﻿{"id":575576,"date":"2024-01-02T05:59:47","date_gmt":"2024-01-02T12:59:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=575576"},"modified":"2024-01-02T05:59:47","modified_gmt":"2024-01-02T12:59:47","slug":"ranking-the-top-performances-of-2023-leon-marchand-australian-women-shine-with-world-records","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ranking-the-top-performances-of-2023-leon-marchand-australian-women-shine-with-world-records\/","title":{"rendered":"Ranking the Top Performances of 2023: Leon Marchand, Australian Women Shine With World Records"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Top Performances of 2023: Leon Marchand, Australian Women Shine With World Records<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For the first time in more than 20 years, Australia <a href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/australia-claims-mantle-as-worlds-dominant-swim-team-in-fukuoka\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">topped the gold-medal count at last year\u2019s World Championships<\/a>, and the swimmers from Down Under produced some dazzling performances both in individual events and in four relay victories, including world records in the women\u2019s 400 and 800 freestyle relay. It should be no surprise, then, that Australia is responsible for half of the year\u2019s list of top performances, but the No. 1 spot goes to a man who broke the oldest world record on the books.<\/p>\n<p>Several swimmers might have earned multiple spots on this top-10 list, but each individual is eligible to appear on this list just once.<\/p>\n<h2>1. Leon Marchand (France), 400 IM at World Championships (4:02.50 WR)<\/h2>\n<p>Ever since he first threatened <strong>Michael Phelps\u2019<\/strong> world record in the 400 IM at the 2022 edition of the global meet, swimming fans around the world waited anxiously to see if and when <strong>Leon Marchand<\/strong> could topple the last global standard set by the 23-time Olympic champion. It turns out that in the 21-year-old Frenchman\u2019s next opportunity at a major final, he would simply blow away the record.<\/p>\n<p>In the World Championships final, Marchand trailed only after the first length before moving ahead of American rival <strong>Carson<\/strong> <strong>Foster<\/strong>. Hundredths over world-record pace at the halfway point, that changed dramatically on the breaststroke leg as Marchand clocked 1:07.64 over the two lengths of breaststroke, and he turned for the freestyle in 3:04.28, nearly three seconds quicker than Phelps did at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. A solid freestyle leg helped Marchand <a href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/flash-leon-marchand-downs-michael-phelps-400-im-world-record\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">finish in 4:02.50, more than one second quicker than the previous world record<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>His week in Fukuoka would also see Marchand join Phelps and <strong>Ryan Lochte<\/strong> as the only men to break 1:55 in the 200 IM (they have since been joined by China\u2019s Wang Shun), and Marchand also pulled away to win gold in the 200 butterfly by more than one second. But it was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/world-record-of-the-year-male-leon-marchand-knocks-michael-phelps-from-record-books\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">his win in the medley<\/a> that secured his status as the sport\u2019s male headliner heading into the upcoming Olympic Games in his home country.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>2. Mollie O\u2019Callaghan (Australia), 200 Freestyle at World Championships (1:52.85 WR)<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_533650\" style=\"width: 460px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-533650\" data-attachment-id=\"533650\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/australia-claims-mantle-as-worlds-dominant-swim-team-in-fukuoka\/20th-world-aquatics-championships-fukuoka-2023-287\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/2023-world-championships-day-4-11.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2400,1600\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;4&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Andrea Masini \\\/ Deepbluemedia \\\/ Insidefoto&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;NIKON Z 9&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;Mollie O&#039;callaghan of Australia reacts after winning the gold medal in the 200m Freestyle Women Final with a New World Record during the 20th World Aquatics Championships at the Marine Messe Hall A in Fukuoka (Japan), July 26th, 2023.&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1690370496&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Andrea Masini \\\/ Deepbluemedia \\\/ Insidefoto&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;600&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;4000&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0005&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;20th World Aquatics Championships Fukuoka 2023&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"20th World Aquatics Championships Fukuoka 2023\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;4\/24\/24&lt;br \/&gt;\nMollie O&#8217;callaghan of Australia reacts after winning the gold medal in the 200m Freestyle Women Final with a New World Record during the 20th World Aquatics Championships at the Marine Messe Hall A in Fukuoka (Japan), July 26th, 2023. Sport, Swimming, FINA, Aquatics, World Championships, World Aquatics, Fukuoka, 2023, Fukuoka 2023, Mollie O&#8217;callaghan of Australia, 200m Freestyle Women Final&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini \/ Deepbluemedia \/ Insidefoto&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/2023-world-championships-day-4-11-700x500.