Worlds 2023 Euro Recap Day 4: Chmielewski Among Euro Jrs Finding Success at Senior Level

2023 WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

• July 23 to 30, 2023
• Fukuoka, Japan
• Marine Messe Fukuoka
• LCM (50m)
• WORLD CHAMPS WATCH PARTY – DAILY
• Meet Central
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• Entry Book
• Live Results (Omega)
• Day 4 Prelims Live Recap | Day 4 Finals Live Recap
• European Recap Day 1: Germany Carries Open Water Success Into Pool
• European Recap Day 2: Diogo Ribeiro Wins Portugal’s First Ever Worlds Medal
• European Recap Day 3: Matt Richards Has Arrived

“I didn’t expect that,” said Krzysztof Chmielewski, the Worlds silver medallist in the men’s 200 butterfly. He wasn’t the only one. All eyes were focused on Leon Marchand in the lane above him, and the Pole had a quiet start, turning seventh at the 50-meter mark.

He began to work his way up over the middle 100 of the race, splitting 28.68/29.45 to move up to fifth, then fourth at the final turn. Marchand had separated himself from the field by then, but there was chaos behind him as Chmielewski, Tomoru Honda, Carson Foster, Ilya Kharun, and Thomas Heilman were all engaged in a battle for silver and bronze. The 19-year-old Chmielewski came home in 29.84, fast enough that he was able to get his hands on the wall in second place overall.

He clocked 1:53.62, setting a new personal best time. His old mark was a 1:55.04, so this swim represents a 1.42 second drop. It also puts him within a half-second of Pawel Korzeniowski‘s national record of 1:53.23, which has stood since 2009.

“I was just swimming,” said Chmielewski after the race. “I wanted to break my personal best and I didn’t expect anymore. In juniors, it was much easier for me to win and here it is much harder.”

With this swim, Chmielewski has successfully made the transition from juniors to the senior international stage. This isn’t his first World Championships; he competed last year, and finished 9th in the 200 fly, a tenth away from the final, but he also had junior meets on his schedule.

Chmielewski had an incredibly successful 2022 at the junior level. He won four medals at European Juniors: 200 fly gold, 400 free silver, 1500 free silver, and 800 free bronze. He continued that trend at his final major international junior meet: World Juniors in September 2022.

At that meet in Lima, he won gold in the 200 fly and bronze in the 400 free. He was also a part of two gold medal-winning relays, the 4×100 medley and 4×100 mixed medley.

Many tuned into that meet to see what David Popovici was going to do folllowing his historic outing at European Championships. But, if you watched that meet, you actually got a preview of several other swimmers set to factor here in Fukuoka. Along with Chmielewski’s success, 3x gold medallist Diogo Ribeiro has already picked up a silver in the men’s 50 fly. Lana Pudar is the top seed for the women’s 200 fly final (more on her below) and is looking to make history for her country.

Next, Chmielewski is headed stateside. He and his brother Michal Chmielewski are committed to start at USC in the fall. One thing that training with an NCAA team in short course yards is sure to give Chmielewski is practice on turns. That works out nicely for Chmielewski, as improving his walls is something that should be a priority for him.

When you watch the replay of the race, it’s easy to see that the Pole is consistently getting beat on his underwaters. This is true even if you take into account that he was swimming next to Marchand, who makes everyone else’s underwaters look pedestrian. Improving that will go along way towards keeping Chmielewski in the mix of an event that’s only getting more crowded in the run up to Paris 2024.

Quick Hits

Record Bonanza in the Men’s 800 Freestyle

We were treated to an electric start of the session in the men’s 800 freestyle. And even though there were no Europeans on the podium, we still need to take a moment to appreciate Daniel Wiffen and Lukas Märtens‘ performances. Perhaps the best way to start off is by taking a moment to look at the all-time top 10 performers list, which looks much different than it did when the day began.

Top 10 All-Time Performers, Men’s 800 Freestyle (LCM):

1. Zhang Lin, China — 7:32.12 (2009)
2. Oussama Mellouli, Tunisia — 7:35.27 (2009)
3. Ahmed Hafnaoui, Tunisia — 7:37.00 (2023)
4. Sam Short, Australia — 7:37.76 (2023)
5. Sun Yang, China — 7:38.57 (2011)
6. Grant Hackett, Australia — 7:38.65 (2005)
7. Bobby Finke, United States — 7:38.67 (2023)
8. Ian Thorpe, Australia — 7:39.16 (2001)
9. Daniel Wiffen, Ireland — 7:39.19 (2023)
10. Gregorio Paltrinieri, Italy — 7:39.27 (2019)

The swims in that final now make up almost half of the list, with Ahmed Hafnaoui and Sam Short hitting #3 and #4 performers. Short, Bobby Finke, Wiffen, and Märtens all swam continental and/or national records. Now, the highest European entrant on the list is Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen, who broke Gregorio Paltrinieri‘s European Record of 7:39.27 with his fourth-place time of 7:39.17. Märtens swim moves him to #11 all-time

Daniel Wiffen, courtesy of Fabio Cetti

Wiffen has now lowered the Irish record in this event twice at the meet, as he broke his own record in prelims as well. The 22-year-old has been the breakout distance swimmer over the last 12 months. He’d already cracked the all-time top 10 list earlier this year in the 1500 freestyle, but now he’s on the board for the 800 free as well thanks to a personal best of about five seconds. No doubt, he wanted to podium–which would’ve made him Ireland’s first medalist at a non-Paralympic World Championships. But nevertheless, it’s a strong performance for Wiffen, who was eighth last year.

