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2024 SC Worlds Previews: Opportunities Abound For Rising Stars In Men’s Sprint Free Events

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2024 SC Worlds Previews: Opportunities Abound For Rising Stars In Men’s Sprint Free Events

2024 SHORT COURSE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

50 Freestyle Preview

After a busy year that’s already featured a long-course World Championships and the Olympics, it’s no surprise that many of the events at these short-course world championships are missing multiple big names. And while neither Florent Manaudou nor Kyle Chalmers, two of the most decorated sprinters of the last eight years, will be in Budapest, the men’s 50 freestyle field is not as barren as some other events. For starters, the entire podium from the 2022 World Championships returns, as do the fourth and fifth-place finishers.

Jordan Crooks swam his fastest 50 freestyle of the 2022 World Championships in the semifinal, rocketing to a 20.31. Still, his 20.46 got the job done by three-hundredths ahead of Ben Proud, earning Crooks his first major senior international gold medal. Later that season and back in the yards pool, he became the second man to break 18 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle, swimming 17.93 to join Caeleb Dressel under the barrier.

Crooks doesn’t have any short-course meters racing under his belt this season, but he lit up the short-course yards Tennessee Invite, swimming 18.12/40.26/1:30.00 to underscore himself as one of the main swimmers to watch in the NCAA this season. That mid-season form should translate well to the short-course meters pool, making Crooks a threat to defend his world title from two years ago.

Update: Ben Proud has reportedly pulled out of the 2024 Short Course World Championships. 

Proud also arrives in Budapest with minimal short-course meters racing experience this season. Still, the sprint specialist will be one of the biggest names to watch. He’s coming off winning silver in the 50 freestyle in Paris—his first Olympic medal. At the 2023 European Short Course Championships in December 2023, he put a serious scare into Dressel’s world record, clocking 20.18 to come two-hundredths from the mark. He and Crooks bring the two fastest lifetime bests into Budapest—and by a wide margin, Dylan Carter owns the next fastest PB in the field at 20.70.

Of course, the 50 freestyle is one of the best examples of an event where it’s all about who has the most perfect swim during the final. And while Crooks and Proud certainly aren’t the only ones arriving in Budapest without a lot of short-course meters racing done post-Olympics, we have a better idea of the form that swimmers who did the World Cup are bringing into these championships.

For example, Carter, a short-course meters sprint specialist, won the 50 freestyle at two of the three World Cup stops this fall. Perhaps most importantly, he got faster throughout the rounds, hitting a season-best 20.82 in Singapore. Carter won bronze in 2022 and is another major threat to return to the podium. But, he wasn’t the fastest swimmer on this year’s World Cup circuit. That accolade belongs to South Korea’s Ji Yu-chan, who won the Incheon stop with an Asian record of 20.80. He made major improvements at that stop of the World Cup and could have more in store for these championships.

Nyls Korstanje and Isaac Cooper have also already swum lifetime bests this season. Korstanje neared Thom de Boer’s Dutch record in Singapore, popping a 20.88 and touching a tenth from the mark. Cooper swam 20.81 in September, which should put him squarely into the heart of the action. Meanwhile, Maxime Grousset was just four-hundredths from his lifetime best this fall, clocking a 20.94. His fastest swim is a 20.90 from the 2022 Short Course World Championships.

Other names to watch are Hungary’s duo of Szebasztian Szabo, a returning 2022 finalist, and Nandor Nemeth, a Paris 100 freestyle finalist, along with Italy’s Leonardo Deplano. It will also be interesting to see what NCAA swimmers aside from Crooks bring to the meet; his Tennessee teammate Guilherme Santos has looked strong this season, as has Croatia’s Jere Hribar.

The U.S. representatives Jack Alexy and Chris Guiliano don’t bring any meaningful short-course meters experience into these championships but have proven themselves some of the top sprinters in yards history.

SwimSwam’s Picks — Top Four

Update: Picks have been updated to reflect Ben Proud reportedly pulling out of the meet. SwimSwam’s original picks predicted he would win gold. 

100 Freestyle Preview

While the top end of the 50 freestyle field doesn’t look that different in Budapest than it did two years ago in Melbourne, the door is wide open in the 100 freestyle for someone to step through with a big swim. There’s no Chalmers, David Popovici, Pan Zhanle, Thomas Ceccon, Hwang Sun-woo, or Tom Dean—just to name a few—at this meet. That long list of absences certainly clears the way for the “big name” sprinters who will be in Budapest, but also for lesser-known swimmers to have a cleaner shot at a lane in the final than they otherwise would in an event that’s so crowded at the international level.

So, with that long list of absences, who exactly is the favorite heading into Budapest?

Four men are seeded with sub-46 times from the last twelve months. And first among them is France’s Maxime Grousset. He boasts a personal best of 45.41 from the 2022 Short Course World Championships. Grousset probably didn’t have the type of success he was hoping for in Paris, finishing fifth in the 100 free and 100 fly. Now, he’s a serious threat to get back onto the podium in this event and stand at the top. His 46.13 season-best from earlier this fall is right at the top of the season’s rankings, and would’ve won the first two World Cup stops (Pan won in Singapore with a 46.09).

Grousset isn’t flying away from the field though. Italy’s Alessandro Miressi owns a lifetime best of 45.51, just a tenth behind Grousset, from the 2023 European Short Course Championships. He swam that time en route to a silver medal, touching behind Grousset’s gold-medal winning 45.46 performance.

