2022 FINA SHORT COURSE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Tuesday, December 13 to Sunday, December 18, 2022
- Melbourne Sports and Aquatics Centre, Melbourne, Australia
- SCM (25m)
- Prize Money
- Meet Site
- Full Results Book
An action-packed six days of racing at the 2022 Short Course World Championships came to a close in mid-December, with 14 world records falling and numerous exciting battles having been contested in front of a raucous Australian crowd at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Center.
Now with the event done and dusted, it’s time to take a look back at the full list of medalists and see which swimmers had the most trips to the podium.
FULL MEDALISTS TABLE
Key: WR – World Record, WJ – World Junior Record, CR – Championship Record, AS – Asian Record, AF – African Record, NR – National Record, OC – Oceanian Record, AM – Americas Record
Women’s Events
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 50 Freestyle | Emma McKeon (AUS), 23.04 CR, OC | Kasia Wasick (POL), 23.55 | Anna Hopkin (GBR), 23.68 |
| 100 Freestyle | Emma McKeon (AUS), 50.77 CR | Siobhan Haughey (HKG), 50.87 | Marrit Steenbergen (NED), 51.25 |
| 200 Freestyle | Siobhan Haughey (HKG), 1:51.65 | Rebecca Smith (CAN), 1:52.24 |
Marrit Steenbergen (NED), 1:52.28
|
| 400 Freestyle | Lani Pallister (AUS), 3:55.04 | Erika Fairweather (NZL), 3:56.00 | Leah Smith (USA), 3:59.78 |
| 800 Freestyle | Lani Pallister (AUS), 8:04.07 NR | Erika Fairweather (NZL), 8:10.41 | Miyu Namba (JPN), 8:12.98 NR |
| 1500 Freestyle | Lani Pallister (AUS), 15:21.43 CR, OC | Miyu Namba (JPN), 15:46.76 |
Kensey McMahon (USA), 15:49.15
|
| 50 Backstroke | Maggie MacNeil (CAN), 25.25 WR | Claire Curzan (USA), 25.54 |
Mollie O’Callaghan (AUS), 25.61 OC
|
| 100 Backstroke | Kaylee McKeown (AUS), 55.49 | Mollie O’Callaghan (AUS), 55.62 |
Claire Curzan (USA) / Ingrid Wilm (CAN), 55.74
|
| 200 Backstroke | Kaylee McKeown (AUS), 1:59.26 | Claire Curzan (USA), 2:00.53 | Kylie Masse (CAN), 2:01.26 NR |
| 50 Breaststroke | Ruta Meilutyte (LTU), 28.50 | Lara van Niekerk (RSA), 29.09 AF | Lilly King (USA), 29.11 |
| 100 Breaststroke | Lilly King (USA), 1:02.67 | Tes Schouten (NED), 1:03.90 NR | Anna Elendt (GER), 1:04.05 NR |
| 200 Breaststroke | Kate Douglass (USA), 2:15.77 CR | Lilly King (USA), 2:17.13 | Tes Schouten (NED), 2:18.19 NR |
| 50 Butterfly | Torri Huske (USA) / Maggie MacNeil (CAN), 24.64 | – | Zhang Yufei (CHN), 24.71 =AS |
| 100 Butterfly | Maggie MacNeil (CAN), 54.05 WR | Torri Huske (USA), 54.75 | Louise Hansson (SWE), 54.87 |
| 200 Butterfly | Dakota Luther (USA), 2:03.37 | Hali Flickinger (USA), 2:03.78 | Elizabeth Dekkers (AUS), 2:03.94 |
| 100 IM | Marrit Steenbergen (NED), 57.53 NR | Beryl Gastaldello (FRA), 57.63 | Louise Hansson (SWE), 57.68 |
| 200 IM | Kate Douglass (USA), 2:02.12 AM | Alex Walsh (USA), 2:03.37 |
Kaylee McKeown (AUS), 2:03.57 OC
|
| 400 IM | Hali Flickinger (USA), 4:26.51 | Sara Franceschi (ITA), 4:28.58 | Waka Kobori (JPN), 4:29.03 |
| 4×50 Freestyle Relay | United States, 1:33.89 CR, AM | Australia, 1:34.23 OC | Netherlands, 1:35.36 |
| 4×100 Freestyle Relay | Australia, 3:25.43 WR | United States, 3:26.29 AM | Canada, 3:28.06 NR |
| 4×200 Freestyle Relay | Australia, 7:30.87 WR | Canada, 7:34.47 | United States, 7:34.70 NR |