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/2023-world-championships-day-4-11-1024x683.jpg\" class=\"wp-image-533650 size-medium-small\" src=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/2023-world-championships-day-4-11-450x300.jpg\" alt=\"Mollie O'callaghan of Australia reacts after winning the gold medal in the 200m Freestyle Women Final with a New World Record during the 20th World Aquatics Championships at the Marine Messe Hall A in Fukuoka (Japan), July 26th, 2023.\" width=\"450\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/2023-world-championships-day-4-11-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/2023-world-championships-day-4-11-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/2023-world-championships-day-4-11-280x187.jpg 280w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/2023-world-championships-day-4-11-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/2023-world-championships-day-4-11-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/2023-world-championships-day-4-11-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/2023-world-championships-day-4-11-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/2023-world-championships-day-4-11-2000x1333.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/2023-world-championships-day-4-11-1350x900.jpg 1350w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/2023-world-championships-day-4-11-533x355.jpg 533w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-533650\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mollie O&#8217;Callaghan &#8212; Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini \/ Deepbluemedia \/ Insidefoto<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Speaking of long-lasting world records, <strong>Federica Pellegrini<\/strong> owned the mark in the women\u2019s 200 freestyle for 14 years, ever since the polyurethane suit era of 2009. Plenty of swimmers came close to Pellegrini\u2019s 1:52.98, including Australian Olympic champion <strong>Ariarne Titmus<\/strong>, but no one had been able to match Pellegrini\u2019s closing speed as the superimposed world-record line sped ahead. That changed in 2023 as 19-year-old Australian <strong>Mollie O\u2019Callaghan<\/strong> somehow came home faster than Pellegrini.<\/p>\n<p>O\u2019Callaghan had won the world title in the 100 free one year earlier by rocketing from eighth at the halfway point to the top spot by the finish. As she made rapid gains in the 200 free following a silver medal in 2022, O\u2019Callaghan followed the same fast-finishing playbook. In the Worlds final last year, Titmus opened up a big lead with 50 meters remaining, with O\u2019Callaghan marginally in second place.<\/p>\n<p>But O\u2019Callaghan had one last surge, catching up to Titmus and then moving ahead with 10 meters remaining. O\u2019Callaghan split 28.11 coming home, seven tenths quicker than anyone else in the field and a half-second ahead of Pellegrini\u2019s pace. Indeed, O\u2019Callaghan <a href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/world-championships-day-four-finals-dolphins-teen-machine-mollie-ocallaghan-sinks-long-standing-200-freestyle-world-record-in-a-classic-aussie-1-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">shocked the world by sneaking in ahead at 1:52.85, finally erasing Pellegrini from the record books<\/a>.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>3. Ariarne Titmus (Australia), 400 Freestyle at World Championships (3:55.83 WR)<\/h2>\n<p>She could not quite hold off O\u2019Callaghan in the 200 free, but Titmus had a golden moment of her own in Fukuoka where she crushed a field considered one of the best in history in the 400 free. Earlier in the year, <strong>Summer McIntosh<\/strong> had lowered Titmus\u2019 world record in the event with a time of 3:56.06, and in the final, McIntosh would face Titmus as well as the previous world-record holder and a four-time world champion in the event, American <strong>Katie<\/strong> <strong>Ledecky<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>But even in the face of daunting competition, Titmus left no doubt about her superiority in the event in a nearly-wire-to-wire triumph. McIntosh had broken the world record by blasting the first 200 meters and holding on, but Titmus had a half-second lead over the young Canadian at the halfway point, and the margin was almost one-and-a-half seconds with 100 meters remaining. Ledecky and New Zealand\u2019s <strong>Erika Fairweather<\/strong> both passed McIntosh down the stretch, but Titmus was accelerating, with splits of 29.77, 29.61 and then 28.87 to slam the door shut.<\/p>\n<p>By the finish, Titmus had built an advantage of almost three seconds, and her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/world-championships-day-one-finals-ariarne-titmus-turns-race-of-the-century-into-world-record-romp\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">final time was 3:55.38, reclaiming the world record<\/a> from McIntosh in dramatic fashion.