Australia & Britain Rule Relay Waves As SOS Awards Wrap Up With Pool Of Honours & An Unsung Heroes Prize
Australia’s women and Britain’s men produced the SOS relay storms of the year in 2023, while swimmers from both those nations feature in the concluding set of achievers highlighted for their outstanding contributions in the latest season of excellence and perseverance.
SOS Awards for 2023:
SOS 2023 Awards: The Carlisle Cup – Lifetime Achievement To Berendonk & Franke
Marchand, O’Callaghan & McKeown: SOS Swimmers Of The Year For 2023
Wellbrock & Beck Rule Open Water Waves With Pair Of World-Titles Doubles For Germany
Today: Relays, Races, Duels, Golden Returns, Golden Breakers of the Year, plus the Endurance Empress and Emperor of the Year, the Champions of Grit and Guts, The Continental Sweep Cup, Pride Of Progress To Paris Award and The Unsung Heroes Trophy for 2023.
SOS Relay Storms Of The Year:
Women: Australia 4x100m freestyle – 3:27.96 WR – Mollie O’Callaghan (52.08); Shayna Jack* (51.69); Meg Harris (52.29); Emma McKeon (51.90) – heats: Brianna Throssell; Madison Wilson
Men: Great Britain 4x200m freestyle – 6:59.08 – Duncan Scott (1:45.42); Matt Richards (1:44.65) James Guy (1:45.17); Tom Dean (1:43.84) – heats: Joe Litchfield.
Women: If the first women’s 4x 100m freestyle relay world record to feature two sub-54sec splits unfolded in 3:36.61 when an American quartet claimed Sydney 2000 Olympic gold, the first global-standard-setting swim to include two sub-52sec swims unfolded in the last season of shiny suits in 2009 when a Dutch foursome clocked 3:31.72 for the World title in Rome, a time of shiny suits, 43 global high bars in eight days, overnight best angles of buoyancy and all that.
Fast-forward 14 years, and the fifth wave of Australian world-records setters stretching back to 2014 took the 2023 World crown in the first 4x100m relay to boast two sub-52sec swims – and that just 0.09sec shy of it being three sub-51s, that deficit not from one of the three takeovers but the 52.08 standing start from Mollie O’Callaghan, who got the ball rolling for the Dolphins and her own week of towering achievement.
| 3:31.72 | NED | Inge Dekker (53.61) Ranomi Kromowidjojo (52.30) Femke Heemskerk (53.03) Marleen Veldhuis (52.78) | July 26, 2009 | Rome ITA |
| 3:30.98 | AUS | Bronte Campbell (53.15) Melanie Schlanger (52.76) Emma McKeon (52.91) Cate Campbell (52.16) | July 24, 2014 | Glasgow SCO/GBR |
| 3:30.65 | AUS | Emma McKeon (53.41) Brittany Elmslie (53.12) Bronte Campbell (52.15) Cate Campbell (51.97) | August 6, 2016 | Rio de Janeiro BRA |
| 3:30.05 | AUS | Shayna Jack (54.03) Bronte Campbell (52.03) Emma McKeon (52.99) Cate Campbell (51.00) | April 5, 2018 | Gold Coast AUS |
| 3:29.69 | AUS | Bronte Campbell (53.01) Meg Harris (53.09) Emma McKeon (51.35) Cate Campbell (52.24) | July 25, 2021 | Tokyo JPN |
| 3:27.96 | AUS | Mollie O’Callaghan (52.08) Shayna Jack (51.69) Meg Harris (52.29) Emma McKeon (51.90) | July 23, 2023 | Fukuoka JPN |
Men: Great Britain, which, as noted further down, is in the midst of a fabulous run in the 200m freestyle that includes gold-silver international finishes in the solo event at the 202one Olympic Games, the 2022 European Championships and the 2023 World Championships.
That last win preceded the 4x200m freestyle, in which the latest solo 1-2 punchers for Britain, Matt Richards and Tom Dean, were joined run the final, after Joe Litchfield stepped up run heats, by fellow Olympic champions James Guy and Duncan Scott in victory once more.