| 4×50 Medley Relay | Australia, 1:42.35 WR | United States, 1:42.41 | Sweden, 1:42.43 |
| 4×100 Medley Relay | United States, 3:44.35 WR | Australia, 3:44.92 OC | Canada, 3:46.22 |
Men’s Events
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 50 Freestyle | Jordan Crooks (CAY), 20.46 | Ben Proud (GBR), 20.49 | Dylan Carter (TTO), 20.72 |
| 100 Freestyle | Kyle Chalmers (AUS), 45.16 CR | Maxime Grousset (FRA), 45.41 |
Alessandro Miressi (ITA), 45.57 =NR
|
| 200 Freestyle | Hwang Sunwoo (KOR), 1:39.72 CR, AS | David Popovici (ROU), 1:40.79 | Tom Dean (GBR), 1:40.86 |
| 400 Freestyle | Kieran Smith (USA), 3:34.35 AM | Thomas Neill (AUS), 3:35.05 | Danas Rapsys (LTU), 3:36.26 |
| 800 Freestyle | Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA), 7:29.99 CR | Henrik Christiansen (NOR), 7:31.48 | Logan Fontaine (FRA), 7:33.12 |
| 1500 Freestyle | Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA), 14:16.88 | Damien Joly (FRA), 14:19.62 NR |
Henrik Christiansen (NOR), 14:24.08
|
| 50 Backstroke | Ryan Murphy (USA), 22.64 | Isaac Cooper (AUS), 22.73 | Kacper Stokowski (POL), 22.74 |
| 100 Backstroke | Ryan Murphy (USA), 48.50 CR | Lorenzo Mora (ITA), 49.04 NR | Isaac Cooper (AUS), 49.52 |
| 200 Backstroke | Ryan Murphy (USA), 1:47.41 | Shaine Casas (USA), 1:48.01 | Lorenzo Mora (ITA), 1:48.45 NR |
| 50 Breaststroke | Nic Fink (USA), 25.38 CR, AM | Nicolo Martinenghi (ITA), 25.42 | Simone Cerasuolo (ITA), 25.68 |
| 100 Breaststroke | Nic Fink (USA), 55.88 | Nicolo Martinenghi (ITA), 56.07 | Adam Peaty (GBR), 56.25 |
| 200 Breaststroke | Daiya Seto (JPN), 2:00.35 AS | Nic Fink (USA), 2:01.60 AM | Qin Haiyang (CHN), 2:02.22 |
| 50 Butterfly | Nicholas Santos (BRA), 21.78 CR | Noe Ponti (SUI), 21.96 NR | Szebasztian Szabo (HUN), 21.98 |
| 100 Butterfly | Chad Le Clos (RSA), 48.59 | Ilya Kharun (CAN), 49.03 WJ, NR | Marius Kusch (GER), 49.12 |
| 200 Butterfly | Chad Le Clos (RSA), 1:48.27 AF | Daiya Seto (JPN), 1:49.22 | Noe Ponti (SUI), 1:49.42 NR |
| 100 IM | Thomas Ceccon (ITA), 50.97 | Javier Acevedo (CAN), 51.05 NR | Finlay Knox (CAN), 51.10 |
| 200 IM | Matt Sates (RSA), 1:50.15 AF | Carson Foster (USA), 1:50.96 | Finlay Knox (CAN), 1:51.04 NR |
| 400 IM | Daiya Seto (JPN), 3:55.75 | Carson Foster (USA), 3:57.63 | Matt Sates (RSA), 3:59.21 NR |
| 4×50 Freestyle Relay | Australia, 1:23.44 OC | Italy, 1:23.48 | Netherlands, 1:23.75 |
| 4×100 Freestyle Relay | Italy, 3:02.75 WR | Australia, 3:04.63 OC | United States, 3:05.09 |
| 4×200 Freestyle Relay | United States, 6:44.12 WR | Australia, 6:46.54 OC | Italy, 6:49.63 |
| 4×50 Medley Relay | Italy, 1:29.72 WR | United States, 1:30.37 AM | Australia, 1:30.81 OC |
| 4×100 Medley Relay | Australia / United States, 3:18.98 WR | – | Italy, 3:19.06 ER |
Mixed Events
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 4×50 Freestyle Relay | France, 1:27.33 WR | Australia, 1:28.03 | Netherlands, 1:28.53 |
| 4×50 Medley Relay | United States, 1:35.15 WR | Italy, 1:36.01 ER | Canada, 1:36.93 NR |
NOTES
- 10 different swimmers won multiple individual world titles, with Maggie MacNeil, Lani Pallister and Ryan Murphy leading the way with three apiece. Murphy became the first male swimmer to sweep the backstroke events since the 50-meter event was introduced in 1999, while Pallister became the inaugural winner of the women’s 1500 free, making her the first to claim the 400/800/1500 treble.
