meet with NC State, meaning that Kharun’s great walls and underwater should be more than enough to get him a sub 1:50 time. It is a necessary benchmark as each of the past two World Champs has had all three medalists sub-1:50.

Looking to get back under that mark is Italy’s Alberto Razzetti. The Italian is the top seed with his 1:50.10 from his silver medal-winning performance from the 2023 European championships. Razzetti is no stranger to the 200 fly final, having topped the field in Abu Dhabi back in 2021, as his 1:49.06 beat out Ponti’s 1:49.81 and le Clos’s 1:49.84. In that final also were Julian and Estonia’s Kregor Zirk, which shows the longevity and stranglehold that swimmers have in this event.

While le Clos and Julian were swapping gold medals in the World Cup Series, Razzetti and Zirk were not to far behind, as the Italian placed 3rd at each stop and the Estonia was 6th in Shanghai and 4th in the remaining stops. Razzetti peaked at the first stop recording a season best time of 1:51.88, whereas Zirk improved each meet, culminating in a season best of 1:52.43.

Finishing one spot behind Kharun in Paris was Poland’s Krzysztof Chmielewski. The Pole, who was 1:53.90 at the Olympics, like Kharun, has not recorded a scm time this season, as he has been competing as a member of USC. At the Texas Hall of Fame Invitational, Chmielewski was first out of prelims (1:41.52) but faltered to 6th in finals (1:42.88).

SwimSwam’s Picks – Top 4

 

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