SwimSwam’s World Championships Honors and Superlatives

Now that the 2015 World Swimming Championships have wrapped up and we’ve all had a week to digest the craziness from the 8 day competition, SwimSwam has recognized some athletes who had incredible meets with some ‘Honors and Superlatives’ from the championships in Kazan.

Female Swimmer of the Meet

Winner: Katie Ledecky, USA

This one was an absolute no brainer. Katie Ledecky had a sensational meet in Kazan, winning 5 gold medals to go along with 3 world records. She became the first swimmer to win the 200, 400, 800 and 1500 freestyle at a World Championships, and tied Tracy Caulkins (1978) and Libby Trickett (2007) for the second most gold medals won by a female at a single World Championships- trailing only her American teammate Missy Franklin who won 6 (2013). Ledecky won more individual events (4), than any of these other women did at their respective championship meet (3 each). Ledecky winning the 400, 800 and 1500 is nothing new, but what really set her apart here is her victory in the 200. This is notable since it was her first time competing in the event at the World Championships. What was also really impressive was her back-to-back world records in the 1500 prelims and finals, and then qualifying for the 200 final in the semi-final just minutes after her 1500 world record performance. To top it off her last swim of the championships was mind blowing, as she broke the 800m world record by 3.61 seconds. Individual event wise, this is the best performance we’ve seen at a World Championships since Michael Phelps in 2007.

Honorable Mention: Katinka Hosszu, HUN

Despite maybe not putting together the championships she may have been hoping for, Katinka Hosszu had a fantastic showing in Kazan. She swept the individual medley events for the second straight World Championships, and broke Ariana Kukors 200 IM world record- which looked unbeatable. To go along with the 200 IM performance, she won bronze in the 200 back, was 5th in the 200 free, and capped it off with a victory in the 400 IM on the last day. Had Hosszu not scratched the 100m back semi-final she would have had a very good chance of winning another medal in that event, as her prelim time of 58.78 would’ve won bronze in the final. Of course had she swam in that semi-final, her 200 IM final would have been just 30 minutes later and probably would have cost her that world record, and I’m sure she wouldn’t give that up for anything.

Honorable Mention: Sarah Sjostrom, SWE

Sarah Sjostrom got the meet started on the first day, setting a new world record in the women’s 100 fly in the first event of the first finals session. She joined Dana Vollmer in the sub-56 club breaking Vollmer’s world record of 55.98, going 55.74. She lowered the record in the final again going 55.64, winning by an astonishing 1.41 seconds. Sjostrom added 4 more medals the rest of the meet, with a gold in the 50 fly, silver in the 100 freestyle and 400 medley relay, and bronze in the 50 freestyle. She also led Sweden to a 4th place finish in the 800 free relay, posting a lead-off time of 1:54.31. Sjostrom dropped the 200 free from her lineup prior to the meet, but that lead-off time would have been good enough for gold in the individual race had she swum it.

Honorable Mention: Emily Seebohm, AUS

Australia’s Emily Seebohm finally had the breakout meet she had been waiting for, winning four medals including three gold in Kazan. Seebohm started things off swimming in the final of the 400 free relay after earning her place there in the prelims, winning gold and establishing a new championship record of 3:31.48 in the process. Seebohm would then go on to win both the 100 and 200m backstrokes, dethroning defending Olympic and World Champion Missy Franklin of the United States. Seebohm was just off her personal best time in the 100, but set a new best time in the 200 along with a new Oceanic record in 2:05.81. On the last day Seebohm helped Australia to a bronze medal in the 400 medley relay, capping off a fantastic meet for her. She also finished 4th in the 50 back.

Honorable Mention: Bronte Campbell, AUS

After such a phenomenal performance in Kazan, I couldn’t possibly leave Bronte Campbell out of the mix for this award. Campbell had an incredible championship, winning three gold medals to go along with a bronze. After being overshadowed by her superstar sister Cate Campbell throughout her entire career, Bronte finally broke through and let everyone know she is the Campbell sister everyone has to watch out for heading into the next Olympics. She started the meet off with a blistering 51.77 split on Australia’s 400 free relay, winning gold. She then upset Cate, along with Sarah Sjostrom, Ranomi Kromowidjojo and Femke Heemskerk on the way to gold in the 100 freestyle, winning in 52.52. She did the same thing in the 50 freestyle, winning gold in 24.12, leaving her sister out of the medals in 4th. She capped off her meet swimming in the finals of the medley relay, winning bronze with her Australian teammates.