- Six swimmers successfully defended their world titles in seven individual events: MacNeil (women’s 50 back, 100 fly), Hwang Sunwoo (men’s 200 free), Nic Fink (men’s 100 breast), Nicholas Santos (men’s 50 fly), Daiya Seto (men’s 400 IM), and Siobhan Haughey (women’s 200 free). Seto’s 400 IM was not only a repeat, but his sixth in a row, making him the first swimmer to accomplish the feat.
- Six swimmers led the way with seven medals: Kate Douglass, Emma McKeon, Torri Huske, Kyle Chalmers, Mollie O’Callaghan and Claire Curzan. With five golds and two silvers, Douglass officially sits atop the individual medal table.
- The 14 world records broken—which accounts for both the American and Australian men going under the mark in the 4×100 medley relay—is a significant uptick from the four all-time marks lowered at the 2021 championships in Abu Dhabi.
- 38 of 46 events had a faster winning time at the 2022 Worlds than they did in 2021 (not factoring in the two new additions to the schedule).
- In 13 events, the time required to simply reach the podium and win bronze in Melbourne was faster or equal to the winning time from 2021, including one relay (women’s 400 free). The men’s 100 IM was .01 off, and the women’s 400 medley relay was .02 off.
- The United States topped the final medal table with 17 gold, 13 silver and six bronze medals for a final tally of 36, with Australia, Italy and Canada also hitting double digits.
FINAL MEDAL TABLE
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  United States |
17 | 13 | 6 | 36 |
| 2 |  Australia* |
13 | 8 | 5 | 26 |
| 3 |  Italy |
5 | 6 | 5 | 16 |
| 4 |  Canada |
3 | 4 | 7 | 14 |
| 5 |  South Africa |
3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 6 |  Japan |
2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 7 |  France |
1 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| 8 |  Netherlands |
1 | 1 | 6 | 8 |
| 9 |  Hong Kong |
1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 |  Lithuania |
1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 11 |  Brazil |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
 Cayman Islands |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
 South Korea |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 14 |  New Zealand |
0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 15 |  Great Britain |
0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 16 |  Norway |
0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
 Poland |
0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
 Switzerland |
0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 19 |  Romania |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 20 |  Sweden |
0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 21 |  China |
0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
 Germany |
0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |
| 23 |  Hungary |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 Trinidad and Tobago |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals (24 entries) | 50 | 46 | 49 | 145 | |
You can find the full results book from the competition here.
