Krzysztof Chmielewski Is a Polish 200 butterfly specialist. A multi-time World Junior Champion, he broke through with, winning silver at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in his signature event.
Junior Swimming
2019 Summer European Youth Olympic Festival (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Chmielewski took bronze in the 200 fly with a 2:01.82, a best time by just over 2 seconds.
2020 Glowne Mistrzostwa Wojewodztwa Lubelskiego (Lublin, Poland)
Chmielewski hacked .26 seconds off his 100 fly best time with a 55.23. His previous best was 55.49 from just a week prior. Before that, Chmielewski had only been as fast as 57.05. He was also 1:58.88 in his 200 fly, another big drop, and 16:00.52 in his 1500, a 3rd PB.
2021 Polish Swimming Championships (Lublin, Poland)
Chmielewski, just 16, popped off across multiple events at the 2021 Polish Swimming Championships (LCM) that served as an Olympic qualifier. He opened with the 400 IM where he netted bronze with a 4:23.16. The swim was a big best time by over 6 seconds. In the 200 fly, he cruised through prelims in 1st with a 1:58.68 then dropped a massive 1:56.28 in the final for the win. It was another big drop as Chmielewski’s previous PB was 1:57.95 from less than a month prior and it dipped under the FINA “A” cut.
In addition, Chmielewski topped the 1500 free with a 15:36.64, 6 seconds off his PB, and season best of 15:30.71 set in March. Chmielewski also had solid showings in the 200/400/800 free with times of 1:51.89/3:58.29/8:11.50.
2021 European Junior Swimming Championships (Rome, Italy)
In his 200 fly, Chmielewski led prelims with a 1:56.23 before taking things easy in semis with a 1:58.51. In the final, Chmielewski dominated the race with a 1:56.29 for gold while his twin brother Michal took silver in 1:57.09. Chmielewski also had an excellent 1500 free with a 15:16.71 PB in prelims for 3rd. He was just off with a 15:16.94 in the final but fell to 5th. His final race was markedly different as he went out 8:04.05 at the 800 vs. 8:07.00 in the prelims, both were best times. He had 1 other PB with a 3:54.83 400 free.
2021 LEN European Short Course Championships (Kazan, Russia)
Chmielewski set PBs in all three rounds of the 200 fly, progressing from 1:53.39 in prelims to 1:53.05 in semis to 1:52.66 in the final. He ended up 5th. Chmielewski was also 13th in the 800 free (7:48.36) and 16th in the 400 free (3:45.34).
2021 FINA World Short Course Championships (Abu Dhabi, UAE)
In the 200 fly, Chmielewski finished in 1:51.84, eclipsing the previous European Junior Record of 1:52.02 set by Kristof Milak in 2017. Chmielewski opened in 25.36 followed by a consistent 28.70 and 28.77 on his middle 100, and finished in 29.01. He barely missed out on the final as he was out-touched by Norway’s Tomoe Hvas, who finished .01 faster. Chmielewski also swam a 14:51.21 1500 free.
2022 Grand Prix Polish Cup (Oswiecim, Poland)
In the 200 fly, Chmielewski missed the FINA “A” cut by over a second with a 1:57.96 but this was the first of several meets at which he could qualify. While the swim was short of an “A” cut, it was a “B” cut. Chmielewski also swam a best time of 7:59.21 in the 800 free, marking his first time under the 8-minute barrier. It also put him 10 seconds under the FINA ‘B’ standard.
2022 European Junior Championships (Bucharest, Romania)
It was all Chmielewski in the 200 fly, leading each round with his twin Michal in 2nd in all three rounds. He cruised through prelims and semis with a 1:56.96 and a 1:56.36 respectively before nearing his PB with a 1:55.49. He split the race quite differently from his world PB, opening in a 56.19 here vs. a 54.95 in Budapest. Impressively, Chmielewski kept his 3rd and 4th 50s under the crucial 30-second barrier with splits of 29.55 and 29.75.
Chmielewski netted 3 more medals in the distance free disciplines. In the 1500, just a day after his 200 fly win, Chmielewski headed into the final as the top seed with a 15:12.31. In the final, he and Vlad-Stefan Stancu of Romania were in a tight race for 1300 meters but then Stancu dropped a 1:55.22 final 200 and Chmielewski ended up 2nd by 7.99 seconds with a 15:13.36. His best time from Worlds would not have been enough.
In the 800, Chmielewski faced Stancu and Italian Junior Record holder Lorenzo Galossi after cruising through prelims with an 8:02.61. Chmielewski went out quickly, flipping ahead of both of them at the 400 but from there, he faded, only again finding a sub-30-second split on the final 50. By then, Galossi had taken charge and Stancu put Chmielewski further back in bronze position. In the end, Chmielewski did take the bronze with a PB of 7:56.81 while Galossi won (7:52.04) and Stancu took silver (7:54.02).
