Uh2023 WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS
- July 23 to 30, 2023
- Fukuoka, Japan
- Marine Messe Fukuoka
- LCM (50m)
- Meet Central
- SwimSwam Preview Index
- Entry Book
- Live Results (Omega)
- Day 1 Prelims Live Recap
- Day 1 Finals Live Recap
Following the conclusion of day one at the 2023 World Championships, most of the fuss was around the “underperformance” of the Americans, who had gotten on the podium in almost every contested event. Well, news flash: there will be more and more parity in swimming over time, and the United States will not be dominant forever. Plus, they didn’t have a legitimate shot at gold in any of the day 1 events except for the men’s 4×100 free. In other words, there isn’t that much to be concerned about with the U.S.
However, Canada, the other North American swimming powerhouse, did have a relatively lackluster opening night showing. With Summer McIntosh missing the podium in the 400 free, the Canadian women finishing sixth in the 4×100 free relay after taking silver for the last two years, Mary-Sophie Harvey adding time from prelims to semis and missing the 200 IM final, and Josh Liendo finishing 15th in the 50 fly, it’s easy to jump to the conclusion that Canada is done for. Now, let’s look beyond the surface and analyze the backstory behind some of these misfires.
McIntosh getting fourth in the 400 free was the biggest surprise to most, considering that she had just broken the World record in the event this April in a time of 3:56.08. In addition, she also led off the Canadian 4×100 free relay in a 54.99, which was off what people expected from her considering that she split 53.33 at the Commonwealth Games last year. However, it’s important to understand her situation—she’s a sixteen-year-old girl that, in less than two years, went from relatively unknown to suddenly lauded as the best swimmer in the World. That transition is a lot to handle, and it’s unfair to expect her to perform at her best all the time.
Plus, it’s not like McIntosh swam badly—our standards on her just got higher. Her 3:59.94 was just 0.61 seconds off her silver-medal winning time from last year and would have medalled in every international competition prior to this year. Let’s remember, only five women in history have broken four minutes in the 400 free, so the fact that a 3:59 is considered underwhelming for a 16-year-old shows just how fast this event has gotten. Also, it’s just the first day of the meet, so McIntosh still has three more individual events to prove herself in. And if she doesn’t prevail, it’s better now than Paris.
The Canadian women’s 4×100 free relay was always going to regress with Penny Oleksiak out and Kayla Sanchez switching to represent the Phillippines. Taylor Ruck split 53.99, which was over a second slower than her 52.92 split from last year, but she’s also coming off a hand injury that she suffered this April. With a weakened team and the rise of Chinese depth/Marrit Steenbergen and Freya Anderson‘s breakout/Sarah Sjostrom‘s longevity, Canada was not going to contend with the heavyweights in this year. So it’s not like their medal-winning swimmers from last year regressed, it’s more so that they were hurt by unforeseen circumstances.
Liendo also wasn’t as “off” as it seems. The 50 fly is his fourth-best event, and his semi-finals time was just 0.05 off his personal best of 23.27. His 48.17 4×100 free relay leadoff wasn’t close to his personal best of 47.55, but it’s important to note that he swam a 47.87 on the relay last year before dropping three-tenths in the individual event. If that trend continues into this year, he should be in the 47s range in the individual 100 free. So far, there isn’t much suggesting that he’s going to underperform in all of his events.
Plus, even with many of her teammates being off, Maggie MacNeil has done very well so far. She qualified comfortably for the 100 fly final with a time of 56.78, and also swam a personal best time of 53.77 leading off the 4×100 free relay in prelims. Then, in finals, she went a 53.07 split, which was her fastest relay split.
If Canada continues to underperform, some questions might be raised—such as recent leadership changes in coaching and the timing of trials (which were held in April, considerably earlier than other countries). But for now, we will just have to wait and see if they rebound later on.
Other North American Stories:
- The United States’ first gold medal looks to be in the women’s 200 IM final tomorrow, where Alex Walsh and Kate Douglass will swim as the top two seeds. Walsh had the fastest time in semi-finals (2:08.29). Torri Huske and Nic Fink have chances in the 100 fly and 100 breast respectively, but both will have to contend with a more crowded field.