Male Swimmer of the Meet

Winner: Mitch Larkin, AUS

The men’s award for swimmer of the meet was much tougher to decide, with many worthy of winning but no one really standing out. After his incredible showing in Kazan, I had to go with Australian Mitch Larkin. After a successful summer of 2014 and consistently swimming well on the Fina World Cup, Larkin was certainly someone to watch coming into the championship but far from a favorite to win or even medal in the backstroke events. Larkin came out firing early on in the meet, posting the top time in the heats, semi-finals and ultimately the final of the 100 backstroke on the way to his first World Championship title. Larkin broke Hayden Stoeckel’s Oceanic record of 52.97 in the prelims going 52.50, and lowered it again in the semi’s going 52.38. Larkin also defeated defending Olympic and World Champion Matt Grevers of the United States who wound up 3rd. Larkin didn’t stop there, as he put on a clinic in the 200 backstroke up against some heavy hitters. Larkin once again posted the top time in the heats, semi’s and the final, winning his 2nd title of the championships. He broke his own Oceanic record of 1:55.26 in the semi’s going 1:54.29, and then did so again in the final in 1:53.58, winning by almost a full second. Larkin capped off his spectacular meet swimming two very fast lead-off legs in the medley relay heats and final, leading Australia to a silver medal performance. Larkin’s lead-off time of 52.37 from the preliminaries broke his Oceanic record previously established in the 100m back semi’s. Larkin fell just short of a 4th medal at the championships, finishing 4th in the 50m back in 24.70, just one one-hundredth behind teammate Ben Treffers who won the bronze. Larkin proved he was simply a class above the rest in the 100 and 200 backstroke and will be a force to be reckoned with leading into Rio next year.

Honorable Mention: Sun Yang, CHN

Despite the suspicious events that took place on the final day of the championships that resulted in Sun Yang not showing up for the final of the 1500m freestyle, Sun still had an incredible meet with 2 gold medals to go along with a silver. Sun won the 400m freestyle in 3:42.58, his 2nd consecutive title in the event, and the 800m freestyle in 7:39.96, his 3rd consecutive title in the event. Sun also won silver in the 200 freestyle, as he was looking to become the second man to ever medal in the 200, 400, 800 and 1500 freestyles at a single Championship after Grant Hackett did so in 2005. Of course he failed to do so when he didn’t show for the 1500 final, as he lost his chance of winning the event for three consecutive championships.

Honorable Mention: Adam Peaty, GBR

After his astonishing 100m breaststroke world record performance of 57.92 set earlier in the year, Great Britain’s Adam Peaty came to Kazan set to face off against the world’s best and prove that he could get the job done on the World Championship stage. Peaty started off with the 100m breaststroke, and showed he was on top form. He broke the championship record in both the heats and semi’s, lowering it from 58.58 to 58.18. Matching up head-t0-head with 2012 Olympic gold medalist Cameron van der Burgh for the first time in the final, Peaty triumphed, winning in 58.52 while van der Burgh was left for silver in 58.59. Although neither man had their fastest swim in the final, it was a great race and Peaty showed he could perform under pressure. Peaty then competed in the 50 breaststroke, and would do battle with van der Burgh again. After van der Burgh tied his world record in the heats, Peaty broke it in the semi-finals going 26.42, before winning the gold in 26.51 the next night. Peaty not only proved he was the best breaststroker in the world, he helped push van der Burgh to his best form since London. Peaty then helped Great Britain to a gold medal and world record in the mixed 4×100 medley relay, with Peaty splitting 57.98. He also competed in the men’s 4×100 medley relay where the Brits finished 4th (57.74 split) and the 200m breaststroke (26th in the prelims). What set Larkin apart from Peaty in my mind was Larkin qualified for the final in all three of his individual events, where Peaty failed to do so in the 200 breast.

Honorable Mention: Florent Manaudou, FRA

Florent Manaudou might not have swum all the events he was capable of at these championships, but when he did swim he proved he was the best sprinter in the world. Manaudou began with the 50 fly, posting the top time in the heats, semi’s and the final, winning gold in 22.97. He also equaled the French national record of 22.84 set by Frederick Bousquet in the semi-finals. Manaudou also swam on the French 4x100m free relay which took place on the first night. He was instrumental in helping the French win their 2nd consecutive world title. Manaudou didn’t swim again until the 50 freestyle, but he did not disappoint. After posting the top in the heats and 2nd fastest in the semi’s, Manaudou blasted the final swimming a personal best of 21.19. In just three events Manaudou proved himself unbeatable in Kazan going 3 for 3 in World Championship titles.