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>4. Qin Haiyang (China), 200 Breaststroke at World Championships (2:05.48 WR)<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_533511\" style=\"width: 460px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-533511\" data-attachment-id=\"533511\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/world-championships-china-tough-to-beat-in-mixed-medley-relay-relay-breakdown\/qin-haiyang-china-2023-world-championships-1\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/qin-haiyang-china-2023-world-championships-1.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1500,1125\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"qin-haiyang-china-2023-world-championships-1\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;7\/25\/23 &#038; 7\/28\/23&lt;br \/&gt;\nqin-haiyang-china-2023-world-championships-1&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala \/ Deepbluemedia \/ Insidefoto&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/qin-haiyang-china-2023-world-championships-1-700x500.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/qin-haiyang-china-2023-world-championships-1-1024x768.jpg\" class=\"wp-image-533511 size-medium-small\" src=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/qin-haiyang-china-2023-world-championships-1-450x338.jpg\" alt=\"qin-haiyang-china-2023-world-championships-1\" width=\"450\" height=\"338\" srcset=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/qin-haiyang-china-2023-world-championships-1-450x338.jpg 450w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/qin-haiyang-china-2023-world-championships-1-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/qin-haiyang-china-2023-world-championships-1-267x200.jpg 267w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/qin-haiyang-china-2023-world-championships-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/qin-haiyang-china-2023-world-championships-1-1200x900.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/qin-haiyang-china-2023-world-championships-1-533x400.jpg 533w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/qin-haiyang-china-2023-world-championships-1.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-533511\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Qin Haiyang &#8212; Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala \/ Deepbluemedia \/ Insidefoto<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Having never before qualified for a final at a long course World Championships or Olympics, China\u2019s <strong>Qin Haiyang<\/strong> was one of the breakout performers of 2023, becoming the first man to sweep the 50, 100 and 200-meter races of a stroke at a World Championships. After becoming the second-fastest man ever in the 50 and 100 to win gold in those races, albeit in the absence of world-record holder <strong>Adam Peaty<\/strong>, Qin topped Olympic champion <strong>Zac Stubblety-Cook<\/strong> over 200 meters, lowering the Aussie\u2019s world record in the process.<\/p>\n<p>The 24-year-old Qin showed off his powerful breaststroke in all three distances, and accordingly, he opened up a significant lead over Stubblety-Cook in the final, turning in 1:00.72 and more than one second under world-record pace. Stubblety-Cook tried to make the comeback, splitting slightly quicker than his Chinese rival on the final two lengths, but Qin had too big an edge. Stubblety-Cook finished in a solid time of 2:06.40, quicker than his world-title-winning time from one year earlier, but Qin came<a href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/world-championships-day-six-finals-qin-haiyang-completes-breaststroke-sweep-with-world-record\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> in at 2:05.48, taking almost a half-second from the previous global standard<\/a>.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>5. Summer McIntosh (Canada), 400 IM at Canadian Trials (4:25.87 WR)<\/h2>\n<p>Her rapid ascendance through the ranks of swimming saw McIntosh win her first world titles at age 15, and by 16, she was a world-record holder. McIntosh grabbed two world marks at the Canadian Trials last spring, first taking away Titmus\u2019 mark in the 400 free (which the Australian would reclaim at Worlds) before also lowering <strong>Katinka Hosszu\u2019s<\/strong> world record in the 400 IM. Hosszu\u2019s mark had been considered one of the toughest in swimming, with the Hungarian swimming a time of 4:26.36 to beat the previous mark by more than two seconds at the Rio Olympics, but McIntosh was undaunted.<\/p>\n<p>In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/world-record-of-the-year-female-summer-mcintosh-overcomes-katinka-hosszu-mark-in-400-im\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">her record-breaking swim<\/a>, McIntosh was more than a second under world-record pace after butterfly and exactly two seconds under after backstroke, giving herself a chance, even with breaststroke, her weakest of the disciplines, upcoming. Eight tenths off pace at the finish of that stroke, McIntosh reasserted herself on freestyle, a closing split of 1:00.56 helping her etch her name in the record books by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/summer-mcintosh-adds-another-world-record-in-the-400-im-at-425-87\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">becoming the first woman ever under 4:26, with a final time of 4:25.87<\/a>.