2022 World Championships: Day 8 Finals Live Recap

2022 FINA WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

• June 18-25, 2022 (pool swimming)
• Budapest, Hungary
• Duna Arena
• LCM (50-meter format)
• Full Aquatics Schedule
• How To Watch
• Psych Sheets
• Meet Central
• Live Results
• Day 8 Finals Heat Sheets

The time has come for the final session of the 2022 World Swimming Championships. The 8th day of racing is upon us and will feature the last 7 finals of this meet. We’ll start off with the men’s 50 backstroke and women’s 50 breast, followed by the men’s 1500 freestyle. Then the sprinting action will start up again with the women’s 50 freestyle final. The last individual event of the session is the women’s 400 IM and then we’ll round out the meet with a pair of 4×100 medley relays.

DAY 8 LINKS

• Day 8 Prelims Live Recap
• Day 8 Finals Preview
• Day 8 Finals Heat Sheets
• Women’s 4×100 Medley Lineups
• Men’s 4×100 Medley Lineups

50 backstroke and 50 breaststroke world record holders are going to be starting us off as Hunter Armstrong and Benedetta Pilato take to their respective sprint events. In the backstroke, Armstrong is the #2 seed heading into the final to teammate Justin Ress but 100 backstroke standouts Thomas Ceccon and Apostolos Christou will be flanking the Americans and fighting for a spot on the podium. In the 50 breast, 2012 Olympic champion Ruta Meilutyte will look for a shot at getting on the podium again this week after taking bronze in the 50 breast. Former world record holder Lilly King is on the outside of the pool in this event, having swum a 30.35 during semi-finals.

We’ll see familiar faces in the men’s 1500 freestyle including Olympic medalists Bobby Finke, Mykhailo Romanchuk, and Florian Wellbrock. Bobby Finke might collect his second gold of the meet but surely the field will be prepared for his signature strategy of running down his competitors in the final 50 meters.

As for the 50 freestyle, we’ll see if top seed Kasia Wasick can pick up a medal for Poland here after her swim of 24.11 during semis. Sarah Sjostrom, Torri Huske, Zhang Yufei, Erika Brown, Julie Kepp Jensen, Anna Hopkin, and Meg Harris all swam between a 24.15 and a 24.86 during the second round of racing, however, meaning that it will likely be a close race.

Katie Grimes and Summer McIntosh have set up a nice race in the middle of the pool in the women’s 400 IM final. Grimes and McIntosh raced during prelims and finished less than a second apart, making them the favorites to reach the top 2 tonight. But Katinka Hosszu, one of the most accomplished 400 IMers in history, won’t go down with a fight. She’s not been at her best in recent years but it’ll be interesting to see if a home crowd swim can give her the push she needs to reach the podium.

Yui Ohashi is already slated to beat her 13th place finish in the 200 IM earlier this week, but it’s unclear whether she’ll be able to win gold here as she did in Tokyo. Keep an eye out for her, along with China’s Ge Chutong and USA’s Emma Weyant. Then we’ll close out the session with the men’s and women’s 4×100 medley relays in which the USA and Australia enter as the respective top seeds. Follow along here for all the live results and analysis you’ll need.

Read a full preview of the session here.

SWIMSWAM WATCH PARTY

MEN’S 50 BACKSTROKE – FINAL

• World Record: 23.71, Hunter Armstrong (USA) – 2022 U.S. Trials
• Championship Record: 24.04, Liam Tancock (GBR) – 2009 World Championships
• 2019 World Champion: Zane Waddell (RSA), 24.43

1. Justin Ress (USA) – 24.12
2. Hunter Armstrong (USA) – 24.14
3. Ksawery Masiuk (POL) – 24.49
4. Thomas Ceccon (ITA) – 24.51
5. Apostolos Christou (GRE) / Robert Glinta (ROU) – 24.57
7. Ole Braunschweig (GER) – 24.66
8. Isaac Alan Cooper (AUS) – 24.76

After winning the world title with a 24.12 and making his way to the interview area, it was announced that Justin Ress had been disqualified from the men’s 50 backstroke final. He put up one of the fastest times in history but then got eliminated, making Hunter Armstrong the champion.