Honorable Mention: Laszlo Cseh, HUN

After swimming in the shadow of rivals Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte throughout his entire career, Hungary’s Laszlo Cseh had arguably the greatest meet of his life, and did so without swimming the 200 or 400 IM, which have historically been his best events throughout his career. Cseh became the first swimmer to ever medal in all three butterfly distances at the World Championships, with gold in the 200, silver in the 100 and bronze in the 50. Cseh began with the 50 fly, an event he is not known for at all, and he won bronze in 23.15 tying Poland’s Konrad Czerniak. Cseh then set the pool on fire in the 200 fly, posting the top time in all three rounds and going 1:53 every time. From 1:53.71 to 1:53.53 to 1:53.48, Cseh won the 200 fly for his first World Championship title in 10 years. He defeated defending champion Chad Le Clos narrowly in the final by 0.20 seconds. Cseh finished off his medal haul in the 100 fly, breaking 51 seconds for the first time and breaking the national record in the prelims going 50.91. He lowered that record in the final, ultimately winning silver at the hands of Le Clos in 50.87.

Female Swim of the Meet

Winner: Katinka Hosszu, HUN      200m IM: 2:06.12 WR

Despite Katie Ledecky’s surreal performances in the freestyle events, Katinka Hosszu’s 200 IM performance was one for the books. If the reaction by Hosszu’s coach and husband Shane Tusup didn’t tell the story, then the tears in Hosszu’s eyes certainly did. The world record, set by Amercian Ariana Kukors in 2009, appeared almost unbeatable at 2:06.15. Coming into the 2009 worlds the world record stood at 2:08.45, and Kukors took over 2 seconds off it. If anyone was going to break the record it was going to be Hosszu, but even that seemed unlikely. Hosszu’s best since 2009 was the 2:07.92 she swam at the 2013 worlds where she won gold, but she had her three best 200 IM’s ever in Kazan ultimately leading to gold and a new world record in 2:06.12.

Honorable Mention: Katie Ledecky, USA   800m Free: 8:07.39 WR

In her 5th event of the meet, Katie Ledecky had her best performance to cap off a spectacular championships. Ledecky lowered her own world record in the 800 freestyle all the way down to 8:07.39, well under the previous record of 8:11.00. Ledecky won by over 10 seconds, and broke the 800 world record for the third time in her career. The 3.61 seconds she lowered the record by was the largest margin taken off the women’s 800 free record since Tracey Wickham of Australia lowered her own world record by 5.91 seconds in 1978.

Honorable Mention: Sarah Sjostrom, SWE   100m Fly: 55.64 WR

Sarah Sjostrom’s performance in the 100 fly was absolutely incredible because she became only the second woman to break 56 seconds. After breaking Dana Vollmer’s world record in the semi-final going 55.74, Sjostrom broke it again in the final going 55.64. No other swimmer managed to break 57 seconds in the field, and Sjostrom won by a margin of 1.41 seconds.

Honorable Mention: Bronte Campbell, AUS      100m Freestyle: 52.52

Bronte Campbell‘s victory in the 100m freestyle earns a mention just because she finally emerged from her sisters shadow and won an individual world title for the first time. She has always been looked at as a sidekick to Cate’s superiority, but she proved she is now the one to beat after this win. She defeated Cate, along with defending Olympic champion Ranomi Kromowidjojo, Swedish superstar Sarah Sjostrom, World #1 coming in Femke Heemskerk, and American stars Missy Franklin and Simone Manuel.

Male Swim of the Meet

Winner: Adam Peaty, GBR         50m Breastroke: 26.51

While Adam Peaty’s performance in the 100 breaststroke was impressive, as was his world record in the 50 breast semi’s, I feel his best swim of the meet came in the 50m breast final. With the 100 being Peaty’s better event and rival Cameron van der Burgh having a much more powerful start than him, Peaty looked like he might be in trouble come the 50m final. Peaty barely came back to out touch van der Burgh in the 100 final, where van der Burgh showed much more front end speed than his British counterpart. Peaty appeared unfazed, breaking the world record in the semi’s in 26.42- setting himself up for the final. In the final Peaty didn’t panic when van der Burgh came up ahead after the pullout. Peaty came back to win in 26.51, taking out the defending world champion. At just 20 years old, Peaty proved he has clutch ability to go along with his unbelievable talent, and that was exuded best in the 50m final.

