Top-Seeded 50 Freestyler Ben Proud Withdraws from World SC Championships

2024 SHORT COURSE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

British sprinter Ben Proud, the top seed in the 50 free for this week’s Short Course World Championships, has withdrawn from the meet. That leaves the meet with none of the top six finishers in the 50 free from the Olympic Games in attendance.

Proud joins a parade of high-profile swimmers who originally registered for this meet but have since withdrawn. That includes other individual Olympic medalists like Torri Huske of the USA, Kaylee McKeown of Australia, and Leon Marchand of France, all citing various versions of the Olympic hangover and needing to focus on training/mental recovery.

Proud won an Olympic silver medal behind Australian Cam McEvoy in the 50 free at the Olympics.

Proud was the World Short Course Champion in the 50 free in 2021 and the runner-up in the last edition in 2022. The defending champion is Jordan Crooks of the Cayman Islands, who is still entered in this meet.

Hungary’s Szebasztian Szabo is the new top seed, followed by South Korea’s Ji Yuchan and Australia’s Isaac Cooper.

Proud was also entered in the 50 fly.

There is at least $2.1 million in prize money up-for-grabs at the 2024 World Short Course Swimming Championships.