2024 WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS
- February 11th – February 18th (pool swimming)
- Doha, Qatar
- LCM (50m)
- Meet Central
- SwimSwam Preview Index
In the strangest World Championships in several generations, we’re going to do our best to pick the medalists and finalists for the 2024 World Championships. It’s going to be weird. There are going to be swimmers in finals that most of us have never heard of. We’re going to miss someone obvious who we didn’t expect to race. The list at the top is as valuable as the list at the bottom. Let us know in the comments, and we reserve the right to update picks if y’all inform us of an entry we missed! Thanks to SwimSwam reader Troyy for his help in organizing the entries with no official psych sheets released.
A sigh of relief is heard from men’s IM contenders as Frenchman Leon Marchand is not among the athletes set to compete at the 2024 World Championships in Doha, Qatar next month.
Marchand was a one-man wrecking ball in both the 200 and 400 IM events in Fukuoka, topping the podiums in each. But he didn’t just wind up with the gold, the Arizona State University superstar established a new European Record in the former (1:54.82) and a new World Record in the latter (4:02.50) in addition to cranking out a national record-setting swim (1:52.43) to win the men’s 200 fly.
Specifically regarding the IM events, China’s Olympic champion Wang Shun is also absent from his nation’s roster for Doha, meaning there are two fewer world-class competitors among the men’s 200 and 400 IM fields. That opens up opportunities for the rest of the field as we look ahead to the biggest international swimming event leading up to Paris 2024.
200 IM
BY THE NUMBERS — MEN’S 200 IM
- World Record: Ryan Lochte (USA) – 1:54.00 (2011)
- World Junior Record: Hubert Kos (HUN) – 1:56.99 (2021)
- Championship Record: Ryan Lochte (USA) – 1:54.00 (2011)
- 2023 World Champion: Leon Marchand (FRA) – 1:54.82
The field:
| Returning Semifinalists – 2023 World Championships | Absent Semifinalists – 2023 World Championships |
| 2. Duncan Scott, Great Britain – 1:55.95 | 1. Leon Marchand, France – 1:54.82 |
| 4. Shaine Casas, United States – 1:56.35 | 3. Tom Dean, Great Britain – 1:56.07 |
| 5. Carson Foster, United States – 1:56.43 | 8. So Ogata, Japan – 1:57.82 |
| 6. Daiya Seto, Japan – 1:56.70 | 10. Tommy Neill, Australia – 1:57.51 |
| 7. Hugo Gonzalez, Spain – 1:57.37 | 11. Wang Shun, China – 1:57.97 |
| 9. Alberto Razzetti, Italy – 1:57.39 | 15. Brendon Smith, Australia – 1:59.35 |
| 12. Lewis Clareburt, New Zealand – 1:58.01 | |
| 13. Finlay Knox, Canada – 1:58.23 | |
| 14. Jeremy Desplanches, Switzerland – 1:58.29 | |
| 16. Gabriel Lopes, Portugal – 2:00.28 |
400 IM
BY THE NUMBERS — MEN’S 400 IM
- World Record: Leon Marchand (FRA) – 4:02.50 (2023)
- World Junior Record: Ilya Borodin (RUS) – 4:10.02 (2021)
- Championship Record: Leon Marchand (FRA) – 4:02.50 (2023)
- 2023 World Champion: Leon Marchand (FRA) – 4:02.50
The field:
| Returning Semifinalists – 2023 World Championships | Absent Semifinalists – 2023 World Championships |
| 2. Carson Foster, United States – 4:06.56 | 1. Leon Marchand, France – 4:02.50 |
| 3. Daiya Seto, Japan – 4:09.41 | 4. Chase Kalisz, United States – 4:10.23 |
| 6. Lewis Clareburt, New Zealand – 4:11.29 | 5. Brendon Smith, Australia – 4:10.37 |
| 7. Alberto Razzetti, Italy – 4:11.73 | 11. Tommy Neill, Australia – 4:14.98 |
| 8. Balazs Hollo, Hungary – 4:13.36 | 16. Stephan Steverink, Brazil – 4:21.22 |
| 9. Lorne Wigginton, Canada – 4:13.75 | |
| 10. Apostolos Papastamos, Greece – 4:14.52 | |
| 12. Thomas Jansen, Netherlands – 4:16.00 | |
| 13. Collyn Gagne, Canada – 4:16.08 | |
| 14. Tomoru Honda, Japan – 4:16.71 | |
| 15. Erik Gordillo, Guatamala – 4:20.17 |
The British are Coming
The 2023 World Championships podium saw Great Britain’s duo Duncan Scott and Tom Dean earn respective silver and bronze behind the Marchand in the 200 IM.