In the 400 free on the final day, Chmielewski moved through the 400 free prelims in 3rd with a PB of 3:54.58 but clearly had more given he went out faster than that in the 800 free final. This proved to be true as he dropped 4 seconds in the final to a 3:50.61 to tie for 2nd with Stancu behind Galossi (3:48.14).
2022 FINA World Junior Championships (Lima, Peru)
In his final of 4 championship meets for the summer, Chmielewski showed off his range with 5 individual events and 2 relays. He opened with the 400 free where he cruised through prelims with a 3:52.54 for 5th before crushing a 3:49.34 to take the bronze with a PB. Chmielewski was in it for the gold until the final 50 where he just could not keep up with Stephan Steverink (3:48.27) and Stancu (3:48.38).
The next day, Chmielewski took on the 100 fly, a rarity for him, and dropped a big PB of 53.64 for 2nd in prelims. He tanked that night in the semis with a 54.90 for 14th. He seemingly did this intentionally as on the mixed 400 medley relay at the end of the session, he threw down a huge 53.31 fly split to help Poland dominate by 3.58 seconds and take the gold.
The next day, he swam the 800 free and placed 5th with a 7:59.04, while off his PB, his PB would have only improved him to 4th. With day 4 off, Chmielewski returned on day 5 in the 400 IM with a 4:22.70 PB. In the final, he improved to a 4:21.17 but missed out on a medal in 5th.
In the next session, Chmielewski returned in the 200 fly and swam a controlled 1:59.27 for the top seed. He was 1 of 2 boys under 2:00 with his twin Michal as the other. It was the Chmielewski brothers topping the podium. Krzysztof took gold with a 1:55.78 while Michal took silver with a 1:57.69. Both the brothers swam fly on the 400 medley relay with Krzysztof splitting 54.45 in the prelims. In the final, Michal helped Poland win the final, netting Krzysztof another gold.
College Swimming
Chmielewski and his brother Michal both committed to USC’s class of 2027 in June of 2023. At the time, Chmielewski boasted bests of 1:51.18/3:49.34/7:56.74/15:07.70 in the 200 through 1500 free events (LCM), 53.64/1:55.01 in the 100/200 fly (LCM), and 4:21.17 in the 400 IM (LCM).
USC
2023-24
Chmielewski adapted to yards quickly and showed impressive form at the SMU Invite in early October. Chmielewski won the 100 fly in 46.56, beating out Auburn All-American Aidan Stoffle (46.68). He ranked 10th all-time in USC program history with this 100 fly. The next day, he started with a win in the 500 free in 4:15.18, an early NCAA-leading time and seven seconds better than anyone at USC swam in the 2022-23 season. Then in his specialty, the 200 fly, he won in 1:41.60 to break Nic Albiero’s Pool Record from 2021. That was the 2nd-fastest time in USC program history and half a second off Alexei Sancov’s program record of 1:41.04.
National/International Swimming
2021 LEN European Aquatics Championships (Budapest, Hungary)
Chmielewski broke 1:56 for the first time in the 200 fly prelims with 1:55.46 for 3rd. In semis, he was off by a second with a 1:56.51 and missed the final in 9th.
2020(1) Olympic Games (Tokyo, Japan)
Chmielewski, 17 and at his first Olympics, was just off his best time in prelims with a 1:55.77, qualifying the young Pole 13th. In semis, he found a faster gear going out. He was 7. Seconds faster than prelims at the 100 and, despite fading just a bit, fired off a new PB of 1:55.29 to qualify for his first Olympic final in the 7th position. Chmielewski did not quite have the same spark as semis but still put up a respectable 1:55.88 for 8th.
2022 FINA World Championships (Budapest, Hungary)
Chmielewski ended up qualifying for Worlds. In his first event, the 200 fly, Chmielewski moved through prelims in 6th with a 1:55.73 before clocking a PB in semis with a 1:55.01. Unfortunately for Chmielewski, he found himself on the outside looking in as his 1:55.01 put him in 9th by .10 seconds. Chmielewski had another PB in the 1500 free with a 15:07.70, good for 11th.
Chmielewski had dabbled in open water throughout the year at the LEN Open Water Cup and tried on the 10k for size at Worlds. He ended up 34th with a 2:00:54.90, over 10 minutes slower than his 10k in May where he placed 8th at the LEN Open Water Cup stop in Alghero. There, he was less than a minute back of Gregorio Paltrinieri (1:50:30 vs. 1:49:45) while in Hungary, Chmielewski was nearly 10 minutes back while Palt won with a 1:50.56.8.
2022 European Aquatics Championships (Rome, Italy)
Chmielewski continued his rapid-fire championship season with the European Championships at the historic Foro Italico. He advanced through the 200 fly prelims with a 1:56.19. In semis, he had a stronger back half and pulled through in 6th with a 1:55.68. In the final, Chmielewski opened aggressively with a 54.41 but paid for it down the stretch with a 31.47 final 50, fading to 8th as he touched in 1:56.43. Chmielewski had solid swims in his 3 other events but did not advance to the finals. His 400 free was 3:53.69, 800 free was 7:59.50, and 400 IM was 4:24.78. None were season bests.
2023 Grand Prix Polish Cup (Lublin, Poland)
Chmielewski scored a result of 1:56.64 comprised of splits of 56.91/59.73. That back half was one of his fastest ever. It was a solid start for his long-course season.
2023 Grand Prix Polish Cup (Oswiecim, Poland)
A month later, Chmielewski notched a new season best in the 200 fly with a 1:56.24, under the World Aquatics “A” cut. He swam a very different race than a month prior, splitting 55.51/1:00.73. He also dipped under the LEN U23 time standard in the 800 free with an 8:00.85 and nearly set a 200 free PB with a 1:51.94, just .05 off his best. In the 400 IM, Chmielewski was 4:23.91
2023 Polish National Championships (Olsztyn, Poland)
Chmielewski took on a massive 8 event schedule. While he missed finaling in the 100 free (53.14), he finaled in all the other events he swam and medaled in 5 of them. He opened with the 1500 where he won with a 15:20.04, well off his best of 15:07.70 from 2022 Worlds. On the same day, he put up a 54.22 100 fly in the final after going 53.88 in prelims. Next, in the 200 free, he put up a best time of 1:51.36 for 6th followed by a 4:26.76 400 IM for 3rd, a time well off his best.
The next day, Chmielewski took on the 400 free/200 fly double. In the 400, he up a season-best time of 3:53.64, good for silver, and then dominated the 200 fly with a 1:56.00 for the win. Unlike his early spring 200 flys where he vacillated between aggressive and conservative swims, Chmielewski swam a balanced race, going out in 56.01 and coming home in 59.99. It was a season-best and just .99 seconds off his best time. On the final day, alongside the 100 free, Chmielewski swam the 800 free and topped the field with an 8:00.36
2023 Mare Nostrum Tour (Multi-site)
In Canet, Chmielewski had a tight 400 free finish and ended up 3rd in 3:50.99, 1.65 seconds off his PB but a season-best nonetheless. He had another season-best in the 200 fly prelims with a 1:55.80 and then finished off finals with a 1:55.95 for 2nd. He was better in Barcelona with a 1:55.04 200 fly in prelims, nearly a PB. He won finals with a significantly slower 1:56.26. At the final stop in Monaco, Chmielewski again neared his PB with a 1:55.09, this time for bronze.
2023 World Aquatics Championships (Fukuoka, Japan)
In the 200 fly prelims, Chmielewski nearly notched a new PB with a 1:55.02, just .01 seconds back of his best. It took 3rd in prelims but the most remarkable part is that he took it out in just 26.00 to the touch at the 50 mark. Unlike a year ago, Chmielewski had no issue qualifying for semis as he scorched a new PB of 1:54.36. He found more speed versus his prelims swim and made it back for the final as the 4th seed. In the final, Chmielewski was slow compared to the field but in line with his typical race with a 25.65 at the 50-meter mark. He moved past Eddie Wang and Thomas Heilman over the next 50 with a swift 28.88 split to turn 5th at the 100 in 54.33. As Richard Marton faded, Chmielewski moved into 4th with a 29.45 before coming home in 29.84. The 29.84 was enough to move him past a fast-fading Carson Foster and Tomoru Honda to Claim an upset silver behind Leon Marchand. His 1:53.62 moved him ever closer to Paweł Korzeniowski‘s NR of 1:53.23.
Chmielewski also put up respectable times of 3:49.90 and 15:01.89 in the 400 and 1500 free events respectively. The former was a season-best and good for 22nd while the latter was a lifetime best and good for 16th.
2023 LEN European U23 Championships (Dublin, Ireland)
Chmielewski turned in a time of 1:54.68. He was the clear leader throughout the race and topped the inaugural podium and broke his meet record from prelims. The Pole opened in 54.51 and brought it home in 1:00.17 to top the podium. Chmielewski was also 7th in the 800 free with an 8:03.72.
–This biography was originally developed by Lucas Caswell