Fukuoka will be the epicenter of swimming for the next two weeks. From the morning of Thursday to Friday, the city in the south of Japan will host for the second time in its history, after the 2001 edition, a World Cup in which the United States will be the rival that will have to be beaten for a large part of the disciplines The country of stars and stripes won 49 medals at the previous meeting in Budapest, 18 of which were gold, and in Japanese soil it will once again be the ogre of the pools at the Marine Messe complex. In 2022, the Americans practically tripled the second place in the swimming medal, an Australia that presents itself as the only delegation capable of taking prominence from the Americans. Italy, with nine swimming metals in Hungary, is the third in discord.
The United States arrives at the World Cup with all the reigning world champions in individual events, except for Caeleb Dressel, who failed to qualify for his country’s trials. Katie Ledecky, reigning four-time world champion and two-time Olympic champion, leads the USA’s all-star army, which also includes Lydia Jacoby, Olympic gold in the 100 breaststroke, and Bobby Finke, winner of the 800m and 1,500m freestyle in Tokyo 2020
The ocean team, on the other hand, has top scorers such as Zac Stubblety-Cook and Kaylee McKeown, the winner of 26 medals between Games and World Cups; Emma McKeon, and Olympic champions Kyle Chalmers, Mollie O’Callaghan and Ariarne Titmus. The latter, absent in Budapest, will star in one of the most anticipated events in the 400m freestyle, in which she will face current champion Ledecky and Canadian Summer McIntosh, who at 16 already holds the world record in the event and two world golds (200m butterfly and 400 styles). The teenager will be Canada’s best card, just like David Popovici for Romania and Léon Marchand for France, winners of four golds in the previous edition. Kristof Milak, who was the great hope of Hungary, winner of two world titles in his country, confirmed the withdrawal in June because he did not feel at an optimal “physical and mental” level.
For its part, the Spanish delegation will have 79 participants in Fukuoka, of which 45 will be women, and 12 of them members of the artistic swimming team, which will try to return to the medals. Without the Russian team in competition, for the second consecutive World Cup banned due to the invasion of Ukraine, the Spanish, with a young team, could get on the podium after only scraping a bronze between Tokyo 2020 and the 2022 World Cup edition.
However, where the Spanish have more medal options is in water polo. The men’s team is the current champion, while the women’s team, Olympic runner-up in Tokyo 2020, remains in the group of favourites.