With Marchand out and Dean not entered in the 200 IM, only 26-year-old Olympic medalist Scott could potentially repeat on the podium this time around in Doha.
Scott’s time last year checked in at 1:55.95, the 3rd-best performance of his career. He owns the British national record with the 1:55.28 produced en route to winning Olympic silver in Tokyo.
The University of Stirling star has yet to race long course since Fukuoka but he did take gold in this event at last year’s European Short Course Championships in a time of 1:50.98. That marked his fastest ever and established a new British record for the versatile ace.
As far as the 400 IM is concerned, Scott’s 28-year-old Olympic finalist Max Litchfield teammate is set to make his return on a British international roster.
Litchfield has been missing in action on the domestic British racing scene, instead taking on training in South Africa as well as meets in Italy and Sweden.
Litchfield owns a lifetime best of 4:09.62 in the 400 IM, a mark which stood as the British standard for 5 years before Scott lowered it to 4:09.18 in 2022.
Last year in Sweden, Litchfield put up his fastest time in two years, a result of 4:12.85. That would have taken the national title at the 2023 British Swimming Championships as well as placed 8th last year in Fukuoka.
American Threats
Americans Shaine Casas and Carson Foster lurk among would-be party crashers in the 200 IM. They pack a formidable 1-2 stars and stripes punch as Casas finished 4th and Foster finished 5th in the race last year in Fukuoka.
Casas hit a time of 1:56.07, missing the bronze by only .28, while Foster was next in line in 1:56.43 to put up a fight for the minor medals.
Already in 2024, 24-year-old Casas has put up an effort of 1:56.06 to rank #2 in the world behind absent Wang of China. He owns a lifetime best of 1:55.24 from the 2022 U.S. Nationals, so a performance like that would put Casas right in the gold medal mix.
As for Foster, the 22-year-old’s career boasts a lifetime best of 1:55.71 from the 2022 World Championships when he took home the silver. He has been under the 1:57 threshold on eight separate occasions as a testament to his consistency in this 4-lap sprint.
Currently, Foster ranks 14th in the world, courtesy of the 1:58.83 notched at the Knoxville Pro Swim Series earlier this month. Assuming the Cincinnati-turned-Texan hits his taper on-target, he very well could deny Scott a possible upgrade to gold when things unfold in Doha.
But Foster is also looking to damage in the 400 IM, hoping to bump up his 400 IM silver from last year to gold. Marchand’s absence is a start but Foster has proven he can hold his own regardless.
His runner-up result of 4:06.56 from Fukuoka checked in as Foster’s lifetime best, rendering him as the 8th-fastest performer in history. Foster enters Doha with a season-best of 4:13.04.
Can’t-Ignore Contenders
Alberto Razzetti of Italy finished 9th in the 200 IM last year in Fukuoka but that appears to have lit a fire underneath the versatile 24-year-old.
Competing at his nation’s Long Course Championships last November, Razzetti clocked a new national record of 1:56.21 as his first-ever foray under the 1:57 barrier. Entering that meet, Razzetti’s lifetime best and Italian standard sat at the 1:57.13 put on the books in 2021.
His performance would have rendered him the 5th place finisher in Fukuoka and, with Marchand and Dean out of the picture, a viable shot as playing the part of spoiler.
But Razzetti is also a threat in the long IM, having posted a new Italian record of 4:09.29 last November as well. That represented just his 2nd time ever under 4:10 and may set him up to stake a hardware claim in Doha.
Japan’s Daiya Seto has been a mainstay in both IM events since having clinched 400 IM bronze in Rio. The 29-year-old has historically put up his fastest performances on home soil but did take 400 IM bronze last year in Fukuoka.
Seto enters Doha ranked 11th in the 200 IM as a result of the 1:58.35 produced for bronze at last year’s Asian Games. He’s also been as quick as 4:12.88 in the 400 IM from that same competition in which he earned 400 IM silver, although he notched 4:07.92 at April’s Japan Open. The father of two owns lifetime bests of 1:55.55 and 4:06.09, respectively, both from 2020.
Stealing the Japanese 400 IM spotlight recently, however, is 200 fly Olympic silver medalist Tomoru Honda. 22-year-old Honda pumped out a new lifetime best of 4:09.98 at the Japan Open last November. That followed up his gold medal-worthy performance of 4:11.40 which beat Seto at the Asian Games.
