Editorial content for the 2023 World Aquatics Championships is sponsored by FINIS, a longtime partner of Swimming World and leading innovator of suits, goggles and equipment. FINIS Athletes Shayna Jack and Meg Harris Delivering In Big Way For Australia At World Champs A longtime partner of Swimming World, FINIS has routinely produced cutting-edge products which benefit the sport’s athletes – from snorkels to fins to paddles, and now the Smart Goggle and the HydroX suit. FINIS is serving as the sponsor of Swimming World’s coverage of the World Championships in Fukuoka, with the company featuring several of its sponsored athletes in competition. Periodically during Worlds, we’ll publish a piece on FINIS athletes. ************************* On the opening day of the World Championships in Fukuoka, Australia sent a message to the competition: The Dolphins were ready to race. Of the five finals contested on Day One, Australia claimed four titles. The most impressive, perhaps, was the world-record effort from the 400-meter freestyle relay of Mollie O’Callaghan, Shayna Jack, Meg Harris and Emma McKeon. The Aussies delivered a time of 3:27.96 in that relay, slicing considerable time from the previous global standard of 3:29.69. O’Callaghan and McKeon were the bookends of the relay, with Jack and Harris supplying pop in the middle. Jack and Harris are ambassadors for FINIS, wearing the company’s new HydroX suit. As Australia stormed to a world record, Jack unleashed a split of 51.69, the fastest in the field. In the morning, she led off the prelims squad in a personal best of 52.28. The 24-year-old ranks among the top sprinters in the world and will be a medal contender later in the week in the 50 freestyle, along with handling additional relay duty for her country. By the end of the week, Jack could have several more medals in her collection. “I’m just over the moon for all of us,” Jack said. “I think for us to break the world record and have so many world records already broken before us, it was just an amazing feeling to get up there in the Green and Gold and experience it with those girls. I was personally happy to come away with that time of 51.6 in the end because this morning surprised me, and I was coming off a high from this morning and a quick turnaround. To get my hand on the wall with 51.6 and give these girls the best shot to come home strong. That’s what I did. We all put together a great swim.” Photo Courtesy: FINIS After Jack expanded Australia’s lead, Harris handled the third leg in 52.29, faster than her prelims swim and proof she earned the opportunity to race at night for a nation with a rich tradition in the women’s 400 freestyle relay. The Aussie coaches could give Harris additional relay chances through the remainder of the World Champs. If nothing else, she has her golden moment.
