Throwback Thursday: Flashback to Fukuoka…What Happened When the World Championships First Visited Japan

Throwback Thursday: Flashback to Fukuoka…When the World Championships First Visited Japan

The World Championships in Fukuoka are less than two weeks away and the meet will signify a return to the Japanese city that first served as a World Champs host more than two decades ago. It was 2001 when FINA (now World Aquatics) brought its signature event to Asia for the first time, and that year also marked – except for the COVID-altered schedule – the transition of the World Championships into a biennial event.

As part of this week’s installment of Throwback Thursday, let’s take a trip back in time and revisit some of the top moments and interesting facts from the 2001 edition of the World Championships, and Fukuoka’s first foray into hosting duties.

While the United States won the overall medal count in 2001 with 26 (9-9-8), Australia left Fukuoka with the most gold medals: 13. That figure was buoyed by Ian Thorpe’s six titles, as the freestyle legend won the 200 freestyle, 400 freestyle and 800 freestyle and powered three relays to victory. All three of Thorpe’s solo triumphs arrived in world-record time.
The 2001 version of the World Championships marked a significant expansion of the competition program. The meet featured the debut of the 50-meter events in backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly, along with the addition of the 800 freestyle for men and the 1500 freestyle for women.
One year after debuting on the Olympic stage as a 15-year-old, Michael Phelps claimed his first world championship. Phelps scorched a world-record performance of 1:54.58 to take top honors in the 200 butterfly. It was his second world record of the year, as he set his initial standard in March, going 1:54.92 in Austin.
The German women won the 400 freestyle relay, finishing ahead of the United States and Great Britain, the joint silver medalists. Katrin Meissner led the way with a 54.07 split. Germany has not won another gold in relay action since.
A year after emerging victorious in multiple events at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, the Netherlands’ Inge de Bruijn and Ukrainian Yana Klochkova again claimed multiple gold medals. De Bruijn doubled in the sprint-freestyle events and won the 50 butterfly while Klochkova prevailed in the 400 freestyle and 400 individual medley, and finished runnerup to American Maggie Bowen in the 200 medley.
Nineteen countries had at least one athlete reach the podium, with Germany joining the United States and Australia with double-digit medals.
Anthony Ervin is best known for his prowess in the 50 freestyle, where he was the Olympic champion in 2000 (tie with Gary Hall Jr.) and 2016. Ervin won the one-lap sprint in Fukuoka, but he also bested the field in the 100 freestyle, as his American record of 48.33 held up to defeat Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband (48.43).
After just missing the Team USA roster with a pair of third-place finishes at the Olympic Trials the previous year, Brendan Hansen delivered his international breakthrough. A future captain for multiple Team USA squads, Hansen won the 200 breaststroke in 2:10.69, silver going to Austrian Maxim Podoprigora and Japan’s Kosuke Kitajima. For the next decade, Hansen and Kitajima battled in one of the best rivalries in the sport, Kitajima winning double gold in the breaststroke events at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics.
In helping Australis capture top honors in the gold-medal count, Giaan Rooney won the 200 freestyle ahead of China’s Yang Yu. Today, Rooney is still involved in the sport, often conducting excellent post-race interviews at major Australian competitions.
Aside from Thorpe and Phelps, the other individual world record set in Fukuoka was the seismic showing of Aussie Grant Hackett in the 1500 freestyle. Hackett covered 30 laps in 14:34.56, which was good for a 24-second margin of victory and a global standard that would endure for a decade and still makes Hackett the No. 3 performer in history.
In Fukuoka, Germany’s Hannah Stockbauer was golden in the 800 freestyle and 1500 freestyle, and added a bronze medal in the 400 freestyle. Two years later, when the World Champs were held in Barcelona, Stockbauer swept the distance events.
Legendary backstroker Aaron Peirsol earned his first world title in Fukuoka, winning the 200 backstroke in 1:57.13, ahead of Austrian Markus Rogan. It was the first of 12 medals at the World Champs for Peirsol, a member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

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