2024 WORLD AQUATIC CHAMPIONSHIPS
- February 11th – February 18th, 2024
- Doha, Qatar
- LCM (50m)
- Meet Central
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- Official Entries
- Live Results
- How To Watch
- Day 1 Prelims Recap | Day 1 Finals Recap
- Day 2 Prelims Recap | Day 2 Finals Recap
- Day 3 Prelims Recap | Day 3 Finals Recap
- Day 4 Prelims Live Recap | Day 4 Finals Live Recap
The nation of Australia captured its first gold of the 2024 World Championships, courtesy of 26-year-old Sam Williamson.
Racing in the final of the men’s 50m breaststroke this evening, the Melbourne Vicentre athlete busted out a career-best of 26.32 to get to the wall first.
That gave him the edge over 100m breaststroke silver medalist here Nicolo Martingenghi of Italy, and the 100m breast champion Nic Fink of the United States. The former touched in 26.39 while the latter rounded out the podium in 26.49.
As for Williamson, his time erased his day-old Australian and Oceanian Record of 26.41 set during last night’s semi-final. With his previous personal best and Aussie/Oceanian Record of 26.51 set just last December at the Japan Open, Williamson has sliced off nearly .20 in just two months.
Not just a one-trick pony, Williamson also raced in the men’s 100m breaststroke final on day 2, placing 4th in a lifetime best of 59.21.
Despite the 1breast PB, Williamson still has a ways to go in that individual 1breast to challenge the likes of China’s Qin Haiyang, Dutchman Arno Kamminga and the aforementioned Fink. However, his performance in the event paired with his 50m sprint results bode well for Williamson filling a longtime breaststroke void on both the men’s medley and mixed medley relays for Australia.
The Aussies have been using former 200m breast world record holder Zac Stubblety-Cook as their breaststroker on both the men’s and mixed medley relays over the last few years, and the results have largely been strong, considering “ZSC” is anything but a 100-meter specialist.
ZSC has multiple sub-59 splits on his resume but has been hit-and-miss over the course of his career. He owns a flat start personal best of 59.51 in the 1breast, a time he produced at the 2022 World Championships. With Williamson now ahead of that mark with 59.21, he has further put his name in play for the men’s medley relay.
As for the mixed medley, the Aussies could also turn to Williamson on that score.
Going the female route for breaststroke on the mixed relay is likely not an option given it’s by far Australia’s worst stroke of the four on the women’s side. The green and gold has world record holder Kaylee McKeown on backstroke and a host of world-class sprint freestylers at their disposal in addition to Emma McKeon on fly.
The Australia Olympic Trials take place in June, giving Williamson additional time to work on his back half of the 100m to help bring his nation into the conversation for possible mixed medley relay hardware.
Celebrating his victory this evening, Williamson said, “It hasn’t sunk in yet. Someone else actually said it before, and I had to pause and ask them … am I really world champion? What does it mean?
“It’s an incredible experience. I just wish everyone back home was here to celebrate it. Two years ago, I was sitting at home watching the swimming and just thought you know what that could be me one day.
“So I just put my head down and work my ass off to get here. This isn’t an Olympic event … I have to do two laps and my next goal is to get back in the pool and train and give myself the best chance of Paris.”
Quotes courtesy of Swimming Australia.
National/Continental Records Through Day 4:
- Australia
- Men’s 50m breaststroke – Sam Williamson, 26.32 *Oceanian Record
- New Zealand
- Women’s 400m free – Erika Fairweather, 3:59.44
Medal Table (Oceania) Through Day 4:
| RANK | NATION | GOLD | SILVER | BRONZE | TOTAL |
| 1 | Australia | 1 | 5 | 2 | 8 |
| 2 | New Zealand | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |