Swimming at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships: Preview, full schedule, top stars, and how to watch live action
The swimming competition takes the spotlight in Fukuoka, Japan from 15 to 30 July. Will Katie Ledecky extend her 800m freestyle winning streak into the second decade? Can France's Leon Marchand break Michael Phelps' last remaining world record? And what are the chances for Canadian record-setting teenager Summer McIntosh? Find out everything you need to know about the upcoming competition in our preview.
Swimming
Forty-seven gold medals, and possibly two of the world's longest-standing records, will be up for grabs when the swimming competition of the 2023 World Aquatics Championships is held in Fukuoka, Japan from 15 to 30 July.
United States dominated the swimming events at last year's world championships, leaving Budapest with more than double the medals of the next most successful team, Australia. But while USA's worlds roster is once again packed with top names, including seven-time Olympic champion Katie Ledecky, nothing is guaranteed.
Led by five-time Olympic champion Emma McKeon and six-time Olympic medallist Kyle Chalmers, Australia is sending one of its strongest ever teams. To add to the challenge, there are a handful of young record holders such as Hungary's Kristof Milak, Canada's Summer McIntosh and France's Leon Marchand who are eager to steal the show - and maybe even tackle the world marks set by Michael Phelps and Federica Pellegrini set more than 14 years ago.
Who are the top names to follow and what are the must-watch races? Find out everything you need to know about the competition, including the full schedule of the open water and swimming medal events and how to tune in to live action, in our preview.
USA braces for mounting challenge from Australia
Team USA was the undisputed leader at last year's world championships, winning 45 medals overall, including 17 gold. To compare, the second-place finisher Australia had a total of 17 medals. Italy was third with nine.
With the exception of seven-time Olympic champion Caeleb Dressel who missed out on qualification, all of USA’s individual gold medallists from the 2022 World Aquatics Championships will be in Fukuoka to defend their titles.
Team veterans Ledecky and Chase Kalisz have not missed a long course world championships or podium since 2013 and will be making their sixth world apperance in Fukuoka. USA's star line-up also features Tokyo 2020 Olympic women's 100m breaststoke champion Lydia Jacoby and men's 800m and 1500m freestyle champion Bobby Finke.
While USA is once again poised for a dominant streak in the pool, expect their long-term rivals Australia to put up an increasingly tough fight.
The Dolphins have continued to progress since celebrating their best ever Olympic performance at Tokyo 2020 and hope to carry that momentum into Fukuoka with the help of world record holders Zac Stubblety-Cook and Kaylee McKeown, Australia’s most decorated Olympian Emma McKeon and Olympic champions Kyle Chalmers, Ariarne Titmus and Mollie O'Callaghan.
McKeon and Titmus were not in the pool to challenge USA's dominance at last year's world championships, opting instead to compete only at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Race to watch: Ledecky, Titmus and McIntosh in women’s 400m freestyle
An Olympic champion, a world champion and a world-record breaking teenager will face off in the women’s 400m freestyle - a race that promises to be one of the highlights of the 2023 World Aquatics Championships.
Titmus won the event at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships and then again at Tokyo 2020, Ledecky taking the silver both times. The following season was a turbulent one with Ledecky claiming the world title in Titmus' absence from Budapest and the Australian breaking Ledecky's world record.
The swimming competition in Fukuoka will be the first time the two swimmers dive into the same pool since Tokyo 2020. But now there is a new challenge - 16-year-old Summer McIntosh who set a world record in the 400m freestyle at the Canadian Swimming Trials in March 2023.
The Canadian teenager swam 3:56.08, bettering Titmus' 2022 record by 0.32 seconds and Ledecky's 2016 record by 0.38 seconds.
Titmus and Ledecky have both beaten McIntosh last year - at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and 2022 World Aquatics Championships, respectively - but have yet to race each other since McIntosh set the new world mark.
Chasing legends: The quest for Phelps, Pellegrini and Dressel's world records
In addition to recapturing her 2019 world title in the women’s 400m freestyle, Ariarne Titmus will be looking for a historic result in another race – to break the world record in the women's 200m freestyle, the oldest standing world record in women’s long course swimming.
Italy’s Federica Pelligrini set the scorching 01:52.98 mark back in 2009. Titmus, the reigning Olympic champion and Olympic record holder in the event, has been the closest to get to that time in the last 14 years. She swam 1:53.09 at Australia’s 2021 Olympic trials and had the fastest ever split of 1:52.82 at the 2022 Commonwealth Games to anchor Australia to gold in the women's 4x200m freestyle relay.