Armstrong’s time of 24.14 was enough to win the event but was a bit slower than his world record and lifetime best of 23.71 from the 2022 US World Champ Trials. Armstrong was faster here than in his semi-finals swim by just 0.02 seconds, having hit a 24.16 in the second round.

Poland’s Kswaery Masiuk touched third, but considering the DQ he will take the silver medal here with his swim of 24.49. Masiuk was just shy of his own Polish record in this event of 24.48 from earlier at this meet. He was joined on the podium by Thomas Ceccon of Italy who notched a 24.51 for the bronze medal. This is Armstrong and Ceccon’s second individual medal of the meet as that duo took bronze and gold, respectively in the 100 back.

Apostolos Christou and Robert Glinta tied each other for 4th place here, each swimming a 24.57 and Ole Braunschweig of Germany hit a 24.66for 7th place. 7th overall went to Australia’s Isaac Alan Cooper in a 24.76.

Update: Justin Ress‘ DQ has been overturned and he is now the World Champion, moving Armstrong to silver and Masiuk to bronze.

WOMEN’S 50 BREASTSTROKE – FINAL

• World Record: 29.30, Benedetta Pilato (ITA) – 2021 European Championships
• Championship Record: 29.40, Lilly King (USA) – 2017
• 2019 World Champion: Lilly King (USA) – 29.81

1. Ruta Meilutyte (LTU) – 29.70
2. Benedetta Pilato (ITA) – 29.80
3. Lara van Niekerk (RSA) – 20.90
4. Qianting Tang (CHN) – 30.21
5. Anna Elendt (GER) – 30.22
6. Eneli Jefimova (EST) – 30.25
7. Lilly King (USA) – 30.40
8. Jhennifer Alves de Conceicao (BRA) – 30.45

Nearly 10 years after winning her first world title back in 2013, Lithuania’s Ruta Meilutyte pulled off a victory in the 50 breaststroke at the 2022 World Championships. Meilutyte out-swim the field with a 29.70 to slightly improve upon her semi-final swim of 29.97 but trailed her lifetime best and national record of 29.48 from 2013.

This is Meilutyte’s first long course World Championships title in this event as she took silver to Yuliya Efimova back in 2013. Meilutyte won a bronze medal earlier this week in the women’s 100 breaststroke, marking her first major international medal since she returned to the sport last year.

Coming in 0.10 second after Meilutyte’s winning time was world record holder Benedetta Pilato with a 29.80. Pilato broke the world record in this event at the 2021 European Championships with a 29.30 but trailed that time here, swimming half a second slower.

African record holder Lara van Niekerk was the only other woman to crack 30 seconds here and put up a 29.90 for bronze. She broke the African record earlier this year with a 29.72 but still had enough in her here to get on the podium. This is the first medal that a swimmer from an African country has won so far at the meet.

Qianting Tang came in fourth with a 30.21 and was followed closely by USA’s sole entrant in event Lilly King swam a 30.22 for 5th.

MEN’S 1500 FREESTYLE – FINAL

• World Record: Sun Yang – 14:31.02 (2012)
• Championship Record: Sun Yang – 14:34.14 (2011)
• 2021 Olympic Champion: Bobby Finke – 14:39.65
• 2019 World Champion: Florian Wellbrock (GER) – 14:36.54

1. Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA) – 14:32.80
2. Bobby Finke (USA) – 14:36.70
3. Florian Wellbrock (GER) – 14:36.94
4. Lukas Marten (GER) – 14:40.89
5. Mykhailo Romanchuk (UKR) – 14:40.98
6. Guilherme Costa (BRA) – 14:48.53
7. Daniel Jervis (GBR) – 14:48.86
8. Damien Joly (FRA) – 15:09.15

For the majority of this race, it looked like we were going to see the first-ever sub-15:30 1500 freestyle as Gregorio Paltrinieri swam the middle portion of the race a body length ahead of world record pace. Paltrinieri dominated the field and made sure that he put as much space as he could between himself and expert-closer Bobby Finke.

