The 2023 World Championships are on the horizon with athletes finalizing their schedules for the main event set for Fukuoka, Japan next month.
Speaking with British megastar Duncan Scott this morning, the 26-year-old revealed he’ll be dropping the 100m freestyle from his lineup. That means Scott’s sole individual race will be the men’s 200m IM, the event in which he took silver at the 2020 Olympic Games.
At this year’s British Trials, Scott placed 2nd in the 100m free, clocking a time of 48.00 while national record holder Lewis Burras topped the podium in a result of 47.99.
Scott’s 200m IM of 1:56.72 rendered him the silver medalist behind winner Tom Dean who took the national title in 1:56.65.
Scott also raced the 200m free in Sheffield, posting a mark of 1:45.90, placing 4th to shut him out of individual qualification but enough to land him on the men’s 4x200m free relay.
Holding a single individual event entry is virtually unheard of when one talks of Scott, one of the most versatile swimmers on the planet.
The University of Stirling ace once dove in 15 times in 48 hours while competing at the 2019 British Universities & Colleges (BUCS) Championships.
At the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Scott’s schedule included the prelims and finals of the 100m free, 200m free, 200m IM and 400m IM in addition to the 4x100m free and 4x200m free relays.
With the exclusion of the 100m free, here is Scott’s potential World Championships schedule:
Sunday, July 23rd
- Men’s 4x100m free relay heats/final
Wednesday, July 26th
- Men’s 200m IM heats/final
Friday, July 28th
- Men’s 4x200m free relay heats/final
Sunday, July 30th
- Men’s 4x100m medley relay heats/final
Of note, Scott hasn’t been a 200m free spectator at a major international event since before 2016. He took bronze at the 2019 World Championships, silver at the 2020 Olympic Games and gold last year in Birmingham. He is the 8th fastest performer of all time, owning a lifetime best of 1:44.26 from Tokyo.
I asked the Steven Tigg-trained athlete whether he saw his unexpected miss in the 200m free at the British Trials more as a personal disappointment or as a positive signal of the depth of his nation’s talent in the event.
“I definitely saw it as a disappointment but we’re very lucky for the depth we have in the 4×1 and 4×2,” he said.
“I wasn’t going into British Trials in great form. We tried some different things in training leading up to it – focused on volume – and I didn’t recover as much as I thought I would.”
Looking on the plus side, however, Scott said he has a feeling of ‘no fear’ in heading to Fukuoka with a single individual event. “It isn’t a bad thing. Hopefully, I’ll have a lot more energy.
“My entire training is centered on Paris. Anything I do here [in Fukuoka] is a bonus on top of what I do in Paris.”
Although Scott clearly stated he hasn’t lost any ambition in the 200m free, his attention is indeed honed in on the 2IM with the likes of Frenchman Leon Marchand, American potentials Chase Kalisz and Shaine Casas as well as the reigning Olympic gold medalist Wang Shun lurking among the Fukuoka field.
Scott has yet to race Marchand in the 200m IM, as Marchand was not at the 2019 World Championships and Scott was not at last year’s World Championships. The 21-year-old Arizona State University phenom took the 2IM gold in Budapest in a time of 1:55.22, a new French national record, and notched a mark of 1:55.68 at the Westmont Pro Swim to rank #2 in the world this season.
Wang has already jumped out to the top of the world ranking leaderboard, courtesy of the 1:55.55 monster effort he produced at May’s Chinese Nationals. He owns the Asian continental record with the 1:55.00 performance he ripped for gold in Tokyo.
Before Fukuoka, however, Scott will be among a large British contingent set to compete at this weekend’s Sette Colli Trophy. Scott says he doesn’t care about any times he produces there in Rome, as he’s viewing it as an in-season meet and is racing just to challenge himself.
Scott is entered in the 100m free, 100m fly and 200m IM for Sette Colli, which begins on Friday, June 23rd.
No semis in the 200s this time?
There are – he would have the final of the 200IM on Thursday 27th
He’s scared
Of…?
Pavement! Stay in the water Duncs!
He’s still the baby faced assassin. When he wins races it’s like the Andrex Puppy bossing the Junkyard Dogs.
For those who don’t know, the 100 Free and 200IM directly clash at Worlds, hence why Dunks had to choose one over the other.
Yeah that detail is pretty vital to the story and his decision
He’s skipped the 100 in Gwangju and Tokyo as well for the same reason but he might be able to give the 100 a go in Paris with the new schedule provided he can still get top 2.
He could take a crack at it but it doesn’t make sense imo. By Paris his pb may not be fast enough to final, and training for the 100 free over the 200 free/IM could be detrimental. Not to mention the added strain to his schedule when he’s pivotal for GBR relays
Potential schedule also includes Thursday because the 200 IM has heats and semis on Wednesday with the final on Thursday.
Love watching him swim. His 200 free 4 im double in the same session at commies dang
Scott has had, at best, questionable form since Toyko. Hoping he gets back on track for Paris and this development doesn’t leave me too optimistic
He was ill quite a bit, and in my opinion is being very sensible in his preparation for Paris.
bro is gonna put the meaning of relay demon to a different level this summer i can’t wait