2019 FINA WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS
- All sports: Friday, July 12 – Sunday, July 28, 2019
- Pool swimming: Sunday, July 21 – Sunday, July 28, 2019
- The Nambu University Municipal Aquatics Center, Gwangju, Korea
- Meet site
- FinaTV Live Stream
- Live results
Men’s 1500m free
- World Record: 2011, Sun Yang, 14:31.02
- World Championship Record: 2011, Sun Yang, 14:34.14
- World Junior Record: 2009, Sun Yang, 14:46.84
- Defending 2017 World Champion: Gregorio Paltrinieri, 14:35.85
In the absence of world record holder Sun Yang – who of course is attending the meet, but not swimming his signature event – Gregorio Paltrinieri has a clear shot at becoming just the second man ever to three-peat in the 1500. Paltrinieri won the race at Worlds in 2015 and 2017, with a gold in Rio in 2016 as well. His season-best sits at 14.38.34 from Italian Nationals in April, just off his winning time from 2017 of 14:35.85. His best time is 14.34.04, from 2016. In the interim, he’s added open water swimming to his résumé – finding quick success – and is considered a threat to medal in both disciplines in Tokyo. He already has one race under his belt at Worlds, however, as he took a somewhat disappointing sixth place in the 10k after leading for much of the race. We can’t really say if that has any correlation to how he’ll perform in the pool, but it’s worth keeping in mind.
Florian Wellbrock. Photo: Andrea Staccioli
Conversely, Germany’s Florian Wellbrock took the world title in the 10k and owns the No. 2 1500 in the world this season at 14:42.91. He also has a 14:44 and a 14:49 under his belt this season, and his best time of 14:36.15 is from August of last year. Unlike Wellbrock, Ukranian Mykhailo Romanchuk hasn’t even logged a 1500 this year. He was the 2017 silver medalist, however, and took gold over Paltrinieri at the 2018 FINA Short Course World Championships last December. He’s also had a stellar showing in the 800 this year and owns the top time in the world in that event, signaling that he’s in perfectly fine shape. His best time is right there with Paltrinieri’s and Wellbrock’s at 14:36.88, from last August.
Great Britain’s Daniel Jervis was the third-fastest swimmer in the world this season with a 14:46.51 and leads the next wave of entrants with that as his best time –– but it’s from in April. A year before that, he was 14:48.67, and another year before that, 14:51.48. More recently, in June, he was 15:04.06, clearly unrested for the Mare Nostrum stop in Barcelona. The United States’ Jordan Wilimovsky holds a faster best time, at 14:45.03 from Rio, and has been consistent when it counts. He was 14:48.23 in prelims in Rio, 14:48.89 at summer Nationals last year, and 14:46.93 at 2018 Pan Pacs last summer. His best time on the season is 15:04.44, from March, but he’s also been consistently racing open water.
Australia’s Jack McLoughlin holds a lifetime best of 14:47.09 in this event from the 2018 Commonwealth Games and was 14:52.83 at Australian World Trials (his only 1500 in 2019) last month. At that meet, he won the race by nearly 20 seconds; with someone to race, well under 14:50 should be in play. Jan Micka (CZE) and Henrik Christiansen (NOR), on paper, look extremely similar. Micka’s best time of 14:48.52 came in April, as did Christiansen’s 14:49.67. Christiansen has been 14:55 or better four times, but two of those swims came in 2016; Micka’s next-best time is 14:55.47, from Worlds in 2017. He also went a very solid 14:58.34 in May of this year.
The U.S.’s second entrant, Zane Grothe, has only been under 15:00 once before, and that was his 14:48.40 performance from Pan Pacs last year. He has three 1500s to his name in 2019, but no reason to have rested, because he qualified for Worlds last summer with a 15:00.85 at U.S. Nationals; he went 15:13.29 in March, 15:26.38 in April and 15:17.12 in May. Grothe will likely have already swum prelims and finals of both the 400 and 800 free before this race, so it’s hard to factor in how much of an effect that will have, but he’s been poised to break out on the international stage for years now; will this be the race the 27-year-old does it?
Top 8 Picks:
| PLACE | SWIMMER | COUNTRY | SEASON-BEST | LIFETIME-BEST |
| 1 | Gregorio Paltrinieri | ITA | 14.38.34 | 14:34.04 |
| 2 | Florian Wellbrock | GER | 14:42.91 | 14:36.15 |
| 3 | Mykhailo Romanchuk | UKR | NA | 14:36.88 |
| 4 | Daniel Jervis | GBR | 14:46.51 | 14:46.51 |
| 5 | Jordan Wilimovksy | USA | 15.05.44 | 14:45.03 |
| 6 | Jack McLoughlin | AUS | 14:52.83 | 14:47.09 |
| 7 | Zane Grothe | USA | 15:13.29 | 14:48.40 |
| 8 | Jan Micka | CZE | 14:48.52 | 14:48.52 |
didn’t get all the events done in time…
Sorry but the headline makes me suspect you haven’t followed distance swimming for two years. Paltrinieri hasn’t won gold at major meets since summer 2017.
2017 SCM European Championships – second behind Romancuk
2018 LCM European Championships – third behind Wellbrock and Romanchuk
2018 SCM European Championships – second behind Romanchuk again
I’m not saying he can’t win this time, but the race is absolutely not his to lose.
Also, Sun Yang hasn’t swum a decent 1500 since 2015. It’s apparent that he’s more of a middle distance swimmer now, so I don’t see the point of mentioning him in the headline.
Romanchuk and Wellbrock both have a strong kick they can go to on the last 50. Basically Paltrinieri has to have a sizable lead going into the last 100 in order to win over them.
are there many open water participants entered in the 1500?
Paltrinieri, Welbrock, Wilimowsky…
1. Romanchuk
2. Wellbrock
3. Paltrinieri
Jervis the potential spoiler, but the big 3 look a few body lengths too good.
I completely dissagree with the title here. Not that Paltrinieri isn’t going to do well it’s that Wellbrock and Romanchuk have joined him in the sub 14:40 club and beat him last year. I think this could be the race of the meet potentially (assuming Wellbrock and Paltrinieri don’t tire out by the time the 1500 comes around, the 10k and the 800 before this is alot…) We could see 3 guys racing down to the wire and challenging the world record, this could be insane…
I wanna see a finish likes the 1650 at Men’s NCAA’s a couple of years ago. Or the 1976 1500 final. Those were both epic.
I like Grothe, but more in the 400 and 800, 1500 scares me this year and I’m not confident about him finalling
Wellbrock for the win I think