High Diving | Women’s 20m

Fukuoka silver medallist Molly Carlson (168.90) leads the pack after the first two dives of the 2024 competition, ahead of three-time defending champion Rhiannan Iffland (154.40) and Jessica Macauley (141.05).

Athletes to Watch:

Here's who our intrepid correspondent Aimee Berg picked as four women to watch from the 20m tower in her high diving event preview: 

Rhiannan Iffland.  Last July, at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, the Australian won her third consecutive world title – the first high diver in history to do so. Iffland has recorded perfect seasons without a loss. She has performed perfect dives that earned all 10.0s from the judges. But she may be best known for her bulletproof Barani, the final half-twisting manoeuvre that ensures a vertical feet-first entry – a skill she honed as a trampoline athlete.

Molly Carlson. Through the end of 2023, Carlson was the only woman to beat Iffland since 2019 – and she did it three times. After the Canadian claimed the 2023 world championship silver medal at age 24 in her world championship debut, the redhead beat Iffland at a Red Bull event in Bosnia in September – on Iffland’s 32^nd birthday. It was a major confidence booster because Carlson claimed the victory with a slightly-easier version of a dive than she used in Fukuoka.

Jessica Macaulay. The two-time world championship bronze medallist (for Great Britain in 2019 and for Canada in 2023) was set to retire after the last World Championships. But when the Red Bull Cliff Diving Series finale was postponed (due to a sinkhole near the New Zealand venue) and re-scheduled for January 28, 2024, the new date was so close to the Doha championships that she delayed her retirement as well.  Last  year, Macaulay completely changed her mental game and, in December, finished second to Carlson at the Canadian qualifier.

Simone Leathead. The ‘Next Gen’ Canadian diver shot out of nowhere to place fourth at last year’s world championships. Leathead was a 3-meter springboard athlete who took her very first dive from 20 meters in February 2023 – just one year ago.  Since then, her coach, Stéphane Lapointe, said the 20-year-old has improved tremendously and can now do the most difficult dive on the women’s side: a forward four somersaults with a half twist from a standing start, unlike Carlson who uses a running takeoff to initiate the 4.4 DD dive.

Previous Championships:

• 2023:  Gold – Rhiannan Iffland (AUS), Silver – Molly Carlson (CAN), Bronze – Jessica Macaulay (CAN)
• 2022:  Not Held
• 2019:  Gold – Rhiannan Iffland (AUS), Silver – Adriana Jimenez (MEX), Bronze – Jessica Macaulay (GBR)
• 2017:  Gold – Rhiannan Iffland (AUS), Silver – Adriana Jimenez (MEX), Bronze – Yana Nestsiarava (BLR)

Swimming | Men’s 800m Freestyle

With defending champion Ahmed Hafnaoui failing to progress from yesterday’s heats and 2022 silver medallist Florian Wellbrock also missing the cut, the door is wide open for a new world champion to be crowned on night four of competition at the Aspire Dome. The finals field will be split in two. The middle four lanes are somewhat newer names chasing first world titles across any event. Flanking them on the outer lanes on both sides of the pool will be some usual suspects who cannot be written off regardless of their lane allocation.

Italy’s Luca De Tullio will swim from lane four. His time in yesterday’s heats was a narrow personal best from Fukuoka. There it placed him 11th and he missed the heats. Tonight it has him swimming from lane four in the final.

Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen will join De Tullio in the middle of the pool. Wiffen continues to search for Ireland’s breakthrough first world title and was fourth in the final in Fukuoka where he set a new European Record. Since Japan the 22-year-old went on to break Grant Hackett’s fifteen-year-old world record in the short course format of this event and on paper is the man to beat in tonight’s final.

Germany’s Sven Schwarz and Sweden’s Victor Johansson will swim from lanes three and six, both at their first World Aquatics Championships with Johansson posting a new personal best and national record in yesterday’s heats.

Lurking in the outside lanes this evening will be two-time world champion in open water events Kristof Rasovszky, bronze medallist in this event at Budapest 2022 Mykhailo Romanchuk, world champion in this event from Gwangju 2019 Gregorio Paltrinieri, and former 400m Freestyle world champion Elijah Winnington. Game on!

Top Qualified:

• 7:46.52 – Luca De Tullio (ITA)
• 7:46.90 – Daniel Wiffen (IRL)
• 7:46.95 – Sven Schwarz (GER)

Best Entry Times:

• 7:37.00 – Ahmed Hafnaoui (TUN)  [did not qualify for final]
• 7:39.19 – Daniel Wiffen (IRL)
• 7:41.77 – Sven Schwarz (GER)

Fukuoka 2023: 

• 7:37.00 – Gold: Ahmed Hafnaoui (TUN)
• 7:37.76 – Silver: Samuel Short (AUS)
• 7:38.67 – Bronze: Bobby Finke (USA)

Records:

• 7:32.12 – World: Zhang Lin (CHN), 2009
• 7:32.12 – Championship: Zhang Lin (CHN), 2009

Swimming | Women’s 200m Freestyle

Three days after winning a historic first gold for New Zealand in the 400m freestyle Erika Fairweather will enter tonight’s final of the Women’s 200m Freestyle as top seed. The 20-year-old from Dunedin will have her hands full however with the reigning world short course champion Siobhan Haughey of Hong Kong, China, in top form whilst also picking up breaststroke medals “for fun”!

