Fukuoka 2023, Euro Recap Day 6: Steenbergen and Schouten Put Dutch Women Back on the Map

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)
• 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
• European Recap Day 4: Chimielewski Among Euro Juniors Finding Success on Worlds Stage
• European Recap Day 5: Scott, Dean Earn GB Men’s First 200 IM Worlds Medals in 50 Years

When you go into the archives, it actually hasn’t been that long since a Dutch woman won an individual medal at World Championships. In 2019, at her last Worlds before retirement, Ranomi Kromowidjojo earned silver in the women’s 50 butterfly. So really, it’s only been two World Championships.

But, when Kromowidjojo retired shortly after her country-mate Femke Heemskerk, it marked the end of a golden age for Dutch women’s sprinting. The two were the last remaining legs of the country’s Olympic relay medal success from 2008 and 2012.

Since their retirement, we’ve been waiting to see which Dutch woman would step into the void they left behind. And now, if you’re looking at it purely from a medal standpoint, there are two new answers Marrit Steenbergen and Tes Schouten. Both women earned bronze on Day 6 of Worlds: Steenbergen in the 100 freestyle and Schouten in the 200 breast.

Tes Schouten, courtesy Fabio Cetti

Both of these women have been knocking at the door for the past year. Steenbergen especially has exploded onto the international scene. She was our 2022 female breakout swimmer of the year, which she earned thanks to her clutch relay splits and the lifetime bests she set in all four of her primary events (50 free, 100 free, 200 free, 200 IM).

In Fukuoka, Steenbergen led the women’s 100 free field into the final, posting a new best time to qualify first. Despite swimming in lane 4, Steenbergen admitted that she “did not really expect to get a medal here because the field is so tough.” She did win a medal though, grabbing bronze and lowering her own personal best again to a 52.71.

We saw a passing of the baton earlier in the meet as Michael Phelps put the gold medal around Leon Marchand‘s neck after he broke his 400 IM world record. We got a similar transition signal here, as Kromowidjojo presented the medals for the women’s 100 freestyle.

I know Ranomi, and I’ve trained with her, so to get a medal from her is special and it’s really nice to share this moment with her. I really enjoyed being up there with her,” Steenbergen said. With her new personal best, she’s now only two-hundredths off Heemskerk’s national record.

Schouten’s rise has mainly happened this season, as she’s broken the Dutch record in the 200 breaststroke multiple times this season. The 22-year-old did so again in the event final, swimming 2:21.63 en route to her bronze medal. According to SwimSwam’s own Daniel Takata, she’s just the second Dutch woman to medal in this event. The first was Wijda Mazereeuw, who won silver at the 1975 Championships.

After the race, Schouten spoke about how it’s often been hard for her to perform on the Worlds stage. She said “I always found it a bit hard to swim my best races at World Championships or Europeans, so I’m just happy that I did a ‘PB’ here because that shows that I can do it.”

Now, with Steenbergen and Schouten having earned their first long-course individual Worlds medals, it feels like we’re entering a new era for Dutch women’s swimming.

Quick Hits

Kos, Mityukov Set National Records En Route to 200 Backstroke Podium

Prior to the men’s 200 backstroke final the entire podium felt wide open. Still, if you asked swim fans to make a bet, it would have been hard for many to bet against Ryan Murphy. Even though he earned his first long-course worlds title just last year (in this event) he has been so consistent throughout his career. That carries a lot of weight in a relatively young field.

Hubert Kos, courtesy of Fabio Cetti

However, it wasn’t Murphy who struck gold, it was Hubert Kos, who claimed his first world title and Hungary’s first medal of the meet. Kos stormed to a national record of 1:54.14, bettering Peter Bernek‘s mark by over a second. That’s his second Hungarian record of the meet, as he set a new mark in the 100 back earlier this week.

Part of what makes Kos’ win so incredible is that he didn’t even swim this event at 2022 Worlds. He opted instead for the 200 IM, where he’s the world junior record holder. “Honestly I never thought I would swim backstroke, and now here I am, a world champion, said Kos after his race. “I think it’s just the ‘Bob Bowman effect’ – that’s as simple as it is…we have a really, really good training group, and Bob knows a thing or two about swimming.” Kos made the move to ASU in January, so he’s only been working with Bowman for about seven months.

Switzerland’s Roman Mityukov made it two Europeans on the podium, earning bronze behind Murphy. It’s his first World Championship medal, and he earned it in a national record time. Mityukov swam 1:55.34 for bronze, lowering the Swiss record he set in semis. Last night, Mityukov posted a 1:55.85 to become the fastest finals qualifier. He’d been in that position before–at the 2022 European Champs. There, he swam a national record in semis but finished outside the medals. Mityukov himself said that the fact that he was able to not let that become a trend, means that “it was kind of a revenge today to get this bronze medal.”

Katie Shanahan Bounces Back from 200 IM DQ to Make 200 Back Final

Great Britain’s Katie Shanahan had a rough start to her Worlds debut. In the semifinals of the 200 IM, she was one of the three women disqualified in the first semifinal. The 19-year-old had to figure out how to move on and to refocus on her next event. Now, she’s made the 200 backstroke final at her first World Championships.

Shanahan hit 2:08.32 to qualify for the final in fourth. That’s within a second of her personal best 2:07.81, setting her up well for tomorrow’s final. While we expect the race for gold to once again come down to Regan Smith and Kaylee McKeon, Shanahan has set herself up well to be in contention for the final step of the podium.

Great Britain Back On Top In Men’s 4×200 Free Relay

After a disappointing bronze medal finish in 2022, the British men are back on top of the men’s 4×200 freestyle podium. Duncan Scott, Matt Richards, James Guy, and Tom Dean swam 6:59.08, just about a half-second off the world record. When the same foursome won gold in Tokyo, they were even closer, ending up just three-hundredths away from the super-suited mark.

“Every year we push each other all the time and help to get the best out of each other as well, said Guy after the race, referencing how difficult it is to earn a relay spot in this event, much less an individual berth. He continued, “it was a great race today. I think going into Paris next year, we can do a little bit more, but we are happy to be in Fukuoka and enjoyed doing this.”

Other Continental and National Records

• In the semifinals of the men’s 100 fly, Gal Cohen Groumi set a new Israeli record. The old record belonged to Tomer Frankel, and Groumi brought it under 51 seconds for the first time, hitting 50.98 and qualifying for the final. He tied with Nyls Korstanje, who set a Dutch record in prelims (50.78), lowering his own mark from the 51.41 he swam in June 2022.
• Alisée Pisane set a Belgian record in the heats of the women’s 800 freestyle. Pisane clocked 8:32.52, bettering the previous mark of 8:34.56 which had stood since the 1988 Olympics.
• Poland’s Laura Bernat lowered the women’s 200 backstroke national record. She swam 2:08.96, bringing the record under 2:09 for the first time and qualifying for the final in sixth.
• Cesar Castro, Luis Dominguez, Sergio de Celis, and Carlos Quijada teamed up for a new Spanish record in the men’s 4×200 free relay. They swam 7:10.85 for the new record.
• Neza Klancar smashed her own 50 fly Slovenian record. She swam 25.81, bettering her old record of 26.34, which she’d just swum in June 2023.
• There were two European national records set in the men’s 50 freestyle heats. First, Nicholas Lia clocked a 21.94, lowering his own Norwegian record by four-hundredths. He’d swam the previous mark earlier this year in April. Then, Rémi Fabiani lowered his own Luxembourgish record. Fabiani hit 22.47, chopping .11 seconds off the previous record.

European Medal Table Thru Day 6