United States Named Team of the Meet at World Championships

Nic Fink of United States of America reacts after competing in the 100m Breaststroke Men Heats during the 20th World Aquatics Championships at the Marine Messe Hall A in Fukuoka (Japan), July 23rd, 2023. Nic Fink placed fifth.

American co-captain Nic Fink -- Photo Courtesy: Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

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.

United States Named Team of the Meet at World Championships

Throughout the eight days of racing at the World Championships, American swimmers struggled to reach the top of the podium, with their total of seven marking the fewest by a U.S. team since winning just four at the 1994 edition of Worlds. However, the overall U.S. tally in the medal count was never in doubt, with the team’s 38 top-three finishes matching the 2017 American team for the second-most medals in World Championships history.

The multitude of podium finishes and finals performances secured the title of Team of the Meet for the United States. At the conclusion of the last session of racing in Fukuoka, World Aquatics presented the award to the four American captains, Ryan Murphy and Nic Fink for the men’s team and Abbey Weitzeil and Leah Smith for the women’s.

The U.S. team secured the award by saving the best for last, winning three gold medals and seven medals overall on the final night. Hunter Armstrong and Justin Ress opened the session with a 1-2 finish in the men’s 50 backstroke before Lilly King earned silver in the women’s 50 breaststroke. In arguably the most exciting race of the meet, Bobby Finke won silver in the men’s 1500 free, smashing his own American record by five seconds while finishing merely five hundredths behind gold medalist Ahmed Hafnaoui.

Katie Grimes put forth a strong performance for silver behind Canadian dynamo Summer McIntosh in the women’s 400 IM before both American medley relays won gold convincingly, with the men topping runnerup China by 1.80 seconds while the women knocked off an Australian squad looking for the relay sweep by 1.29 seconds. That brought the Americans to seven gold medals, still well behind Australia’s 13 but clear of third-place China.

The 38 medals includes finishing on the podium in 34 out of 42 events in Fukuoka. Only seven of those podium finishes were gold, with the Americans netting a whopping 20 silver and 11 bronze. But the spread of strong performers gives the American team a very strong foundation upon which to build entering the leadup for next summer’s Paris Olympics, where the aim will surely be to surpass Australia in the gold-medal count after the team from Down Under secured 13 golds in Fukuoka.

And significantly, the Americans depart Fukuoka with momentum after the string of golden swims on the final evening of competition. The team did not fold after a series of missed opportunities and unexpected breakout performances from international rivals, but the shift Sunday helped the Americans considerably, particularly with the relay wins sought all week. In fact, the team was merely five hundredths away from a doubling of the gold-medal count in one night. That momentum can serve as a force that swimmers from this team can use as they return to training and begin the grind of the Olympic campaign.

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John Dennehy

9 months ago

Surely this is wrong? Australia is the team of the meet! Most gold medals!

dscott

9 months ago

Reply to John Dennehy

Australia leader in Gold medals, clearly. But apparently just as clearly, according to the Team criterion set out by World Aquatics, Team leader was USA. Definitions matter.

Jonny S

9 months ago

Surely this is a joke? But what else should we expect coming from a nation who claims world champions in their national domestic competitions – NFL, NBA, MLB.

The Australians won this meet and should now be known as the Champions of the World.

Time for Swimming World to report on swimming globally, and not just Swimming in USA.

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John Lohn - Editor-in-Chief

9 months ago

Reply to Jonny S

This was not a Swimming World decision. We reported on the award given by World Aquatics.

Steve H

9 months ago

Hard to see how Team USA can be the team of the meet with half the gold medals of Australia. Sounds like spin to me !

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Chris Breedy

9 months ago

I wonder what criterion was used to determine team of the meet

Owen Berendes

9 months ago

Reply to Chris Breedy

According to World Aquatics Competition Regulation 12.1.1.3.1, the Team Trophy’s points system gives 18 points for first place, 16 points for second place subtracting one down to 10 points for eighth place and then eight points down to one point for ninth through 16th.

Michael Fredericks

9 months ago

Swimming World, I enjoy your publication and have done so for years. The weight of comments on this chat is consistent with the world’s view on this topic. The winning nation has always been the highest number of gold medals, which the USA has achieved more often than not to USA’s credit. However this year, Australia clearly dominated the gold medals and as such was the superior team. Yes, World Aquatics issued an award for most total medals which USA won. But lets not confuse that with claiming the winning team for the event. This editorial is a US spin piece. If you’re going to report like this, call your publication USA Swimming and not World Swimming.

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John Lohn - Editor-in-Chief

9 months ago

Reply to Michael Fredericks

This is not an editorial. It is a news piece of an award given by World Aquatics. You will find that Swimming World wrote a piece stating the premier meet of Australia.