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>6. Kaylee McKeown (Australia), 200 Backstroke at New South Wales State Championships (2:03.14 WR)<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_533867\" style=\"width: 460px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-533867\" data-attachment-id=\"533867\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/worlds-kaylee-mckeowns-fukuoka-adversity-makes-for-stepping-stone-to-paris\/20th-world-aquatics-championships-fukuoka-2023-332\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230725_AMas_AM02426.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2400,1600\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;4&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Andrea Masini \\\/ Deepbluemedia \\\/ Insidefoto&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;NIKON D5&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;Kaylee Mckeown of Australia shows the gold medal after competing in the 100m Backstroke Women Final during the 20th World Aquatics Championships at the Marine Messe Hall A in Fukuoka (Japan), July 25th, 2023.&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1690288484&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Andrea Masini \\\/ Deepbluemedia \\\/ Insidefoto&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;70&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;1000&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.004&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;20th World Aquatics Championships Fukuoka 2023&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"20th World Aquatics Championships Fukuoka 2023\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;7-27-23 &#038; 8\/3\/23&lt;br \/&gt;\nKaylee Mckeown of Australia shows the gold medal after competing in the 100m Backstroke Women Final during the 20th World Aquatics Championships at the Marine Messe Hall A in Fukuoka (Japan), July 25th, 2023. Sport, Swimming, FINA, Aquatics, World Championships, World Aquatics, Fukuoka, 2023, Fukuoka 2023, Kaylee Mckeown of Australia, 100m Backstroke Women Final&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini \/ Deepbluemedia \/ Insidefoto&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230725_AMas_AM02426-700x500.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230725_AMas_AM02426-1024x683.jpg\" class=\"wp-image-533867 size-medium-small\" src=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230725_AMas_AM02426-450x300.jpg\" alt=\"Kaylee Mckeown of Australia shows the gold medal after competing in the 100m Backstroke Women Final during the 20th World Aquatics Championships at the Marine Messe Hall A in Fukuoka (Japan), July 25th, 2023.\" width=\"450\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230725_AMas_AM02426-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230725_AMas_AM02426-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230725_AMas_AM02426-280x187.jpg 280w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230725_AMas_AM02426-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230725_AMas_AM02426-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230725_AMas_AM02426-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230725_AMas_AM02426-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230725_AMas_AM02426-2000x1333.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230725_AMas_AM02426-1350x900.jpg 1350w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230725_AMas_AM02426-533x355.jpg 533w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-533867\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kaylee McKeown &#8212; Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini \/ Deepbluemedia \/ Insidefoto<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>Kaylee McKeown<\/strong> could have made this list for about six different backstroke performances: she swept all three races at the World Championships, becoming the first woman ever to do so in a single stroke, and she broke world records over all three distances last year, taking the marks in the 50 and 100 back at the World Cup in Budapest in October after lowering the mark in the 200 earlier in the year. McKeown gets the nod for the 200-meter performance, in which she knocked off <strong>Regan Smith\u2019s<\/strong> four-year-old mark of 2:03.35 \u2014 four months before she would beat Smith for world titles in three different races.<\/p>\n<p>McKeown has finishing speed that is the envy of all backstrokers, and that\u2019s how she secured the record in the 200 back at the relatively-low-stakes New South Wales State Championships in March. McKeown was out in 1:00.73, more than three tenths slower than record pace, but by the final turn, she turned equal with Smith\u2019s 2019 pace. McKeown <a href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/kaylee-mckeown-pops-sizzling-world-record-swim-of-203-14-in-200m-backstroke-to-highlight-night-one-of-nsw-championships\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">would close in 31.30 for a final time of 2:03.14<\/a>. She would not lower that time any further in 2023, but she now enters the Olympic year within striking distance of a 2:02.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>7. Ahmed Hafnaoui (Tunisia) &amp; Bobby Finke (USA), 1500 Freestyle at World Championships (14:31.54\/14:31.59)<\/h2>\n<p>In one of history\u2019s all-time great distance races, Tunisia\u2019s <strong>Ahmed Hafnaoui<\/strong> and American <strong>Bobby Finke<\/strong> went head-to-head for 30 lengths in Fukuoka with neither man ever gaining a clear edge. The two men took over the lead from Australia\u2019s <strong>Sam Short<\/strong> with 500 meters to go, and from there, the margin between the two at each turn remained around two tenths. Hafnaoui was three tenths ahead with 100 meters remaining, but Finke would not give up.