2023 World Aquatics Championships: Day 4 Final Results Recap

The pool competitions of the 2023 World Aquatics Championships entered Day 4 on Wednesday, July 26. The 2023 World Aquatics Championships began on July 14 but the pool competitions began only on July 23.

The three days of pool competitions saw Leon Marchand breaking a long-standing Michael Phelps' world record. Katie Ledecky also equalled the most individual gold medals record of Michael Phelps and Team Britain claiming the top two spots in the men's 200m freestyle.

The fourth day of pool competitions at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships saw Ahmed Hafnoui winning the men's 800m freestyle and Australia's Mollie O'Callaghan claiming the women's 200m freestyle title with a world record time.

Men's 800m freestyle final of 2023 World Aquatics Championships

The men's 800m freestyle final was off to a flying start as Lukas Martens, Sam Short and Ahmed Hafnaoui were ahead of other competitors as soon as the race started. Lukas Martens maintained his lead early in the event. The trio of Martens, Short and Hafnaoui continued trading the leading between them as the rest of the competitors tried to catch up to them.

At the 600 meters mark, USA's Bobby Finke began closing in on the trio but they maintained their lead. Towards the end, Finke caught up to Martens but couldn't surpass Hafnaoui and Short.

Ahmed Hafnaoui won the gold medal with a time of 7:37.00. Sam Short and Bobby Finke ended up with silver and bronze medals.

Fukuoka 2023 World Aquatics Championships: Swimming - Day 4

Germany's Lukas Martens who was in the top three throughout the race ended up in fifth place behind Daniel Wiffen of Ireland. This is the first time Finke lost the men's 800m freestyle title since his gold medal-winning swim at the Tokyo Olympics.

The results of the men's 800m freestyle final as revealed on Omegatiming website are given below:

Ahmed Hafnaoui (TUN) — 7:37.00
Samuel Short (AUS) — 7:37.76
Bobby Finke (USA) — 7:38.67
Daniel Wiffen (IRL) — 7:39.19 (ER)
Lukas Martens (GER) — 7:39.48
Mykhailo Romanchuk (UKR) — 7:43.08
Guilherme Costa (BRA) — 7:47.26
Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA) — 7:53.68

Women's 200m freestyle final of 2023 World Aquatics Championships

The spotlight was on Ariarne Titmus after she won the women's 400m freestyle event with a world record time. But it was her fellow Australian Mollie O'Callaghan, who won the gold medal in the women's 200m freestyle.

Ariarne was leading upfront at 150 meters as she clocked the fastest split in 50m, 100m, and 150m. Callaghan was the fastest in the closing stages of the race as she clocked a time of 28.11 in the final 50m. After the 185m mark, Callaghan took over the lead from Ariarne Titmus.

Callaghan clocked a world record time of 1:52.85 to win the gold medal followed by Ariarne Titmus and Canada's Summer McIntosh. Team USA's Bella Sims finished in sixth place behind Siobhan Haughey and Marrit Steenbergen.

The results of the women's 200m freestyle final as revealed on the Omegatiming website are given below:

Mollie O’Callaghan (AUS) — 1:52.85 (WR)
Ariarne Titmus (AUS) — 1:53.01
Summer McIntosh (CAN) — 1:53.65 (WJ)
Siobhan Haughey (HKG) — 1:53.96
Marrit Steenbergen (NED) — 1:55.51
Bella Sims (USA) — 1:56.00
Freya Anderson (GBR) — 1:56.33
Liu Yaxin (CHN) — 1:56.97

Men's 200m butterfly final of 2023 World Aquatics Championships

Leon Marchand claimed his second gold medal of the 2023 World Aquatics Championships last night. A few days back he won the gold medal in the men's 400m individual medley event. And now he has done it again in the men's 200m butterfly.

Hungary's Richard Marton was leading in the 50 meters but at the halfway mark the French prodigy took over and never looked back as he claimed his second medal at the ongoing World Aquatics Championships. Poland's Krzysztof Chmielewski clocked a time of 1:53.62 to take home the silver medal.

This was also his first medal at a senior international competition for the Polish swimmer. Japan's Tomoru Honda won the bronze medal as USA's Thomas Heilman and Canada's Ilya Kharun tied for fourth place.

The results of the men's 200m butterfly final as revealed on the Omegatiming website are given below:

Leon Marchand (FRA) –1:52.43
Krzysztof Chmielewski (POL) — 1:53.62
Tomoru Honda (JPN) — 1:53.66
Thomas Heilman (USA)/Ilya Kharun (CAN) — 1:53.82
(tie)
Carson Foster (USA) — 1:54.74
Richard Marton (HUN) — 1:55.02
Wang Kuan-Hung (TPE) — 1:55.43

Men's 50m breaststroke final of 2023 World Aquatics Championships

Just like Leon Marchand another swimmer claimed his second gold medal of the ongoing World Aquatics Championships. Qin Haiyang who won the 100m breaststroke event is also the 50m breaststroke champion.

Last year's World Champion in the men's 50m breaststroke, Nic Fink finished in second place with a time of 26.59. Nic Fink was able to challenge Qin Haiyang throughout the whole race but was unable to surpass him. This was his second silver medal at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships. Sun Jiajun of China won the bronze medal.

Australia's Sam Williamson and Italy's Nicolo Martinenghi finished in fourth and fifth place respectively. The results of the men's 50m breaststroke final as revealed on the Omegatiming website are given below:

Qin Haiyang (CHN) — 26.29
Nic Fink (USA) — 26.59
Sun Jiajun (CHN) — 26.79
Sam Williamson (AUS) — 26.82
Nicolo Martinenghi (ITA) — 26.84
Lucas Matzerath (GER) — 26.94
Joao Gomes Jr. (BRA) — 26.97
Peter Stevens (SLO) — 27.08

Mixed 4x100m medley relay final of 2023 World Aquatics Championships

It was another gold medal for China yesterday as they were crowned the champions in the mixed 4x100m medley relay event. Xu Jiayu produced the quickest split for China in the first 100m.

Chenge Yujie's split was the slowest when compared with the other anchors of Team Australia and the USA but the lead established during the first three splits was more than enough for China to win the gold medal. Team China was just 0.1 seconds off the championship record set by Team USA in 2017.

Heading into the breaststroke, Team USA was in the lead, thanks to Ryan Murphy's split of 52.02 but during the breaststroke leg, Qin Haiyang surpassed Nic Fink near the 50m mark to hand China the lead. Meanwhile, Matt Temple's contribution was vital in Team Australia winning the silver medal.

Kate Douglass clocked a time of 51.79 in the closing split as Team USA won the bronze medal. The previous year's bronze medallist at the World Championships, Team Netherlands finished in fourth place.

The results of the mixed 4x100m medley relay final as revealed on the Omegatiming website are given below:

China (Xu Jiayu, Qin Haiyang, Zhang Yufei, Cheng Yujie) — 3:38.57
Australia (Kaylee McKeown, Zac Stubblety-Cook, Matthew Temple, Shayna Jack) — 3:39.03
United States (Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink, Torri Huske, Kate Douglass) — 3:40.19
Netherlands — 3:41.81
Great Britain — 3:43.20
Canada — 3:43.72
Japan — 3:45.33
Germany — 3:45.62

The final of the women's 200m butterfly, men's 100m freestyle, women's 50m backstroke, men's 200m individual medley, and women's 4x200m freestyle relay will be held on day five (July 27) of pool competitions at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships.