Great Britain’s Eva Okaro Breaks World Junior Record In SCM 50 Free (23.66)

2024 SC WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Women’s 50 Freestyle — Final

• World Record: 22.87 — Gretchen Walsh, USA (2024)
• World Junior Record: 23.69 — Anastasiya Shkurdai, BLR (2020)
• World Championship Record: 22.87 — Gretchen Walsh, USA (2024)
• 2022 World Champion: Emma McKeon, AUS — 23.04

Final:

1. Gretchen Walsh (USA) — 22.83 ***WORLD RECORD***
2. Kate Douglass (USA) — 23.05
3. Kasia Wasick (POL) — 23.37
4. Eva Okaro (GBR) — 23.66 ***WORLD JUNIOR RECORD***
5. Meg Harris (AUS) — 23.73
6. Silvia di Pietro (ITA) — 23.85
7. Sara Curtis (ITA) — 23.87
8. Arina Surkova (NAB) — 23.95

In the finals of the women’s 50 freestyle at the 2024 Short Course World Championships, 18-year-old Eva Okaro took down the world junior record with a time of 23.66 en route to finishing in fourth place. Okaro, who represents Great Britain, broke Belarusian swimmer Anastasyia Shkurdai‘s previous mark of 23.69 set at the 2020 Belarusian Championships.

Okaro also becomes the second-fastest British swimmer of all-time in the 50 free, just 0.22 seconds off Fran Halsall‘s British Record time of 23.44 from 2009.

All-Time Top British Performers, Women’s 50-Meter Freestyle (SCM):

1. Fran Halsall — 23.44 (2009)
2. Eva Okaro — 23.66 (2024)
3. Anna Hopkin — 23.68 (2022)
4. Frey Anderson — 24.03 (2020)
5. Alison Sheppard — 24.06 (2003)

Previously, Okaro’s best time was a 24.02, which she clocked during prelims and semifinals. That time had her ranked as the fourth-fastest Brit of all-time. Headed into this meet, her personal best was a 24.61 from November 2024.

This meet is Okaro’s third senior international meet, after the 2024 European Championships and Olympic Games. At the Olympics, she raced in the prelims and the finals of the women’s 4×100 freestyle relay.