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 1 Prelims Live Recap | Day 1 Finals Live Recap
- Day 2 Prelims Live Recap | Day 2 Finals Live Recap
- Day 3 Prelims Live Recap | Day 3 Finals Live Recap
- Day 4 Prelims Live Recap
In the preliminary heats of the men’s 100 free at the 2023 World Championships, Matt Richards posted the fastest overall time of 47.59. With his swim, he also takes down Lewis Burras‘s British record time of 47.63 from 2022 Worlds, as well as his own Welsh record time of 47.72 from the prelims of British Nationals this April.
Richards breaking the British record in the 100 free is notable, as he wasn’t even supposed to swim the event originally. He finished third to Burras and Duncan Scott during the finals at Nationals, but Scott dropped the event from his schedule, which gave him the opportunity to race.
Compared to Nationals, Richards was considerably faster in the back half of his race. He took his race out 0.13 seconds slower on Wednesday, but finished 0.26 seconds quicker. The back half of Richards’ race was also where he outperformed Burras’ record.
Splits Comparison:
| Matt Richards, 2023 World Championships (new British Record) | Lewis Burras, 2022 World Championships (former British Record) | Matt Richards, 2023 British Nationals (former Welsh record) | |
| 50m | 23.15 | 22.76 | 23.02 |
| 100m | 24.44 | 24.87 | 24.70 |
| Total | 47.59 | 47.63 | 47.72 |
Richards is coming off of victory in the 200 free, where he upset podium favorites David Popovici, Tom Dean, and Hwang Sunwoo. Now, he will be a serious medal contender in the 100 free.
Burras also raced the 100 free at Worlds, finishing 31st in a time of 48.99 to miss the semi-final.
I got Olympic tickets for 4×100 freestyle finals and I swear if they don’t qualify a team I will be suing British Swimming for emotional distress
Who had “Matt Richards beating Popovici in 200 and Chalmers in 100 back to back” in their Bingo cards?
Let’s wait with that second one a bit…
There once was a swimmer named Matt,
Whose chance to compete was no small act.
With Duncan’s event scratched,
He dove in and dispatched,
Breaking records with speed and finesse intact.
the event isn’t scratched, a swimmer scratched from the event…so that doesn’t make sense
ChatGPT fail
Richards owes Scott a nice dinner.
Scott was never gonna swim this anyway due to the clash with the 2IM
Indeed! And who’d have thought that Burras had beaten them both in the final at trials!