arena Swim of the Week: Matt Richards Orchestrates Gigantic Upset In Men’s 200 Free

Swim of the Week is brought to you by arena, a SwimSwam partner.

Disclaimer: Swim of the Week is not meant to be a conclusive selection of the best overall swim of the week, but rather one Featured Swim to be explored in deeper detail. The Swim of the Week is an opportunity to take a closer look at the context of one of the many fast swims this week, perhaps a swim that slipped through the cracks as others grabbed the headlines, or a race we didn’t get to examine as closely in the flood of weekly meets.

Record performances have dominated the headlines thus far at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships, but there have also been a number of upset victories that have shocked the masses.

Perhaps the most surprising result came in the men’s 200 freestyle, which figured to be David Popovici‘s race to lose after he became just the third man (and first in a textile suit) to break 1:43 in the event at last summer’s European Championships (1:42.97) and won the 2022 world title handily.

Surrounding Popovici in the event was the reigning Olympic champion, Great Britain’s Tom Dean, and South Korea’s Hwang Sunwoo, who won silver at the 2022 Worlds and earned a head-to-head victory over both Popovici and Dean at the Short Course World Championships in December.

But one swimmer flying under the radar who figured to challenge for the podium was Matt Richards, Dean’s British teammate who joined the 1:44 club earlier this year when he became the first swimmer to own a sub-22 best time in the 50 free, a sub-48 best time in the 100 free and a sub-1:45 best time in the 200 free.

In the final, Popovici appeared to be running away with a second consecutive gold medal, flipping at 1:16.78 at the 150-meter mark, eight-tenths of a second clear of Hwang and a full second clear of Richards.

But coming down the stretch, the defending champion began to tighten up, and all of a sudden it was anyone’s race with Hwang, Richards and Dean all in the mix.

Ultimately it was the most unheralded of the four, Richards, who got his hand on the wall first in 1:44.30, going more than a half-second under his previous PB (1:44.83) under pressure.

The incredible final saw four swimmers sub-1:45, with Richards, Dean and Hwang keeping all four of their 50 splits sub-27.

The 20-year-old Richards was reflective on the difficulties he underwent last year after his stunning victory.

“It’s definitely a pretty cool feeling! I said after Tokyo, being part of the 4x200m Free relay gold, that the next step for me was trying to win individual medals,” he told British Swimming.

“Last year was a bit of a setback for me, it wasn’t going my way, but I made some changes and learned a lot from a tough year – so it feels pretty incredible now to be stood on top of the podium, a year out from an Olympics again, it fills me with a lot of confidence, but the work is far from done yet.”

Last year, Richards finished 30th in the 200 free at the World Championships in 1:48.74 (he only got a chance to swim individually after Duncan Scott withdrew).

From a flat start, he failed to break 49 in the 100 free and 1:47 in the 200 free during the 2021-22 season.

Richards acknowledged that while he managed to pull it out when it mattered most, he’s still got some work to do if he wants to beat Popovici when he’s at his best.

“We’ve still got guys like David Popovici going 1:42s, so a 1:44.3 is great, but that may not be enough to win it next year. This is just the beginning of a two-year cycle into the Games, we’ve got a big step of work to do now to get to where we want to be next year.”

Richards’ standout showing in Fukuoka continued after his 200 free triumph, as he set a new British Record in the 100 free (47.45) to place fifth on Thursday, and on Friday, his 1:44.65 split helped propel the British men to gold in the 800 free relay.

See arena North America here.

Follow arena USA on Instagram here.

About arena

arena has revolutionized the world of aquatic sport through insightful collaboration with world class athletes and the development of cutting edge competitive swimwear since 1973. Today, this spirit of collaboration and innovation lives on through a continuous evolution of advanced materials and Italian design that improves the performance, style and expression of all those who chose arena. From leading the lanes to living in style, arena is dedicated to providing all swimmers with the tools they need to express themselves, feel confident, win and achieve more. Because in arena, you can.