2023 World Champs Preview: Tokyo Olympic Rematch Brewing in Women’s 100 Fly

2023 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

• July 23 – 30, 2023 (pool swimming)
• Fukuoka, Japan
• Marine Messe Fukuoka
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• Live Results
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• Entry Book
• Pick’em Contest

BY THE NUMBERS — WOMEN’S 100 BUTTERFLY

• World Record: Sarah Sjostrom, Sweden — 55.48 (2016)
• World Junior Record: Claire Curzan, United States — 56.43 (2021)
• Championship Record: Sarah Sjostrom, Sweden — 55.53 (2017)
• 2022 World Champion: Torri Huske, United States — 55.64

Four of the five fastest performers in the history of the women’s 100-meter butterfly are slated for their first rematch since the Tokyo Olympics two summers ago.

Defending world champion Torri Huske comes into Fukuoka with the top time in the world this season (56.18), but many would not consider her the favorite in this year’s race with the return of reigning Olympic champion Maggie MacNeil looming large. MacNeil was just .11 seconds away from Sarah Sjostrom’s world record (55.48) during her 2021 Olympic victory in Tokyo, where China’s Zhang Yufei (55.64), Australia’s Emma McKeon (55.72), and Huske (55.73) were all right on her heels.

McKeon skipped last year’s World Championships and MacNeil only swam relays while recovering from an elbow injury, but they should be back in action for Monday night’s 100 fly final along with Huske and Zhang. Plus, rising star Gretchen Walsh will be looking to stun the more experienced quartet as the 50 fly American record holder searches for her first major international medal.

The Sub-56 Club

It may take a sub-56 time to make the 100 fly podium at this year’s World Championships — a ridiculously high bar to clear considering only six women in history have ever dipped under that barrier. Four of them are in this race, though (Sarah Sjostrom and Dana Vollmer are the other two).

It’s tough to bet against MacNeil in this race given that she hasn’t lost the LCM 100 fly at a major senior international meet. The 23-year-old Canadian enjoyed her long course breakthrough four years ago at the 2019 World Championships (55.83) before throwing down the third-fastest time ever (55.59) en route to Olympic gold two years later. At last year’s Commonwealth Games, she clocked a 56.36 to edge McKeon by only .02 seconds.

This season, MacNeil’s best time is a 56.54 from Canadian Trials in March, less than two weeks after the NCAA Championships. She suffered a rare loss at the Barcelona stop of the Mare Nostrum Tour in May (57.83 behind Louise Hansson’s 57.52), but if she can hit peak form in her signature event again next week, the world record will be on watch.

Huske could also be a threat to take down Sjostrom’s seven-year-old world record in this event. The 20-year-old American was a tenth of a second faster at this year’s U.S. Trials (56.18) compared to last year (56.28), so she could be even quicker than her winning time from last year, an American record of 55.64 that ranks fifth in history.

McKeon could be back with a vengeance this year, or she could still be focused long term on the Paris 2024 Olympics, but she certainly has the speed to secure a medal in this stacked race. The 29-year-old triumphed at Aussie Trials with a 56.74, about a second off her personal-best 55.72 from the Tokyo Olympics, where she took bronze. McKeon made the 100 fly podium at the previous two Worlds before skipping last year, winning silver in 2017 (56.18) and bronze in 2019 (56.61).

Zhang, the reigning Olympic 200 fly champion, also brings a ton of experience to the table. The 25-year-old earned silver in the 100 fly at the Tokyo Olympics and bronze at Worlds last year before suffering an elbow injury at Short Course Worlds that disrupted her training plan early this year. However, the silver lining was that the setback forced Zhang to focus on improving her lower-body strength, underwater, and turn technique during her rehab process. Her 56.48 from Chinese Nationals ranks fourth in the world this season, and the Hangzhou native recently said she’s seeking to break the world record in this event at the Asian Games in two months.

Other Finals Contenders

Marie Wattel captured silver at last year’s World Championships with a personal-best 56.14 after heading into the meet with a season-best time of just 57.75. Her season best of 57.34 from June’s French Championships doesn’t jump off the page, but the 26-year-old Olympic finalist has proved the past couple years that she can post impressive time drops when it matters most.

Walsh turned heads at U.S. Trials by blazing a new American and U.S. record in the 50 fly (25.11) before edging Kate Douglass for the second qualifying spot in the 100 fly with a personal-best 56.34. The rising UVA junior dropped nearly four-tenths off her lifetime best (56.73) from just a month prior.

Walsh would likely need to drop even more time in order to medal in Fukuoka, but if the rapidly improving 20-year-old can manage to upset a pair of Olympic medalists and join Huske on the podium, it would be the first time in more than 40 years that America has produced a pair of medalists in this event since the 1982 World Championships (when Mary T. Meagher and Melanie Buddemeyer took gold and bronze, respectively, in Guayaquil).

Lana Pudar enters this race with momentum fresh off a personal-best 56.95 at the European Junior Championships earlier this month. The 17-year-old from Bosnia and Herzegovina ranks sixth in the world this season among those who are racing in Fukuoka. Pudar placed 8th at Worlds last year (58.44 after going 57.67 in the semifinals) before claiming bronze at the European Championships (57.27) a couple months later. The double taper will be difficult, but she has shown the ability to manage heavy racing loads

Louise Hansson and Brianna Throssell are both aiming to make their third consecutive Worlds A-final in this event. Hansson, a 26-year-old Swede who placed 5th at the Tokyo Olympics, owns the better time this season between the two with a 57.00 at the Stockholm Open in April. Throssell was the runner-up finisher at Aussie Trials behind McKeon with a 57.66, just off her season-best 57.57 from April. Hansson finished 4th at Worlds last year (56.48), missing the podium by just .07 seconds, while Throssell placed 6th (56.48).

Another returning Worlds finalist is 28-year-old Egyptian Farida Osman, who clocked an African record of 57.66 en route to 7th place in Budapest. However, her best time this season is just 59.28 from the Stockholm Open in April.

At April’s Berlin Open, 22-year-old Angelina Kohler fired off a new German record of 57.22, smashing her previous-best 57.85 and vaulting into the A-final conversation for Fukuoka.

Two-time Olympian Rikako Ikee qualified for her first Worlds in six years with a 57.68 at Japanese Trials, which marked her fastest time since returning to competition in August of 2020 following her leukemia diagnosis. 25-year-old countrywoman Soma Ai could also challenge for a spot in the A-final after posting a personal-best 57.42 at Japanese Nationals in April.

Chinese 18-year-old Wang Yichun appears high on the entry list with a personal-best 57.05 from March’s Chinese Spring Nationals at age 17, but she couldn’t quite replicate the performance at May’s Chinese Nationals (57.85).

SwimSwam’s Picks