2023 WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES
- August 1-7, 2023
- Dong’an Lake Sports Park Swimming and Diving Hall, Chengdu, China
- LCM (50m)
- Meet Page
- Live Results + Schedule
- Live Stream Schedule (All Sports)
- 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 | Day 4 Finals Live Recap
- Day 5 Prelims Live Recap | Day 5 Finals Live Recap
Italy saw a series of strong swims on Day 5 of the 2023 World University Games to close in on China’s medal table lead.
The Italians claimed 5 medals on day 5, including 1 gold, 2 silvers, and 2 bronze to bring the nation’s total up to 20 overall. Though China still leads the medal table thanks to its 11 gold medals, Italy holds a commanding lead in the overall medal total, having 20 medals to China’s 13.
The Italians got out to a quick start on night 5, as Matteo Lamberti and Ivan Giovannoni gave the nation two swimmers on the podium in the men’s 800 freestyle. Lamberti claimed the gold in a time of 7:54.12, while Giovannoni touched third to pick up a bronze medal in 8:00.00. Giovanni Carraro then won a silver medal in the men’s 100 freestyle with a time of 49.18, coming in just behind Poland’s Kamil Sieradzki (49.08). Giulia D’Innocenzo claimed the nation’s first, and only, medal of the night on the women’s side with a bronze in the 100 butterfly as she finished in a time of 58.33 to post a podium-worthy finish.
In the final event of the night, the Italian team finished with a silver medal in the mixed 4×100 freestyle relay, behind China.
China continued their dominance of this meet, picking up multiple golds on night 5. In addition to the team of Chen Juner, Lin Tao, Li Bingjie, and Zhang Yufei winning the mixed 4×100 freestyle relay in Championship record fashion, Yufei also claimed gold in the women’s 100 butterfly. Yufei, the 2023 World Champion in that event, posted a time of 56.57 to claim victory by almost a full second over the field.
Poland also picked up a few more medals as Kamil Sieradzki and Mateusz Chowaniec picked up a 1-3 finish in the men’s 100 freestyle to add another gold and bronze to the country’s total. After 5 days, Poland now holds 9 medals, 4 of which have been gold to stand 3rd overall on the medal table.
2023 World University Games, Day 5 Swimming Medal Table:
| Rank | Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | China | 11 | 0 | 2 | 13 |
| 2 | Italy | 6 | 5 | 9 | 20 |
| 3 | Poland | 4 | 3 | 2 | 9 |
| 4 | Japan | 2 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 5 | Lithuania | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 6 | Portugal | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | Germany | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 8 | South Africa | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 9 | United States | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 10 | Brazil | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 11 | Taipei | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 12 | Romania | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 12 | Hungary | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 14 | Cyprus | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Also remember China has half of the swimmers who just competed at the worlds and had less than 24 hours rest(including the flight back from Japan) before WUGS while all the other countries’ swimmers coming in fresh.
True, but that still doesn’t make it up for the fact they’re from the main Worlds team, compared to all the other athletes who mostly never made it to a senior national team, it would still be an underperformance not to dominate