2023 World Aquatics Championships: Day 8 final results recap

Day 8 of pool competitions at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships was held on July 30. After an outstanding week of swimming events, it was the last day of the competition.

Just like the previous seven days, the eighth day provided a slew of astonishing performances from the swimmers. A total of seven finals were held during the evening session of Day 8, with Summer McIntosh and Sarah Sjostrom putting on a dominant display in their respective events.

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

The Men's 50m Backstroke final kicked off the evening session on the final day of the 2023 World Aquatics Championships. Team USA claimed the top two spots to win both gold and silver medal in the event. American swimmers Hunter Armstrong and Justin Ress finished in first and second place with a time of 24.05s and 24.24s while Xu Jiayu finished in third place.

Last year's world championships gold medalist Justin Ress dropped down to second place, while last year's silver medalist Hunter Armstrong performed even better and claimed the gold medal. Armstrong came so close to surpassing the Championship record time of 24.04s set by Liam Tancock of Great Britain in 2009.

Fukuoka 2023 World Aquatics Championships: Swimming - Day 8

The swimmers who finished in third to seventh place in the Men's 50m Backstroke at last year's World Championships dropped by one spot in this year's finals. The previous year's bronze medalist Ksawery Masiuk dropped to fourth place, while Thomas Ceccon dropped to fifth place from his fourth-place finish last year.

The results of the Men's 50m Backstroke, as revealed on the Omegatiming website, are given below:

Hunter Armstrong (USA) – 24.05
Justin Ress (USA) – 24.24
Xu Jiayu (CHN) – 24.50
Ksawery Masiuk (POL) – 24.57
Thomas Cecccon (ITA) – 24.58
Apostolos Christou (GRE) – 24.60
Andrew Jeffcoat (NZL) – 24.66
Ole Braunschweig (GER) – 24.93

Women's 50m Breaststroke final of 2023 World Aquatics Championships

Ruta Meilutyte won her second gold medal of the 2023 World Aquatics Championships. After her emphatic victory in the Women's 100m Breaststroke on Day 3 of the World Championships, she put on a stellar performance on the final day of the competition to clinch the Women's 50m Breaststroke title as well.

She won the gold medal in the same event at the previous World Championships as well. But this year was more special for Meilutyte as she finished first with a world record time of 29.16s. USA's Lily King claimed the silver medal with a time of 29.94s.

Both Meilutyte and Lilly King were the only two swimmers to clock a time of under 30 seconds in the finals. Italy's Benedetta Pilato finished in the third spot to claim the bronze medal. Last year's bronze medalist Lara van Niekerk dropped to fourth place.

The results of the Women's 50m Breaststroke final, as revealed on the Omegatiming website, are given below:

Ruta Meilutyte (LTU) – 29.16 (WR)
Lilly King (USA) – 29.94
Benedetta Pilato (ITA) – 30.04
Lara van Niekerk (RSA) – 30.09
Anita Bottazzo (ITA) – 30.11
Tang Qianting (CHN) – 30.22
Satomi Suzuki (JPN) – 30.44
Eneli Jefimova (EST) – 30.48

Men's 1500m Freestyle final of 2023 World Aquatics Championships

On the final day of the 2023 World Aquatics Championships, Ahmed Hafnaoui won his second gold medal of this year's competition. Australia's Sam Short was in the lead for most part of the race as Finke and Hafnaoui were trying to surpass him.

Sam Short held on to the lead till 950m, but exactly at 1000 meters, USA's Bobby Finke claimed the lead from Short. Since then, the lead was continuously exchanged between Finke and Hafnaoui. With 300m left to go, Hafnaoui held on to his lead and no other swimmer was able to surpass him from there.

He clocked a time of 14:31.54, which is a new Championship Record and African Record. Bobby Finke's time of 14:31.59 helped him break his own American record by five seconds. Sam Short, who held the lead for almost 2/3 of the race, dropped to third place.

The top three in the Men's 1500 Freestyle was the same as the 800m Freestyle but in a different order. The results of the event, as revealed on the Omegatiming website, are given below:

Ahmed Hafnaoui (TUN) – 14:31.54 (CR, AF)
Bobby Finke (USA) – 14:31.59 (AM)
Samuel Short (AUS) – 14:37.28
Daniel Wiffen (IRL) – 14:43.01
Lukas Martens (GER) – 14:44.51
Kristof Rasovszky (HUN) – 14:51.46
Mykhailo Romanchuk (UKR) – 14:53.21
David Aubry (FRA) – 14:56.63

Women's 50m Freestyle final of 2023 World Aquatics Championships

Sarah Sjostrom, just after setting a world record time in the semifinals of the Women's 50m Freestyle on Day 7, went on to win the title on Day 8 of the World Championships.

After winning the Women's 50m Freestyle last year, she displayed her dominance in the event this year as well. Sjostrom clocked a time of 23.62s to take home the gold medal. With this victory, the Swedish swimmer also surpassed the record for the most number of individual medals won at the World Championships.

The record was previously held by Michael Phelps with 20 individual medals at World Championships. It was a tight duel for the silver medal between Shayna Jack and Zhang Yufei. At the end of the race, it was Shayna Jack who touched the wall first. Yufei finished in third place followed by USA's Abbey Weitzeil in fourth place.

The results of the Women's 50m Freestyle final, as revealed on the Omegatiming website, are given below:

Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) – 23.62
Shayna Jack (AUS) – 24.10
Zhang Yufei (CHN) – 24.15
Abbey Weitzeil (USA) – 24.32
Emma McKeon (AUS) – 24.35
Cheng Yujie (CHN) – 24.45
Michelle Coleman (SWE) – 24.46
Marrit Steenbergen (NED) – 24.61

Women's 400m Individual Medley final of 2023 World Aquatics Championships

Summer McIntosh continued her excellent performance at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships as she went on to win her second gold medal. The Canadian prodigy clocked a time of 4:27.11 in the 400m IM finals to claim the gold medal.

She led from the start to the end and displayed her authority in the Women's 400m Individual Medley event. Her time of 4:27.11 is a new Championship record. USA's Katie Grimes won the silver medal with a time of 4:31.41, followed by Australia's Jenna Forrester in third place.

The results of the Women's 400m Individual Medley final, as revealed on the Omegatiming website, is given below:

Summer McIntosh (CAN) – 4:27.11 (CR)
Katie Grimes (USA) – 4:31.41
Jenna Forrester (AUS) – 4:32.30
Alex Walsh (USA) – 4:34.46
Freya Colbert (GBR) – 4:35.28
Sara Franceschi (ITA) – 4:37.73
Katie Shanahan (GBR) – 4:41.29
Mio Narita (JPN) – 4:42.14

Men's 4x100m Medley Relay final of 2023 World Aquatics Championships

Team USA's Men's Relay team rose to the occasion during the final men's event of the 2023 World Aquatics Championships. All four members of the relay team produced an excellent performance as they clinched the Men's 4x100m Medley Relay title.

For the first 100m, Ryan Murphy was the only swimmer in the whole field to clock a time of under 53.0. Nick Fink, Dare Rose and Jack Alexy made vital contributions in Team USA's victory. They set a time of 3:27.20, which is a new Championship record.

The previous Championship record was also held by USA, which was set way back in 2009. China won the silver medal, followed by Australia in third place. France and Great Britain occupied the fourth and fifth spots.

The results of the Men's 4x100m Medley Relay final, as revealed on the Omegatiming website, are given below:

USA (Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink, Dare Rose, Jack Alexy) – 3:27.20 (CR)
China (Xu Jiayu, Qin Haiyang, Wang Changhao, Pan Zhanle) – 3:29.00 (AS)
Australia (Bradley Woodward, Zac Stubblety, Matthew Temple, Kyle Chalmers) – 3:29.62
France – 3:29.88
Great Britain – 3:30.16
Japan – 3:32.58
Canada – 3:32.61
Germany – 3:32.91

Women's 4x100m Medley Relay final of 2023 World Aquatics Championships

It was a double gold for Team USA in the Women's 4x100m Medley Relay finals as both men's and women's teams won the gold medal. Just after the men's team won the 4x100m Medley Relay, it was the women's team that went on to clinch the gold medal in the women's category.

Regan Smith, Lilly King, Gretchen Walsh and Kate Douglass all made valuable contributions to the victory with a combined time of 3:52.08. Smith and King were the quickest during their respective 100m. Kate Douglass clocked a time of 52.41 in the anchor leg of the Women's 4x100m Medley Relay.

According to SwimSwam, this is the first time that Team USA had used a 200m breaststroke medalist as their anchor in the Medley Relay. Australia and Canada finished in second and third place with a time of 3:53.37 and 3:54.12, respectively. Mollie O'Callaghan was the quickest during the anchor leg, which was vital to Team Australia's second-place finish.

The results of the Women's 4x100m Medley Relay final, as revealed on the Omegatiming website, are given below:

USA (Regan Smith, Lilly King, Gretchen Walsh, Kate Douglass) – 3:52.08
Australia (Kaylee McKeown, Abbey Harkin, Emma McKeown, Mollie O'Callaghan) – 3:53.37
Canada (Kylie Masse, Sophie Angus, Margaret MacNeil, Summer McIntosh) – 3:54.12
China – 3:54.57
Sweden – 3:56.32
Japan – 3:58.02
Netherlands – 3:58.09
France – 3:59.24

The 2023 World Aquatics Championships began on July 14, with the pool competitions starting only on July 23, and was held until July 30. As the World Championships has concluded, we can say that it was a week full of exhilarating swimming action and a treat for the fans of swimming.