The Australian duo of Shayna Jack and Brianna Throssell will race alongside Fairweather in the top half of the pool, Jack now a twelve-time World Aquatics Championships medallist, and Throssell at thirteen-time medallist, but both still chasing their first individual world title.

Li Bingjie of the People’s Republic of China will benefit from the drop down in distance after winning silver in the 1500m last night. In the semi finals Li came roaring home on the last lap to sneak into the final spot in a tie with 2022 world junior champion Nikolett Padar.

Top Qualified:

• 1:55.75 – Erika Fairweather (NZL)
• 1:56.04 – Siobhan Haughey (HKG)
• 1:56.80 – Shayna Jack (AUS)

Best Entry Times:

• 1:53.96 – Siobhan Haughey (HKG)
• 1:55.37 – Shayna Jack (AUS)
• 1:55.44 – Erika Fairweather (NZL)

Fukuoka 2023:

• 1:52.85 – Gold: Mollie O’Callaghan (AUS)
• 1:53.01 – Silver: Ariarne Titmus (AUS)
• 1:53.65 – Bronze: Summer McIntosh (CAN)

Records:

• 1:52.85 – World: Mollie O’Callaghan (AUS), 2023
• 1:52.85 – Championships: Mollie O’Callaghan (AUS), 2023

Swimming | Men’s 200m Butterfly

It appeared as if the Polish twins Krzysztof Chmielewski and Michal Chmielewski were back-to-back winners in the semi finals of the 200m Butterfly last night to set up a dream final, however Fukuoka 2023 silver medallist Krzsysztof will have to watch from the stands this evening after being disqualified for a non-simultaneous touch at the 100m.

This makes Italy’s Alberto Razzetti the fastest qualifier for tonight’s final ahead of last year’s bronze medallist Tomoru Honda in what looks like an open race with all eight finalists separated by less than a second. Razzetti was ninth last year in Fukuoka and will have a chance to win his first medal at a World Aquatics Championships.

Austria’s Martin Espernberger and Estonia’s Kregor Zirk will chase their nation’s first ever medals in this event tomorrow night, while New Zealand’s Lewis Clareburt will be aiming to be New Zealand’s second-ever world champion following the successes of compatriot Erika Fairweather earlier this week.

Top Qualified:

• 1:55.09 – Alberto Razzetti (ITA)
• 1:55.20 – Tomoru Honda (JPN)
• 1:55.38 - Michal Chmielewski (POL) 

Best Entry Times:

• 1:52.70 – Tomoru Honda (JPN)
• 1:53.62 - Krzysztof Chmielewski (POL)
• 1:54.54 – Richard Marton (HUN)

Fukuoka 2023:

• 1:53.43 – Gold: Leon Marchand (FRA)
• 1:53.62 – Silver: Krzysztof Chmielewski (POL)
• 1:53.66 – Bronze: Tomoru Honda (JPN)

Records:

• 1:50.34 – World: Kristof Milak (HUN), 2022
• 1:50.34 – Championship: Kristof Milak (HUN), 2022

Swimming | Men’s 50m Breaststroke

The Men’s 50m Breaststroke in Doha is one of the most stacked fields the event has seen with six of the nine fastest men of all time lining up to race the one lap sprint. With four of those six progressing through to tonight’s final expect to throw a blanket over the field as the approach the final fifteen metres of the race.

Sam Williamson will enter tonight’s final as top seed with the Australian aiming to win his first World Aquatics Championships medal after a fourth in the 100m Breaststroke on day two of competition, and a fourth-placed finish in this event at Fukuoka 2023. Williamson clocked a lifetime best in the semis, lowering his own national record and Oceanian record in the process, but will still need to knock off the best-ever to win a first world title.

That best-ever, Adam Peaty, will be looking to bounce back from his 100m Breaststroke swim which from all accounts looked like a superb return to the world stage, but for perfectionist Peaty was still considered a “failure”. Peaty is a three-time champion in this event and will be looking for his first world championships gold since 2019.

Budapest 2022 world champion Nic Fink will also line up alongside Williamson and Peaty tonight, as will perennial silver medallist Nicolo Martinenghi who has one individual gold and seven individual silver medals to his name across short course and long course individual breaststroke events at a world championships level.

Top Qualified:

• 26.41 – Sam Williamson (AUS)
• 26.65 – Nicolo Martinenghi (ITA)
• 26.77 – Nic Fink (USA)

Best Entry Times:

• 26.51 – Sam Williamson (AUS)
• 26.59 – Nic Fink (USA)
• 26.64 – Nicolo Martinenghi (ITA)

Fukuoka 2023:

• 26.20 – Gold: Qin Haiyang (CHN)
• 26.59 – Silver: Nic Fink (USA)
• 26.79 – Bronze: Sun Jiajun (CHN)

Records:

• 25.95 – World: Adam Peaty (GBR), 2017
• 25.95 – Championship: Adam Peaty (GBR), 2017