While Sun Yang’s world record of 14:31.02 caught up to Paltrinieri at the end of the race, Paltrinieri still had the race of his life and threw down the 2nd-fastest time in history of 14:32.80. That time was enough to break the European record in the event as well as the Championship record. He beat his own Italian and European record of 14:33.10 from back in 2020 at the Sette Colli Trophy.

The Championship record in this event previously stood at a 14:34.14, which Sun Yang established back in 2011.

Bobby Finke didn’t overtake Paltrinieri here but he still had a strong swim, beating Connor Jaeger’s American record in the event of 14:39.48 from the 2016 Olympic Games. Finke beat his own personal best of 14:39.65 from when he won Olympic gold in Tokyo.

The bronze medal went to Germany’s Florian Wellbrock, the reigning world champion, who swam a 14:36.94. That time is right on top of the 14:36.54 that he swam back in 2019 to win this event. Lukas Martens and Mykhailo Romanchuk were just off the podium, hitting a 14:40.89 and 14:40.98, respectively for 4th and 5th.

WOMEN’S 50 FREESTYLE – FINAL

• World Record: 23.67, Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) – 2017 World Championships
• Championship Record: 23.67, Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) – 2017
• 2021 Olympic Champion: Emma McKeon (AUS), 23.81
• 2019 World Champion: Simone Manuel (USA), 24.05

1. Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) – 23.98
2. Kasia Wasick (POL) – 24.18
3. Meg Harris (AUS) / Erika Brown (USA) – 24.38
5. Zhang Yufei (CHN) – 24.57
6. Torri Huske (USA) – 24.64
7. Anna Hopkin (GBR) – 24.71
8. Julie Kepp Jensen (DEN) – 24.96

Sarah Sjostrom has a knack for winning. She just picked up her second gold medal of this meet and her 10th career gold medal at World Championships. Sjostrom was the only woman to dip under 24 seconds and won the event with a 23.98. This swim ties her 17th-fastest performance in this event ever as she also swam a 23.98 at the Swedish Championships back in 2014.

This is Sjostrom’s third individual medal of the meet following her 50 fly gold and 100 freestyle silver. She trailed her own world record of 23.67 from the 2017 World Championships.

Kasia Wasick came in with a 24.18 to claim the silver medal, trailing her own Polish record of 24.11 from earlier this week. Wasick is the second Polish swimmer to win a medal during this session as her compatriot Ksawery Masiuk took bronze in the 50 backstroke at the top of the session.

Coming in third place, Meg Harris of Australia and Erika Brown from the USA both posted a 24.38 to claim bronze. Zhang Yufei was just off the podium with a 24.57 and Torri Huske from the USA finished in 5th place.

WOMEN’S 400 IM – FINAL

• World Record: 4:26.36, Katinka Hosszu, HUN (2016)
• World Champs Record: 4:29.33, Katinka Hosszu, HUN (2017)
• Tokyo 2020 Olympic Champ: Yui Ohashi (JPN) – 4:32.08
• 2019 World Champ: Katinka Hosszu (HUN) – 4:30.39

1. Summer McIntosh (CAN) – 4:32.04
2. Katie Grimes (USA) – 4:32.67
3. Emma Weyant (USA) – 4:36.00
4. Katinka Hosszu (HUN) – 4:37.89
5. Yui Ohashi (JPN) – 4:37.99
6. Ge Chutong (CHN) – 4:38.37
7. Jenna Forrester (AUS) – 4:42.39
8. Ageha Tanigawa (JPN) – 4:44.28

Summer McIntosh and Katie Grimes duked it out from the very beginning, splitting a 59.94 and 1:00.22, respectively on the butterfly leg. McIntosh managed to pull ahead a bit on the back and breast legs, hitting a 3:29.85 300 split to Grimes’ 3:31.78.

On the last 100, Katie Grimes threw down a monster closing split of 1:00.89 compared to McIntosh’s 1:02.19. That meant that McIntosh held on to the lead and came away victorious with a 4:32.04 while Grimes notched a 4:32.67.