<\/p>\n<p>Down the stretch, Hafnaoui and Finke laid everything on their line, both refusing to yield. By the finish, a measly five hundredths separated the two men, with Hafnaoui <a href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/world-championships-day-eight-finals-ahmed-hafnaoui-edges-bobby-finke-by-0-05-to-win-1500-free-2nd-all-time\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">swimming the second-fastest time ever at 14:31.54<\/a> and Finke going the third-best time ever at 14:31.59. Both men obliterated their best times.<\/p>\n<p>An honorable mention should also be reserved for Short, who came out on top in a similarly-nail-biting result in the 400 free, beating Hafnaoui by two hundredths with both men entering the all-time top-five in the event.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>8. Sarah Sjostrom (Sweden), 50 Butterfly (24.77) + 50 Freestyle Semifinal (23.61 WR) at World Championships<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_534496\" style=\"width: 460px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-534496\" data-attachment-id=\"534496\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/world-championships-day-eight-finals-sarah-sjostrom-swims-second-fastest-time-ever-in-50-free-most-individual-medals-at-worlds\/sarah-sjostrom-50-free-gold-2023-world-championships\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/sarah-sjostrom-50-free-gold-2023-world-championships.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1500,1125\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"sarah-sjostrom-50-free-gold-2023-world-championships\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;7\/30\/23&lt;br \/&gt;\nsarah-sjostrom-50-free-gold-2023-world-championships&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Photo Courtesy: Andrea  \/ Deepbluemedia \/ Insidefoto&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/sarah-sjostrom-50-free-gold-2023-world-championships-700x500.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/sarah-sjostrom-50-free-gold-2023-world-championships-1024x768.jpg\" class=\"wp-image-534496 size-medium-small\" src=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/sarah-sjostrom-50-free-gold-2023-world-championships-450x338.jpg\" alt=\"sarah-sjostrom-50-free-gold-2023-world-championships\" width=\"450\" height=\"338\" srcset=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/sarah-sjostrom-50-free-gold-2023-world-championships-450x338.jpg 450w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/sarah-sjostrom-50-free-gold-2023-world-championships-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/sarah-sjostrom-50-free-gold-2023-world-championships-267x200.jpg 267w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/sarah-sjostrom-50-free-gold-2023-world-championships-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/sarah-sjostrom-50-free-gold-2023-world-championships-1200x900.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/sarah-sjostrom-50-free-gold-2023-world-championships-533x400.jpg 533w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/sarah-sjostrom-50-free-gold-2023-world-championships.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-534496\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sarah Sjostrom &#8212; Photo Courtesy: Andrea \/ Deepbluemedia \/ Insidefoto<\/p><\/div>\n<p>A world champion at age 15 and now a world champion at age 29, <strong>Sarah Sjostrom<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/world-championships-day-seven-finals-sarah-sjostrom-speeds-to-fifth-straight-title-in-50-butterfly-also-ties-michael-phelps-record\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">won her fifth straight global honor in the 50 fly<\/a>, becoming only the second woman to five-peat in an event, and unwilling to be content with the gold medal, the 11th individual world title of her remarkable career, Sjostrom returned to the blocks 19 minutes later for the 50 free semifinals \u2014 and she lowered her own world record.<\/p>\n<p>Sjostrom <a href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/world-championships-day-seven-semifinals-sarah-sjostrom-takes-down-world-record-in-50-freestyle-semis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">touched in 23.61 to beat her six-year-old mark by six hundredths<\/a>. One day later, Sjostrom beat the field in the final by almost a half-second, a huge margin in the splash-and-dash, as she finished just one hundredth off her new record for world title No. 12 and her third in the 50 free.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>9. Cameron McEvoy (Australia), 50 Freestyle at World Championships (21.06)<\/h2>\n<p>This 29-year-old Australian pulled off a comeback that can best be described as improbable. <strong>Cameron McEvoy<\/strong> had last competed internationally at the Tokyo Olympics, where he did not advance out of prelims in any event (although he did earn bronze as a relay alternate). But in his return to the sport, he focused only on 50-meter races and blasted his way to his first career world title.