Swimming World Presents “18th FINA World Aquatics Championships Preview: Women’s Swimming”

Cate Campbell and Bronte Campbell Swimming World
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18th FINA World Aquatics Championships Preview: Women’s Swimming
July 21-28

 

FREESTYLE
Cate Campbell will arrive in Gwangju fresh off, perhaps, the finest performance of her illustrious career at last summer’s Pan Pacs, where she swept the 50 and 100 meter freestyle gold medals (23.81, 52.03) and also finished atop the podium in three relays. Campbell has only won a single individual World title in the past, a 100 free gold in 2013, and she will look to reclaim those titles in her first global meet since the 2016 Olympics.

Her biggest competition in both events will come from Sarah Sjostrom, the Swedish sprinter who took down world records in both events at the 2017 World Championships while Campbell sat out. Sjostrom’s stunning records sit at 23.67 in the 50 and 51.71 in the 100.

The pack chasing these top two brings uncommon depth and experience. American Simone Manuel is the reigning Olympic co-champion and World champion in the 100 free—having knocked off Sjostrom just five days after Sjostrom set the world record—and she also has multiple career international medals to her name in the 50 free.

BACKSTROKE
The women’s backstroke events should be some of the most tightly contested events on the program, as two of the three world records were broken just last year. China’s Liu Xiang lowered the 50 back WR at the Asian Games (26.98), and USA’s Kathleen Baker bettered the 100 at U.S. nationals (58.00).

Baker has yet to win an individual gold medal on the world stage, but 2019 could be her year. She turned professional last year after breaking the world record and is now training in San Diego with Coach David Marsh. Baker will be swimming all three backstroke events in  Gwangju.

BUTTERFLY
While Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom is aiming to keep her international reign on the sprint freestyle events, she will also be doing the same in sprint butterfly, but will have an entirely different group of contenders to challenge her.

In the 50 fly, Sjostrom’s biggest competition could be Egypt’s Farida Osman. The former Cal NCAA champion has several of the top 10 performances of the year in the event and is used to performing at her best on the biggest stage. Kelsi Dahlia of the U.S. will be in the mix, along with Anastasiya Shkurdai of Belarus. And never count out Ranomi Kromowidjojo of the Netherlands. This race could near the 25 barrier.

INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY
For the last three World Championships, the spotlight has been on Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu, and 2019 shouldn’t be any different. The 30-year-old Hungarian has claimed gold in both the 200 and 400 IMs since the 2013 World Championships in Barcelona, and is the favorite to defend her titles in Gwangju.

But they won’t come easily for Hosszu. Yui Ohashi of Japan and Kathleen Baker of the United States are both sure to push for the gold. The two finished first and second, respectively, in the 2018 world rankings for the 200 IM.

RELAYS
The American women swept all three relays at the 2017 World Championships, but failed to beat Australia in any of the three at the 2018 Pan Pacific Championships. So in 2019, expect battles between the two longtime superpowers in all three relays, with 1-2 finishes likely in all three events.

It’s hard to imagine Australia losing the 400 free relay with sisters Cate Campbell and Bronte Campbell and Emma McKeon swimming close to top form, even with Americans Simone Manuel and Mallory Comerford capable of sub-53-second 100 frees and a solid stable of swimmers behind them such as Kelsi Dahlia, Margo Geer and Lia Neal.

For a more in depth look at the women headed to the FINA World Aquatics Championships this year,
check out the June 2019 issue of Swimming World Magazine, available now!

Swimming June 2019 Cover Sarah Sjostrom

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FEATURES

016 GLOBAL WARMING
by David Rieder, Dan D’Addona, Taylor Brien, Andy Ross, Erin Keaveny and Michael Randazzo
Expect the competition to heat up, July 12-28, as the world’s best aquatic athletes from all over the world converge on Kwangju, South Korea for the 18th FINA World Aquatics Championships.

PREVIEW: WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

016 WOMEN’S SWIMMING

019 MEN’S SWIMMING

024 OPEN WATER SWIMMING

025 DIVING

025 WATER POLO

027 ARTISTIC SWIMMING

028 SWEDISH SUPERSTAR
by David Rieder
Sarah Sjostrom’s swimming career has gone from teenage record-breaking dynamo to Olympic disappointment in 2012 to one of the world’s transcendent female swimmers. In Sweden, the 25-year-old is not ONE of her country’s swimming legends. She is THE legend.

031 REMEMBERING THE 1st WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS – BELGRADE ’73
by Bruce Wigo
Swimming World takes a look back at the 1st FINA World Aquatics Championships in Belgrade, Yugoslavia in 1973—what was behind the start of a world championship meet and the intrigue behind adding synchronized swimming to the program…and the numerous controversies that led up to the meet as well as the ones that followed.

034 NUTRITION: AROUND THE TABLE WITH MICHIGAN LAKESHORE AQUATICS
by Dan D’Addona and Dawn Weatherwax

COACHING

010 LESSONS WITH THE LEGENDS: DON REDDISH
by Michael J. Stott

014 SWIMMING TECHNIQUE CONCEPTS: DEVELOPMENT OF AN OPTIMAL MODEL FOR TECHNIQUE: PART 7—BODY BASE OF SUPPORT FOR FREESTYLE
by Rod Havriluk
Since hand force is directly related to swimming velocity, controlling the arm motion on the push phase during freestyle has great potential for almost every swimmer. Unfortunately, it is a substantial challenge to independently push the hand backward while the torso rotates upward.

036 PLAN B: COLLEGE CLUB TEAM OPTION (Part 1)
by Michael J. Stott
College Club Swimming has been offering more and more athletes the opportunity to continue participating in the sport they love. In this two-part series, Swimming World explores some personal perspectives from swimmers pursuing their aquatic passion while enjoying a college experience unencumbered by the demands of a varsity athlete.

041 SPECIAL SETS: BREASTSTROKE REVISITED
by Michael J. Stott
John Smithson, co-head coach at Quest Swimming in Richmond, Va., has coached multiple Olympic Trials qualifiers, state record holders and state champions. Last March, two of his 14-year-old swimmers took home wins in the 100 yard breaststroke at the Virginia State Short Course Championships. Here he talks about some of the breaststroke sets that have contributed to his team’s success.

043 Q&A WITH COACH KEVIN ZACHER
by Michael J. Stott

044 HOW THEY TRAIN ASHLEY STROUSE
by Michael J. Stott

TRAINING

013 DRYSIDE TRAINING: EXERCISE EQUIPMENT SERIES—MEDICINE BALL AND CABLE EXERCISES
by J.R. Rosania

JUNIOR SWIMMER

039 GOLDMINDS: THE 5 SUPERPOWERS OF PERFORMANCE
by Wayne Goldsmith
Passion, persistence, practice, patience and peace are all within your grasp!

046 UP & COMERS: KAYLA HAN
by Taylor Brien

COLUMNS

008 A VOICE FOR THE SPORT

009 BEYOND THE YARDS

033 DID YOU KNOW? USA-USSR DUAL MEETS

047 GUTTER TALK

048 PARTING SHOT

 

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