Leon Marchand is also targeting an iconic mark in Fukuoka. In his case, it is the 15-year-old record that Michael Phelps set in the men’s 400m individual medley at the 2008 Olympic Games. The 4:03.84 is Phelps' last individual world record and the 21-year-old Frenchman is seconds from tearing it down.
With world titles in the 200m and 400m individual medley events from his worlds debut in 2022, Marchand is not lacking in confidence or ambition. Add to this his European record of 04:04.28, the motivation of the upcoming home Olympic Games and encouraging messages from Phelps himself, and Marchand could leave Fukuoka with more than just medals.
Also watch out for Kristof Milak as the Hungarian swimmer looks to extend his dominance in the butterfly events starting with his signature 200m in which he already holds the Olympic title, world title and a world record of 01:50.34.
Milak is just one of two swimmers who have gone under the 1:52-second mark in the event and has hinted that he aims to lower his own record further, below 1.50.
The 23-year-old also comes to Fukuoka as the defending 100m butterfly champion, but the world record in that event still belongs to Caeleb Dressel who swam 49.45 to win gold at Tokyo 2020. Milak won the world title in a time of 50.14 and has gone under the 50-second mark at the Olympic Games, where he took silver.
With Dressel absent from Fukuoka 2023, the ambitious Hungarian could seize the opportunity to make more history in the men's butterfly.
2023 World Aquatics Championships – Complete swimming schedule
Five open water events will kick off the swimming competition at Fukuoka 2023 with eight competition days in the Marine Messe pool to follow. The swimming heats start at 10:30 a.m. local time and the finals continue the action from 8:00 p.m.
The full schedule, including the timings of the heats, quarter-finals and semi-finals, can be found here.
Saturday, 15 July
- Women's 10km open water
Sunday, 16 July
- Men's 10km open water
Tuesday, 18 July
- Women's 5km open water
- Men's 5km open water
Thursday, 20 July
- Team relay 6km open water
Sunday, 23 July
- Men’s 400m freestyle
- Women’s 400m freestyle
- Men’s 400m individual medley
- Women’s 4x100m freestyle relay
- Men’s 4x100m freestyle relay
Monday, 24 July
- Men’s 100m breaststroke
- Women’s 100m butterfly
- Men’s 50m butterfly
- Women’s 200m individual medley
Tuesday, 25 July
- Men’s 200m freestyle
- Women’s 1500m freestyle
- Women’s 100m backstroke
- Men’s 100m backstroke
- Women’s 100m breaststroke
Wednesday, 26 July
- Men’s 800m freestyle
- Women’s 200m freestyle
- Men’s 200m butterfly
- Men’s 50m breaststroke
- Mixed 4x100m medley relay
Thursday, 27 July
- Women’s 200m butterfly
- Men’s 100m freestyle
- Women’s 50m backstroke
- Men’s 200m individual medley
- Women’s 4x200m freestyle relay
Friday, 28 July
- Women’s 100m freestyle
- Women’s 200m breaststroke
- Men’s 200m backstroke
- Men’s 200m breaststroke
- Men’s 4x200m freestyle relay
Saturday, 29 July
- Women’s 50m butterfly
- Men’s 50m freestyle
- Men’s 100m butterfly
- Women’s 200m backstroke
- Women’s 800m freestyle
- Mixed 4x100m freestyle relay
Sunday, 30 July
- Men’s 50m backstroke
- Women’s 50m breaststroke
- Men’s 1500 freestyle
- Women’s 50m freestyle
- Women’s 400m individual medley
- Men’s 4x100m medley relay
- Women’s 4x100m medley relay
How to watch the 2023 World Aquatics Championships
In Europe, the European Broadcasting Union holds the rights for the World Aquatics Championships. Many EBU member broadcasters, including the BBC in the United Kingdom, France Télévisions in France, and RAI in Italy, will broadcast the competition. The EBU's All Aquatics digital channel will also broadcast the events for free in Europe.
In the United States, NBC holds the rights to the World Aquatics Championships. Check the local listings for broadcast schedules.
Fans in Australia can watch the 2023 World Championships on 9Network and 9Now.
TV Asahi serves as the broadcaster for hosts Japan.