The remaining sub-46 performances on the psych sheet belong to Santos and Egor Kornev. Both swam their times much more recently than Grousset and Miressi, Caribe clocked his lifetime best of 45.78 in August. Meanwhile, Kornev—recently approved for neutral athlete status—clocked 45.97 at the Russian Short Course Championships in November.

Crooks, the defending champion in the 50 freestyle, also made the 100 freestyle final in Melbourne. He led the event through the first two rounds, including swimming a lifetime best 45.55 in the semifinal. He added time in the final, like he did in the 50 free, clocking 45.77 for seventh place.

While the field is short on returning 2022 Short Course Worlds finalists, plenty of Olympic finalists are set to test themselves in another format. In addition to Grousset, Nemeth, Alexy, and Guiliano are the Paris Olympic finalists in this field. Again, neither Alexy nor Guiliano has recorded a short-course meters time in the event, but Nemeth owns a lifetime best of 46.08 from last December. He’s only been 46.84 this season, but will likely be faster this month while racing for the host country.

Carter could make things interesting here in the 100 freestyle; he’s much more known for his 50 abilities, but he owns a lifetime best of 46.36, the same as Deplano. Carter clocked a 46.60 in Singapore, while Deplano’s been as fast as 47.26 this season.

SwimSwam’s Picks — Top Four

200 Freestyle Preview

  • World Record: 1:39.37 — Paul Biedermann, Germany (2009)
  • Championship Record: 1:39.72 — Hwang Sun-woo, South Korea (2022)
  • 2022 SC World Champion: Hwang Sun-woo, South Korea — 1:39.72
  • Returning 2022 Short Course Worlds Finalists: Maxime Grousset, Danas Rapsys
  • 2024 Olympic Finalists in the Field: Luke Hobson, Lukas Märtens

The men’s 200 freestyle is even more of a blank slate than the 100 freestyle. Only two men from the 2022 Short Course Worlds final are entered in this meet and Grousset isn’t slated to swim the 200 free this time, meaning that Danas Rapsys is the lone Melbourne finalist seeking to defend his lane.

The Lithuanian veteran is a five-time Short Course Worlds medalist and won bronze in this race at the 2023 European Short Course Championships. His lifetime best is a 1:40.85 from 2017; this fall, his best is a 1:42.00, swum in Incheon during one of three thrilling men’s 200 freestyle races on the World Cup circuit. Kieran Smith was part of those races as well; the American finished ninth in the 200 free in Melbourne but swam a lifetime best 1:41.04 leading off the U.S.’s 4×200 freestyle relay, which would’ve sailed into the individual championship final, and finished fourth. The path to the final and the podium is much clearer this year, and Smith will likely find a lane.

Keeping with the theme of absences, the men’s Olympic 200 freestyle final was one of the closest races of the Games, but only two men from that final will suit up in Budapest. Unlike his American teammate, Luke Hobson doesn’t have much experience in short-course meters. However, the Olympic bronze medalist is also the fastest 200-yard freestyler in history, swimming a 1:28.81 to retake the record two days after Leon Marchand snatched it from him at the 2024 NCAA Championships. Of course, SCY to SCM isn’t a direct translation, but it would be a surprise if Hobson missed this final. And Hobson’s shown a knack for getting his hand on the wall in medal position once in the final.

400 freestyle Olympic champion Lukas Märtens does have short-course meters experience, but like many others at this meet, that experience feels outdated. Martens swam his short-course meters 200 freestyle lifetime best (1:44.33) well before he broke out on the senior international stage in long-course meters. That lifetime best feels like it’s on borrowed time, and Martens is well-poised to improve on his fifth-place finish at the Olympic Games.

Outside of the returning finalists from Melbourne and Paris, it’s well worth keeping an eye on the Australian duo of Edward Sommerville and Max Giuliani. Sommerville sits atop the psych sheet after unleashing a 1:40.64 at the Australian Short Course Championships, breaking Cameron McEvoy’s Oceanian record from 2015 and becoming the seventh-fastest performer in event history. If anyone is riding the hot hand coming into Budapest, it’s Sommerville, a rising star in Australia looking to take the next step on the international scene.

Behind Sommerville’s stunning swim, Max Giuliani—a recent breakout in his own right—also clocked a lifetime best, stopping the clock at 1:41.39. The Australian Short Course Championships were the first time that Giuliani had swum the short-course meter 200 freestyle since August 2022, and he hacked over five seconds off his previous lifetime best.

Two other rising swimmers looking to further their breakouts in Budapest are Lucas Henveaux and Tatsuya Murasa. The two are tied on the psych sheet—both hit a new lifetime best of 1:42.14 earlier this fall, with the swim representing a new Belgian record for Henveaux. Murasa, a 17-year-old Olympian, has spent the fall breaking long-course records in Japan, but he’s also found time to establish short-course meters lifetime bests, swimming 48.87/1:42.14 in the 100/200 free.

2021 Short Course Worlds finalists Antonio Djakovic and Aleksandr Shchegolev (swimming as a neutral athlete) aim to return to the Worlds final in Budapest. Djakovic finished 10th in 2022, just ahead of Kregor Zirk and Roman Fuchs, who also return to the field this year.

SwimSwam’s Picks — Top Four

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