Honorable Mention: Florent Manaudou, FRA   50m Freestyle: 21.19

Even though it wasn’t a world record, Florent Manaudou’s performance in the 50 freestyle was truly amazing. His time of 21.19 tied him for the 3rd fastest man in history, and is the fastest textile performance ever produced. Cesar Cielo and Frederick Bousquet have both been faster, but they were aided by the high tech suits. Prior to Manauodu’s performance, the fastest time posted since the beginning of 2010 was 21.32. Manaudou won over Nathan Adrian by 0.33.

Honorable Mention: Mitch Larkin, AUS     200m Backstroke: 1:53.58 

Mitch Larkin had a few dominate performances in Kazan, but his performance in the 200m backstroke final was his best. Larkin smashed his own Oceanic record in the semi-final, and then smashed it again in the final, going 1:53.58, bettering his former record of 1:55.26 by almost two seconds. This puts Larkin over 2 seconds ahead of the next fastest Australian ever, Ashley Delaney who has a best time of 1:55.82. Larkin’s performance brought him into some pretty elusive company, since he became the 5th fastest performer in history and the 5th man to break 1:54. He joined Aaron Peirsol, Ryan Lochte and Tyler Clary  (who are all former Olympic champions in the event) along with former world record holder Ryouske Irie of Japan. Larkin won by almost a full second over Radoslaw Kawecki of Poland.

Honorable Mention: James Guy,GBR           200m Freestyle: 1:45.16

Despite the time not being anything too special when thinking about some 200 free performances we’ve seen in the past, James Guy’s win in the 200 freestyle earns an honorable mention because it was his first world title and the fact he did it against such tough competition. After starting off the meet with a impressive silver medal performance in the 400 free, Guy took down mega-stars Sun Yang, Ryan Lochte and Chad Le Clos, along with revered freestyle specialists Paul Biedermann, Cameron McEvoy and Sebastiaan Verschuren. Guy swam a tactually perfect race, as he led through 100m and then out split 150m leader Sun Yang on the final leg, showing that he isn’t intimated by anyone.

Country of the Meet

Winner: Great Britain

Great Britain had an outstanding performance in Kazan. They were challenging the Americans on the medal table early on, and ultimately finished 4th in medals and tied for 3rd with 5 golds. They also tied for 2nd with China with 31 finals appearances. A few breakout performers spearheaded the British Invasion. James Guy won the 200 freestyle, claimed silver in the 400 and anchored the 800 free relay to gold. The American team hadn’t lost this race since 2003 and Great Britain broke their eight year winning streak.   Adam Peaty was their top performer, winning gold in the 50 breast, 100 breast and mixed medley relay. Ross Murdoch added a bronze medal in the 100 breast for the men’s side. The women had strong performances from Jazmin Carlin (bronze, 800 freestyle) and Siobhan-Marie O’Connor (silver, 200 IM). The new found strength of the team was highlighted by the relay victories in the men’s 4×200 free and mixed 4×100 medley.

Honorable Mention: Australia

Australia had a phenomenal championship, finishing 2nd overall in the medal standings to the United States, with 7 golds and 16 total medals. They also broke an astonishing 10 national records, tying for 4th behind only Egypt, Poland and Turkey. The dominance on the female side was established early when they obliterated the field in the 400 free relay on their way to a gold medal. Standout individual performers were Bronte Campbell (gold 50,100 free), Emily Seebohm (gold 100, 200 back) and Mitch Larkin (gold 100, 200 back). Also having strong performances was Cameron McEvoy (silver, 100 free), Madison Wilson (silver, 100 back) and Jessica Ashwood (bronze, 400 free). Although the Australian surprisingly failed to field a team in either mixed relay and a few other relay disappointments, they still showed that depth was one of their strengths by having some notably strong relay performances.  Along with the women’s gold in the 400 free relay, they also had 1 silver (men’s 4×100 medley) and 2 bronzes (men’s 4×200 free, women’s 4×100 medley) in the relays. Also an interesting thing to point out is that the Americans held world titles in both men and women’s 100 and 200 backstroke in 2013, but Australia now holds all 4 titles.