- Even without gold, Americans made the podium in every event on day one except for the men’s 400 free, with Katie Ledecky getting 400 free silver, Carson Foster getting 400 IM silver, and the women’s and men’s 4×100 free relay taking silver and bronze respectively.
- Trinidad and Tobago’s Dylan Carter, a pre-meet medal favorite in the 50 fly, missed the finals of the event after losing a swim-off to Austria’s Simon Bucher. Bucher swam a 23.10 while Carter went 23.26.
North America Medal table
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | |
| United States | 3 | 1 | 4 |
I am not sure what the point of the last para was? If you are referring to the ED of Swim Can, as the change in leadership, you should explain yourself. The ED has no influence on the results in the pool for any particular event. When you consider half of the big hitters are being coached in US and the rest of the team have their own coaches, how do you attribute your success to the “system” I am sure Swim Can is disappointed with the results, but all they really care about is their brand and seeing the continuance of funds and wallets swimming up and down the pool…not the safety and well being of athletes, from the… Read more »
I believe the last paragraph refers to the change in coaching at the HPC and at the National team level and in particular the departure of Ben Titley.
The swimmers under performing (times under their best) are indeed swimming in US programs. HP centers should be actively developing age group swimmers in to prepare for LA 2028.
Ben titley gets credit for coaching swimmers for a short term during Covid. He still coaches Kylie Masse….. she’s down hill.
He’s also known to have pushed a lot of east coast athletes away to the US, some big names (who do fly) but took credit for their gold in Tokyo…. Some other sprinters too.
Canadian clubs and colleges have been underperforming for years. The coaches are not world class. Focus on provincials and college only.
Titley oversaw the Toronto HPC since 2012.
5th in Men’s 4 x 100m coming in 5th was a good showing and 2nd best time ever I think …
Very balanced article, especially pertaining to McIntosh. Very real challenge managing expectations for young athletes. Some who do not meet expectations at a young age….Alison Higson, Anita Nall for example…never seem to find their footing afterwards.
I don’t think you can say that the Americans got on the podium in every event today, seeing as they had no one in the mens 400 FR final.
The men’s 4 x 100 did Canada’s one of the best maybe second fastest time ever. Good to keep building on that and encourage the sprinters.
Early days.
Oleksiak should be told (not the other way around current hostage situation she seems to have over things) that starting right now. This moment. She is either all the way in and is fully going to commit NOW (not ‘oh I only get up for the Olympics’ ) or retire and be fair to the other women in Canada for those relays. And give a carrot to those who realize there is opportunity now for 1 more place in the 100 and 200 for Paris (and relays).
And no more ‘nagging knee issue’….she clearly outed herself on social media that the knee looks just fine everywhere else but a swimming pool.
No more sunny clime camps for her… Read more »
The question your comment raises is whether there is depth in Canadian swimming. If the answer is no and I believe that may be the case then why not and if so what are the solutions.
Stupid comment. Oleksiak can function as a human with her injuries sure but that doesn’t mean that she is able to preform world class times. She went to mare nostrum swam the swim canada camp then went 56 in 100 free. She didn’t drop out if worlds until after that performance which says that she is trying her best to recover but your comment suggests that she shouldn’t have a life while trying to recover from an injury. She’s the GOAT for a reason someone like you can’t follow her on social media then assume you know anything about how hard she is or isn’t training.
You don’t need to travel to Europe all the way from Canada to know that your current level in 100 free is 56. Plenty of suited trials are available to her at HPC Ontario, not to mentioned official meets in Toronto. But wait, this travel was paid by Swim Canada, so why not to go, right?
Again putting blame on Penny for going on a training camp that she was invited to attend makes no sense. Her teammates, coach, trainers and friends from around the country we’re going. She was invited by Swim Canada who were in the loop about her condition. Why wouldn’t she go? Swim Canada paid for everyone to attend the camp and if you know anything about Swim Canada this is one of the more valid things they spend money on.
In addition to Maggie’s strong start, worth noting the great showing by the youngsters Ilya Kharun in the 50fly (bodes well for the longer races) and (especially) 17yo Lorne Wigginton with a big PB for 9th in prelims in the 4im.