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World Championships: Top 10 Men’s Performances – Marchand Brilliance Tops Ceccon, Milak World Records
Eight days of competition at the FINA World Championships in Budapest included impressive efforts throughout, and a pair swims on the men’s side resulted in individual world records. With some time to look back on the proceedings in Budapest, we already ranked the top 10 women’s swims of the competition, and now we will examine the best of the men’s competition.
1. Leon Marchand, France, 400 IM (4:04.28)
Leon Marchand — Photo Courtesy: Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
On the first night in Budapest, a 20-year-old from Toulouse, France, unleashed perhaps the finest individual medley performance in a decade. Leon Marchand had a breakout year after moving to the United States to work with coach Bob Bowman at Arizona State University, and he immediately translated his collegiate success to the world stage. In his first swim in Budapest, Marchand qualified fastest for the 400 IM final, and after trailing American Carson Foster at the halfway point, Marchand exploded on the breaststroke with a stunning 1:07.28 split. That put him more than a second under world-record pace with 100 meters to go, and that’s no slouch world record – it’s Michael Phelps’ 4:03.84 from the Beijing Olympics, the oldest mark on the books.
Marchand could not match Phelps’ freestyle, but he still finished in 4:04.28, the second-fastest time ever. In one swim, Marchand surpassed all the other recent greats in this race: Ryan Lochte, Chase Kalisz, Kosuke Hagino, Daiya Seto and Laszlo Cseh. Foster swam a best time by almost two seconds, and he finished in an elite time of 4:06.56, and he was still two seconds behind. Marchand went on to post an enormous meet, with a silver medal in the 200 butterfly and a second gold in the 200 IM, but this one stands out as his best of the week and the best by any swimmer all week.
2. Thomas Ceccon, Italy, 100 Backstroke (51.60 WR)
Thomas Ceccon — Photo Courtesy: Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
Thomas Ceccon was on the radar for the 100 backstroke coming off an impressive Olympic debut last year, where he placed fourth in this event. He swam a lifetime-best mark of 52.12 in the semifinals, but that was not even a hint of what he would unleash in the final. Ceccon was second to the halfway point behind world-record holder Ryan Murphy, and then he sizzled down the back stretch with a 26.46 split. He pulled clearly into gold-medal position, and he touched in 51.60, dropping a quarter-second off Murphy’s world record, which had stood since 2016. Murphy claimed silver in that race with his fastest time in four years, so the American was thrilled with his own performance, but he could only nod in respect for Ceccon and his incredible, record-breaking performance.
3. Kristof Milak, Hungary, 200 Butterfly (1:50.34)
Kristof Milak — Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
It was not the sub-1:50 performance that many believed Kristof Milak could produce, but the 22-year-old recorded the most dominant swim of the meet as he provided an absolute thrill for his home fans in Hungary. Milak was an enormous favorite in the 200 butterfly, so far ahead of the field that his semifinal time, over a second-and-a-half off his best, would still have won gold by almost a second. In the final, Milak went out under world-record pace right away, and he was a second quicker than his own 2019 form at the 100 and 150-meter marks. Yes, 1:49 was within reach, but he tightened up somewhat on the way home. Still, the result was a gold medal and a breathtaking time of 1:50.34, more than a second faster than Michael Phelps ever swam during his legendary career. Milak would also add gold in the 100 fly later in the meet.
4. Gregorio Paltrinieri, Italy, 1500 Freestyle (14:32.80)
Gregorio Paltrinieri — Photo Courtesy: Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
Before this race, Gregorio Paltrinieri was the second-fastest man in history in the 1500 freestyle and the European-record holder. His collection of honors in this event included medals at the last four World Championships, including gold in 2015 and 2017, as well as an Olympic title in 2016. But the 27-year-old entered the final having already placed fourth in the 800 free, and he barely qualified for the 1500-meter final as the seventh-seeded swimmer. But Paltrinieri flipped a switch and became his old dominant self as he took the lead and stretched it out to more than six seconds. He was two seconds under world-record pace It made sense that he would eventually fade, but he never did until the last 50, when the superimposed world-record line caught him. Still,Paltrinieri’s time was 14:32.80, the second-quickest swim ever and enough to win another gold medal by nearly four seconds.
5. David Popovici, Romania, 200 Freestyle (1:43.21)
David Popovici — Photo Courtesy: Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
It’s been less than a year since teenager David Popovici burst onto the scene and instantly became a contender to win an Olympic medal, and after coming a fingertip short of the Tokyo podium, Popovici has elevated himself one more level. Popovici, now 17, set a world junior record in the 200 free semifinals (1:44.40), and he instantly became the man to beat in the final. It was clear he was capable of something very special. Olympic gold medalist Tom Dean was the early pace-setter, but Popovici then clobbered the field on the third and fourth laps, swimming away for gold. He finished in 1:43.21, another world junior record, and the swim placed him in the company of greatness. He was now the fourth-fastest performer all-time behind only suit-aided swims from Paul Biedermann and Michael Phelps and the textile-best of 1:43.14 from Yannick Agnel in 2012. Given his age and his improvement curve, could he threaten the long-untouchable world record before long? Popovici also put himself within striking distance of a record in the 100 free after swimming a time of 47.13 in the semifinals. and he backed that up by winning gold a day later.