With that type of time drop, Honda could not only bounce himself ahead of Seto come the Doha final but he also may rain on other possible medalists’ campaigns.
Additional Party-Crasher Potentials
- Jeremy Desplanches took 200 IM bronze at the 2020 Olympic Games but has been relatively quiet since then. Despite landing on the Tokyo podium in 1:56.17, he mustered just 1:58.29 to place 14th last year in Fukuoka. At the Swiss Open last month, the 29-year-old was right in that same ballpark, clocking a season-best 1:58.86.
- Hugo Gonzalez of Spain placed 7th in last year’s 2IM final in Fukuoka but did produce a semi-final time of 1:56.58 for his fastest effort in 2 years. He raced at a domestic meet last month, putting down a short course marker of 1:54.61.
- Matt Sates of South Africa bypassed last year’s World Championships but is entered in the 2IM and 4IM among his events this time around. The 20-year-old owns a 2IM lifetime best of 1:57.43 from the 2022 Mare Nostrum Tour and earned 1:57.72 on last year’s World Cup circuit. He currently ranks 10th in the 400 IM with a season-best 4:13.38 from the World Cup circuit and sits as a disadvantage as never having been under 4:10 unlike most of the other potential finalists.
- New Zealand’s Lewis Clareburt placed 6th in the 400 IM last year in Fukuoka but has since changed his coach as well as his training home base. The 24-year-old owns a 400 IM lifetime best remains at the 4:08.70 put up for gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games; however, since then has been under 4:10 one just one occasion.
SwimSwam’s Top 8 Picks – Men’s 200 IM
| Place | Swimmer | Nation | Season Best | Lifetime Best |
| 1 | Duncan Scott | GBR | N/A | 1:55.28 |
| 2 | Shaine Casas | USA | 1:56.06 | 1:55.24 |
| 3 | Carson Foster | USA | 1:58.83 | 1:55.71 |
| 4 | Daiya Seto | JPN | 1:58.35 | 1:55.55 |
| 5 | Alberto Razzetti | ITA | 1:56.21 | 1:56.21 |
| 6 | Matt Sates | RSA | 1:57.72 | 1:57.43 |
| 7 | Hugo Gonzalez | ESP | N/A | 1:56.31 |
| 8 | Jeremy Desplanches | SUI | 1:58.86 | 1:56.17 |
SwimSwam’s Top 8 Picks – Men’s 400 IM
| Place | Swimmer | Nation | Season Best | Lifetime Best |
| 1 | Carson Foster | USA | 4:13.04 | 4:06.56 |
| 2 | Daiya Seto | JPN | 4:12.88 | 4:06.09 |
| 3 | Alberto Razzetti | ITA | 4:09.29 | 4:09.29 |
| 4 | Tomoru Honda | JPN | 4:09.98 | 4:09.98 |
| 5 | Lewis Clareburt | NZL | N/A | 4:08.70 |
| 6 | Balazs Hollo | HUN | 4:15.84 | 4:10.87 |
| 7 | Matt Sates | RSA | 4:13.38 | 4:11.87 |
| 8 | Max Litchfield | GBR | N/A | 4:09.62 |
See all of our previews with the SwimSwam Preview Index here.
Who are the notable contenders and potential medalists mentioned in the 2024 World Championships preview for the men’s medley, and what is the significance of Frenchman Leon Marchand’s absence from the list of athletes competing in Doha?
American youth male swimming has been in decline for decades. I blame Michael Phelps for this and USA Swimming for not developing young boys for long course.
Nah I blame Lebron James and Tom Brady. Kids wanna play basketball and football instead
Don’t bet against the Wigginton improvement curve his 400 IM is gonna be dirty. He is an absolute dog when he gets into a race
If the Brits aren’t having quite a bit of rest for this meet I don’t see Scott winning. Meanwhile there are other athletes who don’t have trials, are already selected or their trials are much later in the year who might taper for Doha.
Yep – I think we are going to see some bizarre results with athletes coming here at such varying levels of preparedness.
Duncan’s been 4:09 in the 400IM I believe. Would love to see him swim it even though I know there’s no chance
Lorne wigginton is going to do something special I reckon. That little man can hang with the best of them. Dark horse for a top 5 swim in the 400 IM
Bowman’s IMers all in on OTs and Paris
I’d have gone with Casas as winner given he works better with less taper (which is most likely to happen with every athlete here) and no pressure vs Duncan Scott who seems to need a bit more taper
Ya, swimswam uses (tries) to use logic when making these picks. Casas is what Andrew wants Seeliger to be.