<\/p>\n<p>McEvoy, whose only previous individual medal at a major competition had been 100 free silver eight years earlier in Kazan, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/world-championships-day-7-cameron-mcevoy-blasts-21-06-to-win-50-free\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">demolished the field in the 50 free by more than a half-second<\/a>. He swam a time of 21.06 to beat a 14-year-old Australian record (<strong>Ashley<\/strong> <strong>Callus<\/strong>, 21.19) and become the fourth-fastest man in history, trailing only <strong>Cesar Cielo<\/strong>, <strong>Fred Bousquet<\/strong> and <strong>Caeleb<\/strong> <strong>Dressel<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>10. Kyle Chalmers (Australia), 400 Freestyle Relay at World Championships (46.56)<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Kyle Chalmers<\/strong> could have earned a top performance nod for his 100 freestyle finals swim, where he clocked 47.15 to earn the individual world title that had long eluded the 25-year-old Aussie veteran. But instead, let\u2019s acknowledge Chalmers\u2019 mighty relay abilities. He took part in four relays in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldaquatics.com\/competitions\/1\/20th-fina-world-championships-fukuoka-2023\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fukuoka<\/a> and helped all of them to medals, but most impressive was his split on the Aussie men\u2019s 400 free relay, which earned gold at a major meet for the first time since 2011.<\/p>\n<p>The Australians were in third place as Chalmers took over for anchor duties, with Italy and the United States ahead. Italy had 100 back world champion <strong>Thomas Ceccon<\/strong> anchoring while rookie <strong>Matt King<\/strong> proved to be an able force for the Americans, but neither was a match for Chalmers, who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/world-championships-day-one-finals-kyle-chalmers-supplies-anchor-heroics-for-aussies-in-400-freestyle-relay\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">split a sizzling 46.56 for the quickest mark of the race<\/a>. Chalmers was still behind Ceccon going into the final 50, but the Italian was no match for Chalmers\u2019 24.27 closing split that secured Australian gold.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Top Performances of 2023: Leon Marchand, Australian Women Shine With World Records For the first time in more than 20 years, Australia topped the gold-medal count at last year\u2019s World<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":533893,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,17,10],"tags":[128902,65138,27536,51047,34442,77336,77839,63468,32196,120547],"class_list":["post-575576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-commentary","category-world","tag-ahmed-hafnaoui","tag-ariarne-titmus","tag-cameron-mcevoy","tag-kaylee-mckeown","tag-kyle-chalmers","tag-leon-marchand","tag-mollie-ocallaghan","tag-qin-haiyang","tag-sarah-sjostrom","tag-summer-mcintosh"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\r\n<title>Top Performances of 2023: Marchand, Australian Women Shine<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Australia is responsible for half of the year\u2019s list of top performances, but the No. 1 spot goes to a man who broke the oldest world record.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ranking-the-top-performances-of-2023-leon-marchand-australian-women-shine-with-world-records\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ranking the Top Performances of 2023: Leon Marchand, Australian Women Shine With World Records\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Australia is responsible for half of the year\u2019s list of top performances, but the No. 1 spot goes to a man who broke the oldest world record.\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ranking-the-top-performances-of-2023-leon-marchand-australian-women-shine-with-world-records\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Swimming World\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-01-02T12:59:47+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230727_AMas_AM50489-1024x683.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David Rieder - Senior Writer\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@David_Rieder\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@swimmingworld\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David Rieder - Senior Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"10 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ranking-the-top-performances-of-2023-leon-marchand-australian-women-shine-with-world-records\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ranking-the-top-performances-of-2023-leon-marchand-australian-women-shine-with-world-records\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"David Rieder - Senior Writer\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/610dd0484edf5c4dba59e62a7e5b89af\"},\"headline\":\"Ranking the Top Performances of 2023: Leon Marchand, Australian Women Shine With World Records\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-02T12:59:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-02T12:59:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ranking-the-top-performances-of-2023-leon-marchand-australian-women-shine-with-world-records\/\"},\"wordCount\":2006,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ranking-the-top-performances-of-2023-leon-marchand-australian-women-shine-with-world-records\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230727_AMas_AM50489.