SwimSwam Pulse: American Sweeps In 200 IM, 100 Free Were Most Unexpected In Budapest

12/20/2024 03:26 PM

By James Sutherland on SwimSwam

SwimSwam Pulse is a recurring feature tracking and analyzing the results of our periodic A3 Performance Polls. You can cast your vote in our newest poll on the SwimSwam homepage, about halfway down the page on the right side.

Our most recent poll asked SwimSwam readers which country’s sweep of an event through the first few days of SC Worlds was the biggest surprise:

Question: Which national sweep of an event at SC Worlds was the most unexpected?

RESULTS

• 200 IM – USA (Casas/Douglass) – 39.2%
• 100 free – USA (Alexy/Walsh) – 28.5%
• 200 fly – Canada (Kharun/McIntosh) – 15.0%
• 100 breast – China (Qin/Tang) – 9.7%
• 4×100 FR – USA – 7.6%

After the first three days of racing at the Short Course World Championships last week, we had seen five events where the same country won gold in both the men’s and women’s event.

Throughout the rest of the meet, it only happened in one more race, the 4×200 free relay, which came as no surprise as the Americans rolled to a pair of world records.

Prior to that relay, we asked SwimSwam readers which of the other five events where a country swept an event was the biggest surprise, and it was two other races where the U.S. reigned supreme that came out on top.

Leading the way was the 200 IM, where Kate Douglass and Shaine Casas claimed gold for the Americans.

Douglass winning was no surprise, as the defending champion broke the decade-old world record (and even if she slipped up, fellow American Alex Walsh was the #2 favorite), but Casas winning clearly was a relative surprise to many.

Casas has been inconsistent in major finals in the past, but he delivered in a big way here, breaking Ryan Lochte‘s American Record (also the world record up until the World Cup) in a time of 1:49.51, ranking him #2 all-time behind Leon Marchand (1:48.88).

Marchand would’ve been the big favorite to win the event prior to his withdrawal from SC Worlds, which left the event relatively wide open in Budapest. We picked Noe Ponti, who ended up scratching out of the event, to win in our preview, while our other medal picks, Carson Foster and Alberto Razzetti, placed 4th and 2nd, respectively (Casas was picked 4th).

The other U.S. sweep that picked up a big chunk of votes was the 100 free, where Gretchen Walsh and Douglass went 1-2 in the women’s race and Jack Alexy came out on top for the men.

The American women winning was expected, but the men’s race was much more wide open. Jordan Crooks put up a time of 44.95 in the prelims, and Maxime Grousset was our pick to win, but it was Alexy who topped the final in 45.38, with Brazilian Gui Caribe (45.47) 2nd and Crooks (45.48) 3rd.

Alexy had proven he was on good form at the beginning of the meet, leading off the men’s 4×100 free relay with an American Record of 45.05.

The other event to garner more than 10% of votes was the 200 fly, in which Canadians Summer McIntosh and Ilya Kharun claimed gold. McIntosh broke the world record, and Kharun tied the second-fastest swim ever.

Although both were favored by many to win, both figured to be close races, with Regan Smith a formidable competitor for McIntosh in the women’s race and Chad Le Clos or Alberto Razzetti verifiable challengers to Kharun.

The other sweeps came from China in the 100 breast with Qin Haiyang and Tang Qianting, and the Americans in the 4×100 free relay.

Below, vote in our new A3 Performance Poll, which asks: What was the top male swim of Short Course Worlds:

ABOUT A3 PERFORMANCE

The A3 Performance Poll is courtesy of A3 Performance, a SwimSwam partner.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: SwimSwam Pulse: American Sweeps In 200 IM, 100 Free Were Most Unexpected In Budapest