Märtens led the way for much of the race as he jetted out along with Short and Hafnaoui. He couldn’t hold on over a chaotic closing 50 meters, cedeing ground to both Finke and Wiffen and finishing fifth. However, he did hit a new German record of 7:39.48, undercutting Florian Wellbrock‘s mark of 7:39.63 from 2022 Worlds.

Like Wiffen, Märtens is sure to have wanted to be on the podium, but when you view the swim in the larger context of Märtens’ career, this was an important performance. After breaking out at the 2022 Stockholm Open with head-turning times in the 200/400/800/1500 freestyle, Märtens was ultimately unable to match his personal bests in Budapest.

He obviously approached this season very differently than the last one. But, so far it seemed like it wasn’t paying off. He did earn bronze in the 400 free–getting on the podium for a second straight year–but he was off his 3:41.60 PB. Here in the 800 free, he hit a personal best in his primary events for the first time since that 2022 Stockholm Open, bettering his old PB of 7:41.43. Yes, he finished off the podium, but the performance shows that meet wasn’t a one off; he’s one of the main contenders to watch for in a crowded men’s distance freestyle field.

Leon Marchand and Matt Richards Continue to Shine

Leon Marchand executed his 200 fly final/200 IM semifinal double pretty flawlessly today. While he’ll surely have things he wants to improve for the IM final tonight, walking away with gold in the 200 fly and top seed in the 200 IM isn’t bad for the Frenchman.

By the 100-meter mark, Marchand had taken over the lead of the men’s 200 fly. He didn’t look back charging ahead of the chaos behind him to his second gold medal of the meet. Marchand dropped a personal best, lowering his French record to 1:52.43, which also makes him the #3 performer in history. In 2022 he won silver and now, he’s got a chance to go 3-for-3 in his events in Fukuoka, as he’s locked up lane 4 for tomorrow’s 200 IM final.

Matt Richards hasn’t missed a beat after becoming the 200 freestyle world champion. We got a taste of what he was going to throw down in the 100 free with his sub-47 relay split on Great Britain’s subsequently DQed 4×100 free relay. In the first two rounds of the individual event, he’s broken the British record twice. He hit 47.47 in his semifinals swim, meaning that over the course of the day he’s hacked .16 seconds off the British record.

He’s also the top seed heading into the final, asserting himself as one of the likely medal contenders. He leads a stacked field which includes world record holder David Popovici and Kyle Chalmers. 

Lana Pudar Eyes History

Lana Pudar, couresty of István Derencsény/LEN

Since her breakout performances last summer, which included winning Bosnia and Herzegovina’s first medal at European Championships– 17-year-old Lana Pudar has not slower down. Now, she’s the top seed heading into the final of the women’s 200 butterfly. In the second semifinal, she tracked down Regan Smith, who had led the way through the fist 150-meters. Pudar stopped the clock at 2:06.60, just off the European junior record of 2:06.26 she swam at European Junior championships earlier this summer.

Pudar will have her hands full with Regan Smith and Summer McIntosh, who are the two big favorites in this event. However, the race for third looks wide open and so far it’s Pudar, Helena Bach and Elizabeth Dekkers who seem the most likely candidates for the podium.

In 2022, Pudar made history for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s first Worlds finalist. Now, she has a chance to continue to make history for her country by becoming their first World Championships medalist.

Other Continental and National Records

• Sweden’s mixed 4×100 medley team broke the Nordic record during the heats. Hannah Rosvall, Erik Persson, Louise Hansson, and Björn Seeliger teamed up for an overall time of 3:45.85, taking 2.13 seconds off the previous record, which another Swedish team had owned for the last two years. Interestingly, they did it with a F/M/F/M squad, while the previous lineup was M/M/F/F, which is traditionally seen as the fastest configuration of this relay. So, the only comparable leg is butterfly, and Hansson was over a second faster than the old record’s split.
• Pauline Mahieu, Clement Bidard, Stanislas Huille, and Beryl Gastaldello reset the French record in the mixed 4×100 medley. The squad clocked a 3:46.07, bettering the previous mark of 3:46.39 swum at the 2020 European Championships.
• Luxembourg’s Ralph Daleiden swam a new national record in the men’s 100 free heats. Daleiden lowered his own mark by nine-tenths, swimming 48.77 to bring the record under 49 seconds for the first time.
• In the heats of the women’s 200 fly, Anja Crevar lowered her own Serbian record.The 23-year-old dropped just over three-tenths from her old mark set in 2022, swimming 2:10.98.

European Medal Table Thru Day 4