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Ahmed Hafnaoui\",\"Ariarne Titmus\",\"Cameron McEvoy\",\"Kaylee McKeown\",\"Kyle Chalmers\",\"Leon Marchand\",\"Mollie O\u2019Callaghan\",\"Qin Haiyang\",\"Sarah Sjostrom\",\"Summer McIntosh\"],\"articleSection\":[\"-Home Slider\",\"Commentary\",\"World\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ranking-the-top-performances-of-2023-leon-marchand-australian-women-shine-with-world-records\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ranking-the-top-performances-of-2023-leon-marchand-australian-women-shine-with-world-records\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ranking-the-top-performances-of-2023-leon-marchand-australian-women-shine-with-world-records\/\",\"name\":\"Top Performances of 2023: Marchand, Australian Women Shine\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ranking-the-top-performances-of-2023-leon-marchand-australian-women-shine-with-world-records\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ranking-the-top-performances-of-2023-leon-marchand-australian-women-shine-with-world-records\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230727_AMas_AM50489.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-02T12:59:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-02T12:59:47+00:00\",\"description\":\"Australia is responsible for half of the year\u2019s list of top performances, but the No. 1 spot goes to a man who broke the oldest world record.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ranking-the-top-performances-of-2023-leon-marchand-australian-women-shine-with-world-records\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ranking-the-top-performances-of-2023-leon-marchand-australian-women-shine-with-world-records\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ranking-the-top-performances-of-2023-leon-marchand-australian-women-shine-with-world-records\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230727_AMas_AM50489.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230727_AMas_AM50489.jpg\",\"width\":2400,\"height\":1600,\"caption\":\"Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini \/ Deepbluemedia \/ Insidefoto\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ranking-the-top-performances-of-2023-leon-marchand-australian-women-shine-with-world-records\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ranking the Top Performances of 2023: Leon Marchand, Australian Women Shine With World Records\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Swimming World\",\"description\":\"The Global Leader in Aquatic News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Swimming World\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg\",\"width\":1799,\"height\":900,\"caption\":\"Swimming World\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/swimmingworld\",\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/swimmingworldmag\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SwimmingWorldSPI\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/610dd0484edf5c4dba59e62a7e5b89af\",\"name\":\"David Rieder - Senior Writer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/771e0586ce6532b0e16f68a06c9bd273?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/771e0586ce6532b0e16f68a06c9bd273?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"David Rieder - Senior Writer\"},\"description\":\"David Rieder is a staff writer for Swimming World. He has contributed to the magazine and website since 2009, and he has covered the NCAA Championships, U.S. Nationals, Olympic Trials as well as the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio and the 2017 World Championships in Budapest. He is a native of Charleston, S.C., and a 2016 graduate of Duke University.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/x.com\/David_Rieder\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/author\/davidr\/\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Top Performances of 2023: Marchand, Australian Women Shine","description":"Australia is responsible for half of the year\u2019s list of top performances, but the No. 1 spot goes to a man who broke the oldest world record.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ranking-the-top-performances-of-2023-leon-marchand-australian-women-shine-with-world-records\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ranking the Top Performances of 2023: Leon Marchand, Australian Women Shine With World Records","og_description":"Australia is responsible for half of the year\u2019s list of top performances, but the No. 1 spot goes to a man who broke the oldest world record.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ranking-the-top-performances-of-2023-leon-marchand-australian-women-shine-with-world-records\/","og_site_name":"Swimming World","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld","article_published_time":"2024-01-02T12:59:47+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":683,"url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230727_AMas_AM50489-1024x683.