2022 Short Course Worlds: Day 2 Finals Preview

2022 FINA Short Course World Championships

• Tuesday, December 13 to Sunday, December 18, 2022
• Melbourne Sports and Aquatics Centre, Melbourne, Australia
• SCM (25m)
• Prize Money
• Meet Site
• Meet Schedule
• How To Watch
• Meet Roster Index
• Psych Sheets (Updated)
• Live Results
• Day 2 Prelims Live Recap

Day 2 Finals Heat Sheets

Day two of the 2022 Short Course World Championships is here, bringing us finals of the mixed 4×50 medley relay, women’s 800 free, men’s and women’s 100 back and 50 fly, and women’s 4×200 free relay alongside semifinals of the 100 free and 100 breast.

There were only two scratches for this finals session, neither of them surprising, but they will greatly affect the women’s 800 free final. Top seed Li Bingjie of China has likely dropped out of the meet after being diagnosed with COVID-19 and Italy’s Simona Quadarella, the third seed, scratched the meet earlier this week for health reasons.

Two of the most exciting races of the night are the semifinals. First,  the men’s 100 free will feature current world record holder Kyle Chalmers of Australia and Romanian sprint star David Popovici who recently broke the long course world record in this event at the European Championships. Neither of them claimed the top spot in prelims, though. That went to Jordan Crooks of the Cayman Island who held nothing back and blasted a time of 45.61 to become the top seed in the semifinal. That’s just .04 off the time it took to win this event last year. This is one race we have on our world record watch; will Chalmers outdo the 44.84 world record he set in 2021? Or will someone else?  

Long course world record-holders Adam Peaty of Great Britain and Lilly King of Team USA are in the pool again this session in the men’s and women’s 100 breast semifinals. Peaty had his individual short course world championships debut in prelims, leading the race for 75 meters. But, it was Italy’s Nicolo Martinenghi who touched the wall first (56.60) and Peaty ultimately placed 4th (56.81).

Current 100 SCM breast world record holder Ruta Meilutyte of Lithuania is the top seed in the women’s 100 breast after posting a 1:03.81 in prelims. It really will be anyone’s race though with the top three finishers in prelims touching the wall within .13 of each other. King finished third (1:03.94) narrowly behind South Africa’s Lara van Niekerk (1:03.93).

The meet will kick off with the mixed 4×50 medley relay where the U.S. appears to be the favorite after winning prelims (1:36.83). Taking home a medal here would help the Americans out on the medal table after they had a surprising prelims session – only one out of their four men who competed in an individual event qualified for finals. The biggest podium opportunity for the American men, though, will be the men’s 100 back final where team captain Ryan Murphy is the top seed. In the mixed 4×50 medley relay, watch out for 2nd seed Germany who swam a 1:37.90 this morning alongside last year’s medalists the Netherlands (who placed 4th in prelims with a 1:38.59) and Italy (who placed 5th with a 1:38.91). Surprisingly, Australia will not be in this final after placing 10th in prelims.

The final event of the night will be the women’s 4×200 free relay, an event that defending champions Canada won by four seconds last year. After prelims, though, this final is shaping up to be a closer battle between the U.S. and Australia who placed first (7:42.91) and 2nd (7:44.77) this morning. Notably, Australia had a last-minute lineup change in prelims due to a medical issue, swapping out Jamie Perkins who has reportedly been dealing with a back injury.

Host nation Australia currently has the momentum after topping the medals table on day one, but missing out on a finals position in the 4×50 mixed medley relay won’t help them. Finals will start at 7:30 pm local time in Melbourne / 3:30 am U.S. EST.

Full List of Day 2 Scratches:

Mixed 4×50 medley relay final

• none

Women’s 800 free final

• #1 Li Bingjie
• #3 Simona Quadarella

Women’s 100 free semifinal

• none

Men’s 100 free semifinal

• none

Women’s 100 back final

• None

Men’s 100 back final

• none

Women’s 100 breast semifinal

• none

Men’s 100 breast semifinal

• None

Women’s 50 fly final

• none

Men’s 50 fly final

• none

Women’s 4×200 free relay final

• none