The 2022 World Aquatics Championships are – to use an aquatic term – a bit of an odd fish. They started life as the 2021 Championships, due to be held in Fukuoka, Japan. They were postponed from that year to avoid clashing with the already-postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympics. They were then further postponed due to the on-going pandemic to 2023. Not wanting to go 4 years without a World Championships (the last were held in South Korea in 2019), the governing body, FINA, hastily arranged these championships, taking place in Budapest.
Those circumstances alone make this an unusual championships, but things have further been complicated by the crowded sporting schedule (which has seen several Commonwealth swimmers skip the Worlds in favour of those Games next month), as well as the inevitable post-Olympic retirements, the ongoing pandemic and finally, but very much not least, the ongoing war in Ukraine.
This final situation has seen the banning of Russian and Belarussian athletes from several sporting events and these championships are one of those. It all adds up to a strange situation, with many Olympic medalists not here at the first major meet after those games.
The outcome of all this is that the USA – a nation that regularly finishes top of the medal table anyway – could see unprecedented success at these championships. Caeleb Dressel is a one man medal machine but expect Lilly King and Katie Ledecky to come away with bagfuls of medals each, especially in the absence of Yulia Efimova, Tatjana Schoenmaker and Ariane Titmus.
However, this does not mean that there are not stars on display. Summer McIntosh, the teenage Canadian sensation is tipped to enjoy a breakout meet and David Popovici of Romania could continue his meteoric rise. And although Dressel will win a ton of medals, look for his battle with home favourite Kristof Milak in the 100m fly to be one of the potential highlights of the championships.
From a British point of view, these championships were potentially a chance to build on their successful Olympics. However, their medal chances have been hit heavily with injuries to Kathleen Dawson, Adam Peaty and the late Covid-related withdrawl of Duncan Scott. They do still have prospects (Tom Dean and Abbie Wood being two of their brightest) but expect this meet to be a relatively quiet one ahead of those potentially explosive Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Finally for this preview, the banning of Russian athletes will have a huge effect on the artistic swimming, a discipline that they dominate. Expect China and, perhaps poetically, Ukraine to benefit from their absence.
In water polo, the USA women start as red hot favourites. The men’s side is more open but Olympic champions Serbia should be seen as one of the tips and expect strong showings from the home nation.
I’ll preview the open water swimming and diving early next week, when the final entries are released. Until next time!!
Ian's World Of Sports 