6. Elijah Winnington, Australia, 400 Freestyle (3:41.22)
Elijah Winnington — Photo Courtesy: Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
Perhaps you forgot about this effort by Elijah Winnington in the men’s 400 freestyle. That would make sense, honestly. It was the very first finals race of the World Championships. But one year after Winnington arrived at his first Olympics as the top-ranked swimmer in the world but failed to win a medal, this 22-year-old Australian produced a masterful performance in Budapest. In the 400 free final, Winnington led for the first half of the race before Germany’s Lukas Martens took over on the third 100, but Winnington battled back. He trailed by two tenths with 50 meters to go, but then he annihilated the final 50 meters with a 26.50 split, good enough to not only move ahead but win by 1.63 seconds. Winnington touched in 3:41.22, the fastest time recorded in a decade and good enough to make him the fifth-fastest performer in history behind Paul Biedermann, Ian Thorpe, Sun Yang and Ous Mellouli.
7. Bobby Finke, USA, 800 Freestyle (7:39.36)
Bobby Finke — Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
He stunned the world by pulling off a pair of distance freestyle gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics, but this time, everyone saw Bobby Finke coming. Yes, he was in fourth place with 50 meters to go in the 800 freestyle final, more than a second off the lead, but the trio of Mykhailo Romanchuk, Florian Wellbrock and Gregorio Paltrinieri hardly felt safe with that margin. Indeed, Finke fired off a 25.93 finishing split, and while Wellbrock tried to pick up his tempo and stay close, he could not hold off Finke at the finish as the American secured the world title in 7:39.36, crushing his own American record and making Finke the seventh-fastest swimmer in history. Finke could not repeat his heroics in the 1500 free, but it took Paltrinieri swimming well under world-record pace and building a six-second lead over Finke to provide enough cushion. Still, Finke showed off his finishing speed in the 30-lap race by running down Wellbrock and securing silver in 14:36.70, taking down Connor Jaeger’s American record.
8. Nicolo Martinenghi, Italy, 400 Medley Relay Split (57.47)
Nicolo Martinenghi — Photo Courtesy: Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
Nicolo Martinenghi could have been done for the World Championships after he upset Arno Kamminga for the world title in the 100 breaststroke, and the meet would have been a success. Martinenghi added another individual medal as he placed second in the 50 breast, just three hundredths behind Nic Fink, but it was not until the final day when Martinenghi led Italy to one of the country’s finest moments ever in swimming. The Italians edged out the Americans for gold in the men’s 400 medley relay with a team of Thomas Ceccon, Martinenghi, Federico Burdisso and Alessandro Miressi. Italy required a big lead at the halfway point to have a shot at gold, Martinenghi came through with a 57.47 split, the fastest in history by any man not named Adam Peaty, and four tenths faster than Fink’s split on the same leg. That gave Burdisso and Miressi just enough cushion to be able to finish 0.28 ahead of the U.S. relay and win Italy’s first-ever World Championship gold medal in any relay.
9. Ben Proud, Great Britain, 50 Freestyle (21.32)
Ben Proud — Photo Courtesy: Photo Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
The field in the men’s 50 freestyle opened up when Caeleb Dressel withdrew from the second half of the World Championships, and Great Britain’s Ben Proud took advantage. Proud is the fourth-fastest swimmer in history in the 50 free (and second-fastest active swimmer behind Dressel), but he had never won a medal in the event at a long course World Championships, and he tied for fifth at the Tokyo Olympics last year. But in Budapest, Proud recalibrated his own expectations for the race with Dressel out, and he moved into the final as the gold-medal favorite after swimming a time of 21.42 in the semifinals. The next day, he lowered his mark to 21.30 as he secured a gold medal, touching a tenth ahead of American silver medalist Michael Andrew.
10. Tom Dean, Great Britain, 800 Freestyle Relay Split (1:43.53)
Tom Dean — Photo Courtesy: Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
Great Britain won Olympic gold last year in the 800 freestyle relay, but Duncan Scott missed the World Championships because of challenges in his recovery from COVID-19, so a repeat performance was going to be a challenge. In fact, Britain was in fifth place for the first three legs of the 800 free relay, but that changed when Tom Dean uncorked an insane anchor split of 1:43.53, the fifth-best relay split in history, to elevate his teammates into bronze-medal position, seven tenths ahead of fourth-place Brazil, and onto the podium. Only one swimmer split within a second of Dean in the entire field (American anchor Kieran Smith). After winning Olympic gold in the 200 free and 800 free relay last year, the 20-year-old Dean captured a trio of bronze medals in Budapest, including an individual award for the 200 free and a medal for stepping into the anchor role on his country’s 400 medley relay.