The same British quartet now has the swiftest two efforts ever seen in textile suits, adrift the shiny suited American top two times from 2009 and 2008 respectively:
- 6:58.55 USA – Rome 2009
- 6:58.56 USA – Beijing 2008 Beijing CHN 13/08/2008
- 6:58.58 GBR – Tokyo 2020ne
- 6:59.08 GBR Fukuoka 2023
- Next best textile:
- 6:59.70 USA – London 2012
The only other sub-7-minute effort belongs to Russia, at 6:59.15, set in shiny suits at Rome 2009. If pressure on the 7-minute mark is mounting, Australia, Korea, China, France and Italy the leading contenders to join the first two nations to stop the clock with the joy of 6 up front.
In Fukuoka, the Brits (who in 2021, had it not been for shiny suits, would have become the first national 4x200m quartet to hold the World record since 1908) took gold by a second but left the impression that we only got a fleeting glimpse of what those four cylinders can do on the day they’ve been working for.
SOS Races (and Photo Speaks A 1,000 … ) of the Year:
That Photo – By Patrick B. Kraemer
Women: 200m Freestyle – O’Callaghan, Titmus, McIntosh: O’Callaghan Pops Pellegrini 2009 World 200 Free Record With 1:52.85 Blast Past Aussie Olympic Champ Teammate Titmus For Dolphin 1-2
Men: 200m freestyle – Richards, Dean, Hwang: Matt Richards Leads Another GBR 1-2 Punch With Tom Dean 0.02 Shy As David Popovici Misses 1:44s 200 Free Podium
SOS Duels of the Year:
Women: Kaylee McKeown Vs Regan Smith:
100 Back: Kaylee McKeown Roars To 100 Back Gold On Fuel Of 200IM DQ
50m Back: McKeown 1st To Win 50-100 Back Worlds Double On Way To Shot At Triple
200 Back: Kaylee McKeown Takes Trailblazing Treble On Backstroke With 2:03.8 Victory
4×100 Medley: USA Brings Challenging Fukuoka Campaign To Golden Crescendo In Medley Relays
Men: Sam Short Vs Ahmed Hafnaoui
400m freestyle: Short Margin Of Victory 0.02sec Over Hafnaoui With 3:40.68 To Get Dolphins Rolling
800m freestyle: Hafnaoui Tops Historic 800 With 7:37.00 African Textile Mark Ahead Of Oceania, American & European Records By Short, Finke & Wiffen
1500m freestyle: Hafnaoui Fends Off Finke By 0.05sec For 1500 Victory & Distance Double A Slither Shy Of WR
Endurance Empress and Emperor of the Year:
Empress: Katie Ledecky:
400m free: Ariarne Titmus Turns Three-Way Fight Into A Left-Right Knockout With 3:55.38 World Record
1500m free: Katie Ledecky Makes It A High-Five Splash of 1500 World Titles In A Decade Of Dominance
4x200m: Dolphins Leap To 7:39.29 World Record As Titmus Wraps Up 4×200 With 1:52.82 Swiftest Split Ever
Emperor: Kyle Chalmers
100m free: Chalmers 47.15 Stubs Out Alexy’s Outside Smoker With Blast Back From 7th At Turn
4x100m free: Kyle Chalmers 46.56 Delivers Gold No4 For Australia
4x100m Mixed Medley: Australia 4×100 Mixed Free Quartet Go WR 3:18.83 Ahead Of USA & Great Britain ER
Champions of Grit and Guts
In Action:
Women – Summer McIntosh (CAN)
400m free: Ariarne Titmus Turns Three-Way Fight Into A Left-Right Knockout With 3:55.38 World Record
200m Butterfly: Summer McIntosh Bounces Back With 2:04.06 Americas & World Junior Record To Retain 200 ‘Fly Title
400m Medley: Summer McIntosh Ends Fukuoka Test On A High With 4:27.11 CR Victory – Second Fastest Ever – & Two Titles Retained
Men – Ryan Murphy USA
100m back: Murphy Takes Ceccon By 0.05 To Complete Set Of 100/200 Golds At Olympics & Worlds
200 back: Kos Cites The Sun Devil In The Details Of 200 Back Win Over Murphy – ‘Bob Bowman Effect’
4x 100m Medley: USA Brings Challenging Fukuoka Campaign To Golden Crescendo In Medley Relays
In Rest and Recovery:
Women – Cate Campbell AUS:
Cate Campbell Fires Broadside At USA With “Sore Losers” Jibe After Broadcaster’s Bellyflop On Medals … after:
Cate Campbell’s Opera Of Inclusion & Fair Play For The Swim Sorority … and
Men – Adam Peaty (GBR):
Adam Peaty, Crisis To Quest – Part 1 – Winter 2022 To Spring 2023: My Self-Destructive Spiral