This swim for McIntosh is a new world junior record in the event, improving upon her own former mark of 4:34.86 from Canadian Trials in 2022. McIntosh swam a 4:29.12 earlier in the year but that swim wasn’t ratified.

Olympic medalist in this event Emma Weyant swam her way to a bronze here with a 4:36.00, while world record holder and 2016 Olympic champion Katinka Hosszu finished 4th with a 4:37.89. Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion Yui Ohashi was also off the podium here with a 4:37.99 for 5th.

MEN’S 4×100 MEDLEY RELAY – FINAL

• World Record: 3:26.78, USA (2021)
• World Champs Record: 3:27.28, USA (2009)
• Tokyo 2020 Olympic Champ: USA – 3:26.78
• 2019 World Champ: Great Britain – 3:28.10

1. Italy – 3:27.51
2. USA – 3:27.79
3. Great Britain – 3:31.31
4. Australia – 3:31.81
5. France – 3:32.37
6. Germany – 3:32.63
7. Austria – 3:32.80
8. China – 3:34.62

The Italian men closed out their meet here with an exceptional swim, delivering a European record-tying swim of 3:27.51 to defeat the USA. Italy’s world record record-holding backstroker Thomas Ceccon started things off here with a 51.93 for his team as the only man under 52 seconds.

That was a bit slower than his world record time of 51.60 in the event but it was the fastest in the field and got him into the wall ahead of Ryan Murphy of the USA who posted a 52.51 to start off. Then Italy’s Nicolo Martinenghi, who won gold in the 100 breast, split a 57.47 on the second leg which kept his country in the lead.

Nic Fink wasn’t much slower though as he hit a 57.86 on the breaststroke leg to bring his team to a 1:50.37 at the halfway point. Michael Andrew out-swam Italy when he hit a 50.06 100 butterfly split while Federico Burdisso swam a 50.63 but Italy still led at that point.

On the final leg, Alessandro Miressi retained Italy’s lead by hitting a 47.48 to close out the race. Ryan Held swam faster than Miressi with a 47.36, which wasn’t enough to get to the wall first. Ultimately Italy won the heat in a 3:27.51 and the Americans came in with a 3:27.79.

Great Britain’s contingent of Luke Greenbank, James Wilby, James, Guy, and Tom Dean finished third overall with a 3:31.31 and Australia was just off the podium with a 3:31.81. While the Australians didn’t get a medal, Kyle Chalmers had the best freestyle split in the field with a 46.89.

WOMEN’S 4×100 MEDLEY RELAY – PRELIMS

• World Record: 3:50.40, USA (2019)
• World Champs Record: 3:50.40, USA (2019)
• Tokyo 2020 Olympic Champ: Australia – 3:51.60
• 2019 World Champ: USA – 3:50.40

1. USA – 3:53.78
2. Australia – 3:54.25
3. Canada – 3:55.01
4. Sweden – 3:55.96
5. Netherlands – 3:57.24
6. China – 3:57.73
7. Italy – 3:58.86
8. France – 3:59.94

Canada got off to an early lead here as Kylie Masse came in with a 58.39 backstroke split to Regan Smith’s 58.40. Kaylee McKeown of Australia was third at the 100 with a 58.77. Notably, all of the backstroke splits in the top 3 were slower than the best times of these swimmers, all of whom have been under 57.

Lilly King dove in for the breaststroke leg and made quick work of overtaking Canada’s Rachel Nicol who split a 1:07.17 to King’s 1:05.89. That was slower than King’s world record from a falt start but it was enough to get the USA into first place.

Torri Huske and Claire Curzan closed the heat in a 56.67 fly split and 52.82 free split, respectively, to bring the USA to a 3:53.78 for the gold medal. Australia managed to pass Canada by the end as well, taking silver in a 3:54.25, and Canada settled for bronze with a 3:55.01.

Sweden put up a solid race here with a 3:55.96 for fourth place and the Netherlands came in a few seconds later with a 3:57.24 for 5th place.