Disappointment of the Meet

Winner: Vladimir Morozov, RUS

Despite showing pretty strong form in Kazan, Russia’s Vlad Morozov would have to be considered the disappointment of the meet. Coming into these home championships, Morozov would definitely be considered the top star in Russian swimming, and expectations were for him to have a significant medal haul. Fair expectations or not, Morozov fell short. He and his teammates had a disappointing performance on the opening night, settling for silver in the 400 free relay behind France. However, Morozov produced a 46.9 split in that relay, which was a positive sign heading into the rest of the meet. Coming in as the favorite in the 100 free, Morozov jumped early in the semi-finals, which disqualified him and left him heart broken. Everyone expected  Morozov to come back and light the pool on fire in the 50 free to redeem himself. Yet in this race he didn’t show great form and only made it into the final as a result of a swim-off. Morozov had his best swim of the meet in the final, but still missed a medal by finishing in 4th. Morozov also had solid performances in the 50 backstroke (5th), mixed medley relay (5th), mixed freestyle relay (4th) and men’s medley relay (5th), but ultimately fell far short of the lofty expectations put on him by the Russian public. Look for him to bounce back heading into the Rio Olympic Games.

Honorable Mention: Ruta Meilutyte, LTU

Many people had Ruta Meilutyte of Lithuania pegged to win both the 50 and 100m breaststroke events easily, but that wasn’t the case in Kazan. Meilutyte first swam the 100 as the defending champion, but faded in the final 25m to finish 2nd to Russian rival Yuliya Efimova. Meilutyte’s time of 1:06.36 was well off her world record time of 1:04.35 set at the last World Championships in Barcelona in 2013. Meilutyte then came into the 50 breaststroke looking for redemption against Efimova, who had just beat her in the 100.  Efimova beat her in this event two years ago after Meilutyte broke the world record earlier in the meet. Meilutyte looked like the top contender heading into the final, as she was the only woman to break 30 seconds in the heats (29.74) and the semi’s (29.98). Meilutyte just couldn’t put it together in the final, missing the medals in 4th in 30.14, as Jennie Johansson of Sweden won in 30.05, in what was an incredibly close finish. Meilutye was once again well off her personal best and world record set in 2013 of 29.48.

Honorable Mention: United States Veteran Men

The results of the men’s 4×100 freestyle relay just about sum up this one. The veteran American males as a whole didn’t have a great showing in Kazan. That relay team- consisting of Jimmy Feigen, Anthony Ervin, Matt Grevers and Conor Dwyer didn’t swim anywhere near their capabilities, causing the United States to miss the final for the first time in history. The Americans also lost the 800 free relay for the first time since 2003, with Ryan Lochte and Dwyer struggling without former mainstays Michael Phelps or Ricky Berens on the team. Just as a whole, American veterans Grevers, Ervin, Feigen, Dwyer, David Plummer and Tyler Clary just did not have very good performances overall in Kazan. Even Nathan Adrian showed weakness in the 100 free, but came back very strong in the relays and the 50 later. Lochte was the only veteran who swam consistently well, with a gold in the 200 IM and 4th in the 200 free to go along with relay medals. Instead it was the youngsters of the team, such as Connor Jaeger, Ryan Murphy, Tom Shields, Kevin Cordes and Chase Kalisz who really stepped up and swam well. Look for the U.S. team in Rio next year to have a much different makeup than this years squad, and it will be interesting to see how many of these veterans survive another year with all of this young talent nipping at their heels.

World Championship (LC) Rookie of the Meet

Winner: Adam Peaty, GBR

As stated earlier, Adam Peaty had a dominant performance at the World Championships winning 3 gold medals. He also set a new world record in the 50 breastroke, and he did all this as a World Championship rookie. Peaty competed at the Commonwealth Games, European Championships and Short Course World Championships in 2014 but swam in his first long course worlds in Kazan, and was a sensation.

Honorable Mention: Tom Shields, USA

Tom Shields had a great performance at his debut World Championships. After a disappointing Pan Pacific Championships last summer, Shields was in Kazan to prove his performance at USA Nationals in 2014 was no fluke, and he did just that. Shields competed in his weaker event, the 200 fly early in the meet, qualifying for the final but ultimately finishing in 8th. Shields showed he was in spectacular form in the 100 later on, posting a personal best in the prelims (51.09). He did it again in the semi’s (51.03), where he tied for 1st heading into the final. Shields just missed winning a medal, finishing 4th in 51.06. Shields then swam on his first World Championship relay when he swam the fly leg in 50.59 as the Americans won the medley relay on the final night, Shields’ first championship medal. One of the most impressive things about Shields performances was the improvement on his back 50, as he brought his 100 fly back under 27 seconds in three of his four races.