Adam Peaty, From Crisis To Quest: Into The Light Of Self-Discovery, No Need To Prove His Worth
Golden Returns
Women – Ruta Meilutyte:
Ruta Meilutyte* Makes 1:04.6 Return To Top Of World After 10 Years
Ruta Meilutyte Equals WR 29.30 In 50m Breaststroke Semi Final … 10 Years On – Video
Men – Cameron McEvoy:
McEvoy Magical 21.06 Wins 50 Free World Crown In Majestic 21.06 By Ahead Of Alexy & Proud
Pride Of Progress-To-Paris Award
Dan Wiffen – IRL:
Short-Course:
Dan Wiffen – World Record Holder: 7:20.46 Wipes 3sec Off Hackett’s 2008 Shiny 800 Epic
Long-Course:
Hafnaoui Fends Off Finke By 0.05sec For 1500 Victory & Distance Double A Slither Shy Of WR
Daniel Wiffen Completes Triple Wave Of Irish Records With 7:44.45 800 Free
An amazing year for the Irish pioneer, who at “The Wiffen Twins” gives some cracking insight into the European campaign that ended in a World record over 800m freestyle:
And last but most certainly not least:
The Unsung Heroes Trophy – Weston Report Campaigners
In the realms of the many invisible stakeholders in swimming the world over, there are an untold numbers of stories of courage and taking a stand on matters of injustice, integrity, transparency and governance in need of root-to-branch reform.
The SOS 2023 prize for Unsung Heroes goes to those whose complaints and persistent campaigning led to the Weston Report in England. The reforms called for are far from complete, in some key regards because of a lack of understanding/ acknowledgement that no reform process can be complete without reconciliation for and with those wronged by the systemic failures of what needed confining to the book of lessons marked “do not repeat”.
In the wake of the Weston Report, Swim England’s limp announcement that they were not reviewing cases – which remain the subject of ongoing complaints and media investigations, conspicuously failed to thank or even acknowledge the actions of those who bravely came forward to speak what Weston highlighted as the truth to power.
The unsung heroes, too many to name in this plaudit but their cases and complaints cited in the links below, should be acknowledged by Swim England as the people, parties and even victims who forced the reform agenda.
It would not be unreasonable to conclude that Swim England’s public statements in its reform of swimming culture make much of the governance role in shaping reform when it comes to “others” but the governing body says far too little (some say nothing at all) when it comes to reform of themselves, of their own culture, of their own ways and means.
If Swim England want its stakeholders to have faith in the Heart of Aquatics programme that Sport England required the aquatics organisation to roll out as a condition of funding, then it must be specific in its apology, both in terms of where it erred and who it hurt. In the absence of such, reconciliation will not be achieved and the trust already lost will be harder to achieve than a set of 10×100 freestyle swims going off 1min 15 for the 10 and under squad.
Our awards include several entries that pay plaudits to those who speak up when bad things happen, voice their complaints when transparency is not what it should be and sports governance lacks the professional and independent judicial processes that are essential for ensuring the Fair Play that applies in the pool applies in equal measure to those who set the Fair Play rules and culture in the first place but sometimes have a tough time understanding why it is critical for them to abide by the highest standards of integrity in sport.
Related links:
Coaches Ask Swim England To Withdraw Survey After Damning Report Concludes It Violates Code
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A SwimNews, SwimVortex and SOS tradition – if we miss an asterisk of explanation on this theme and similar, please let us know: