Swimming World's Weekly Splash💦

The World Open Water Swimming Association (WOWSA) Advisory Board has announced that it will not ratifyDiana Nyad‘s 2013 swim from Cuba to Florida.

Nyad swam from Cuba to the Florida Keys and was the allegedly first to do so without a shark cage. In 2013, according to WOWSA, Nyad “sought ratification of the Cuba-to-Florida swim from any organization that would review it,” but her 2018 request for ratification submitted to WOWSA lacked “any supporting documentation.”

The swim has been a point of controversy since it took place for several reasons, including not having an established set of rules for the swim, it being declared a record without formal ratification, according to the WOWSA report.
The swim has returned to a hot topic with the release of a Netflix film “Nyad” based on Nyad’s swim and life.

Hoping to join the Australian women’s 400 freestyle relay squad? Good luck. Even with veterans Cate Campbell and Bronte Campbell not part of the team since the Tokyo Olympics, the group still comprises the world’s most talented relay. At this year’s Australian Trials, six of the eight finalists in the women’s 100 free were Olympic gold medalists while another, Shayna Jack, has returned to her place in the elite ranks after a positive test for a banned substance ruined her Olympic chances in 2021.

Essentially, the final consisted of a who’s who of elite sprinting — plus a 17-year-old from Carlisle Swim Club in Sydney. Well, it has not taken long for that teenager to establish her own world-class credentials.

Olivia Wunsch has already earned four medals at the World Junior Championships in Netanya, Israel, with gold medals in the 100 free, mixed 400 free relay and most recently the women’s 400 free relay plus a tie for bronze in the 50 butterfly. Wunsch will also be favored for two more medals Saturday, as she is the top seed in the 50 free, having blasted a best time of 24.60 in the semifinals, before she is set to anchor the Aussie women’s 400 medley relay.
In her individual victory Wednesday, Wunsch took over on the back half, overtaking Italian Sara Curtis before winning by 37-hundredths over fellow Aussie Milla Jansen. By the finish, the next-closest non-Australian swimmer was nearly one second adrift. Wunsch made her maiden voyage under 54 in that final, swimming a mark of 53.71.

Leah Hayes finished off the fourth night of the World Junior Championships with an emphatic win in the women’s 200 individual medley. Her time of 2:10.24 opened up nearly three seconds over the field and set a meet record.

It was one of three gold and seven total medals for the Americans on the fourth night of six in Netanya, Israel. The U.S. is atop the medal table with 11 gold medals in 26 events, only it and Australia (five) with multiple golds among the 12 nations that have won gold. The U.S. leads with 22 total medals.

Eleven finals were on the docket for the final evening of the World Junior Championships in Netanya, Israel, and Maximus Williamson of the United States and Olivia Wunsch of Australia each went out with a bang. Williamson, already with gold medals in the 200 IM and three relays, added his fifth and sixth gold medals in the men’s 100 freestyle and men’s 400 medley relay while Wunsch got the job done in meet-record-tying fashion in the 50 free before anchoring the Australian women’s medley relay to gold.
Additionally, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Lana Pudar and Ukraine’s Oleksandr Zheltiakov each won their second individual gold medals of the meet, and those results combined with additional silver medals earned them swimmer of the meet honors. The United States, with 33 total medals including 15 gold, was named team of the meet.
A potential showdown between 17-year-old American Maximus Williamson and 18-year-old Aussie Flynn Southam did not materialize after Southam, who swam as fast as 47.77 earlier this year, did not qualify for the final. Instead, the Williamson show in Netanya continued. Already, he had split sub-48 on a pair of title-winning relays and earned gold in the 200 IM with a dominant freestyle leg, recording the fastest time by an American teenager not named Michael Phelps.