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"David Rieder - Senior Writer","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@David_Rieder","twitter_site":"@swimmingworld","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"David Rieder - Senior Writer","Est. reading time":"10 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ranking-the-top-performances-of-2023-leon-marchand-australian-women-shine-with-world-records\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ranking-the-top-performances-of-2023-leon-marchand-australian-women-shine-with-world-records\/"},"author":{"name":"David Rieder - Senior Writer","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/610dd0484edf5c4dba59e62a7e5b89af"},"headline":"Ranking the Top Performances of 2023: Leon Marchand, Australian Women Shine With World Records","datePublished":"2024-01-02T12:59:47+00:00","dateModified":"2024-01-02T12:59:47+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ranking-the-top-performances-of-2023-leon-marchand-australian-women-shine-with-world-records\/"},"wordCount":2006,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ranking-the-top-performances-of-2023-leon-marchand-australian-women-shine-with-world-records\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230727_AMas_AM50489.jpg","keywords":["Ahmed Hafnaoui","Ariarne Titmus","Cameron McEvoy","Kaylee McKeown","Kyle Chalmers","Leon Marchand","Mollie O\u2019Callaghan","Qin Haiyang","Sarah Sjostrom","Summer McIntosh"],"articleSection":["-Home Slider","Commentary","World"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ranking-the-top-performances-of-2023-leon-marchand-australian-women-shine-with-world-records\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ranking-the-top-performances-of-2023-leon-marchand-australian-women-shine-with-world-records\/","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ranking-the-top-performances-of-2023-leon-marchand-australian-women-shine-with-world-records\/","name":"Top Performances of 2023: Marchand, Australian Women Shine","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ranking-the-top-performances-of-2023-leon-marchand-australian-women-shine-with-world-records\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ranking-the-top-performances-of-2023-leon-marchand-australian-women-shine-with-world-records\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230727_AMas_AM50489.jpg","datePublished":"2024-01-02T12:59:47+00:00","dateModified":"2024-01-02T12:59:47+00:00","description":"Australia is responsible for half of the year\u2019s list of top performances, but the No. 1 spot goes to a man who broke the oldest world record.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ranking-the-top-performances-of-2023-leon-marchand-australian-women-shine-with-world-records\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ranking-the-top-performances-of-2023-leon-marchand-australian-women-shine-with-world-records\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ranking-the-top-performances-of-2023-leon-marchand-australian-women-shine-with-world-records\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230727_AMas_AM50489.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230727_AMas_AM50489.jpg","width":2400,"height":1600,"caption":"Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini \/ Deepbluemedia \/ Insidefoto"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ranking-the-top-performances-of-2023-leon-marchand-australian-women-shine-with-world-records\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ranking the Top Performances of 2023: Leon Marchand, Australian Women Shine With World Records"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/","name":"Swimming World","description":"The Global Leader in Aquatic News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization","name":"Swimming World","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg","width":1799,"height":900,"caption":"Swimming World"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld","https:\/\/x.com\/swimmingworld","https:\/\/instagram.com\/swimmingworldmag\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SwimmingWorldSPI"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/610dd0484edf5c4dba59e62a7e5b89af","name":"David Rieder - Senior Writer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/771e0586ce6532b0e16f68a06c9bd273?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/771e0586ce6532b0e16f68a06c9bd273?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","caption":"David Rieder - Senior Writer"},"description":"David Rieder is a staff writer for Swimming World. He has contributed to the magazine and website since 2009, and he has covered the NCAA Championships, U.S. Nationals, Olympic Trials as well as the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio and the 2017 World Championships in Budapest. He is a native of Charleston, S.C., and a 2016 graduate of Duke University.","sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/David_Rieder"],"url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/author\/davidr\/"}]}},"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":"Leon Marchand -- Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini \/ Deepbluemedia \/ Insidefoto","source_text":"","source_url":""},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230727_AMas_AM50489.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p56Jja-2pJu","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=575576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575576\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/533893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=575576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=575576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=575576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}