One thing that occurs to me looking at these times is how good Lani Pallister’s were. People tend to be somewhat dismissive of her because she’s not quite in the same class as Titmus and Ledecky. But up until two months before she went 3:55.0 to win at Worlds, the WR was 3:53.9, so Pallister was quite close to that, even if those times were devalued somewhat in the past two months. And up until two months before she won at Worlds with her 15:21.4, the WR was 15:18.0, even closer, relatively speaking. And at 20, she’s two years younger than Titmus and five years younger than Ledecky, so using any normal sort of extrapolation, would expect her to catch… Read more »
Yes she did really good last month but at the same time I think we all know who’s gonna win the long distance events and I think Pallister has a good chance to fight for a medal and for that second place at Paris.
Agree, Ledecky definitely still has to be favored in the 800 and 1500 in Paris, was simply saying that Pallister’s chances for *a* medal in those races seem pretty good. Maybe that wasn’t apparent from my sentence structure.
A good deal of merit in what you are saying.
Whilst it’s very true that the absence of Ledecky (in particular), Titmus & McIntosh certainly cleared most primary obstacles for her; it’s hard to debate the reality that she looked very impressive in Melbourne and, if anything, may have taken an additional step forward from her already impressive Budapest and Birmingham showings.
Having said that, selection for at least 2 of her 3 likely individual events may be cut-throat with Titmus most likely having a lock on 1 berth in both 400 & 800 and the reality that she will also need to contend with Melverton (800 silver in Budapest & 400 finalist). Whilst Melverton is an Olympic finalist… Read more »
WAY TO GO USA! The big time zone change won’t slow us down!
USA/ITA/AUS won all mens relay medals, and USA/AUS/CAN won all but one womens relay medals…..it is getting harder for other teams to get a look in.
There are other contenders but they sent weakened teams or weren’t there at all in the case of Russia.
Don’t fully agree.
Largely true on women’s side, although this may open up to some degree post Paris with some retirements of key players in AUS/CAN.
Not true on men’s side. GBR men are major relay players, particularly 4X200/4XMED, but sent a sub-strength team to Melbourne. RUS currently sidelined but their men are traditionally relay factors.
Sure, but the top teams, except maybe Italy, were missing top names as well- Dressel, Ledecky, Titmus, Campbell, Zac etc…
True as regards USA who have the requisite depth and AUS women and I can agree the women’s relay picture is not likely to change through to Paris. Think the big 3 will certainly remain the main players for at least the 2024-2028 cycle although we may see some swings with regards to dominance.
If anything US men’s relays were brought back to the field by the less than fully representative teams whereas AUS was, if anything, helped by the SC format “muting” some weaknesses plus Chalmers in super-hero mode.
Hopefully Australia host more Championship level meets heading into Brisbane. They do things very well!
And the public agrees. Bigger crowds at the Aussie-hosted meets.
There was talk last year of hosting an LCM Worlds before Brisbane but there’s been nothing heard since. Only 2029 and 2031 remain unallocated.
they do such a great job hosting sporting events. the coolest crowds and the most fun ones, too!
The individual performances should provide Kate Douglass confidence for the 2023 World Aquatics Championships.
Watched every race and totally enjoyed it!
My fave races:
1) anything with Fink and Murphy in it;
2) all THREE women’s IM events;
3) Queen Emma M.; and
4) 4 X 100 medley relay – Aussie & USA men.
TEAM USA looks really good for Paris 2024!
I was thoroughly impressed with Kate Douglass.
She beat Lilly and aspires to honorable mention someday
I think she has a chance at breeching the 2 minute mark in the 2 breast in NCAA.
Also, a good chance to win 1-2 golds in Paris.
What is the asterisk for next to Australia in the medal table?
Host team
Paltrinieri’s 1500 time…