30 WORLD RECORDS - HISTORIC Swimming Championships ｜ ABOUT LAST NIGHT ｜ Day 6

Take your arms. Listen to the crowd. This is a remarkable performance. A world record, David. Have you, Raymond, ever seen anything like it? He can't believe it, but it just happened. Hello and welcome to About Last Night Budapest edition here for day six, the final night of racing. What a night it was, and what a start to the show we've got, because Elisabeth Beisel and I are being joined by the athlete of the year, the man of the moment. He was awesome, you were awesome. Noé Ponte. Noé Ponte, you're pretty awesome. You are. Got all embarrassed there. Bow down. You've had an amazing week, Noé. Yeah. Sum it up for us. Yeah, it wasn't a bad week at all. And, yeah, started off with a world record and first world title in the 50 fly, then 1 AM world title, yesterday another world record, another world title. So it wasn't a bad week for me. It wasn't a bad week for the other swimmers as well. So, yeah, I think one of the craziest world championships ever. So it was fun to be a part of this, how do you say, big, big party. Yes. Noé, why do you think this meet was so crazy in terms of world record after world record after world record? Because you were one of them. I don't know. Yeah, I really don't know. I guess the pool is pretty fast and we were all excited to swim, especially after the Olympics, not as much pressure as we had at the Olympics, so we were able to perform very well. And also some US girls, they raced for the first time in short course meters and they were able to show off pretty well. So I guess a little bit over everything and, yeah. And for you, you know, you're done now and you're heading back home. What's the reaction been like back there in Switzerland? What's the vibe that's waiting for you when you get there? Yeah, I think they're going pretty crazy in Switzerland. It was the first world title in the pool for Switzerland, short course, long course, it doesn't matter, first world title. And especially in my region, the Italian part, they're all going crazy. So I'm looking forward to get back tomorrow in Switzerland and to celebrate with my people, everything, and it's going to be really fun. When you break a world record that is held by Caleb Dressel, I can only imagine the amount of confidence that that gives you, because Caleb is the best. He's the man. But now you are the man, so what does that do for you? Yeah, I don't know if I'm the man yet, but it's really amazing to be able to swim as fast as Caleb Dressel did. And, yeah, it's just, well, I was looking up to him and then I got to race with him, to stand on the podium with him, and now I got to beat his world record in the 100 fly, his race. So it's really amazing and I'm really grateful for everything. I'm really, really happy. And what's next then for you? You finished off the year on such a high. What's going to be next in 2025? What's the dream? What's the hope? What do you want to do? What do you want to achieve? Where do you want to be? I'd like to be in the same spot, in the long course as well. So I'm looking forward to take a little break now and then getting back stronger and start training in January. And, yeah, I'm looking forward to Singapore 2025. I have one more question. Just because I'm curious, do you have a favorite swim over the course of this last week? My favorite swim that I did was the 100 fly yesterday. Otherwise, yeah, the other guys, girls, they did amazing. And it's hard to pick one. Maybe the 90 of yesterday was something crazy. But my personal of my swims, yeah, the 100 fly yesterday was something amazing, yeah. Now you get to go home to your dog. Yeah, I get to go home to my dog, yeah. I'm looking forward to it. Well, look, congratulations, mate. It's been amazing and an honor, honestly, watching you do that this week. It's been so sick. I know Barcelona have absolutely loved it. I've had chills after all of your races. I think I've cried too. You're amazing. So congratulations, yeah. Make us all emotional. Right, we're going to send him off because you go celebrate now. Get off. It's been brilliant. Always a pleasure. And we'll see you next year. And now that we've said farewell to Noah, he's gone off to enjoy his holidays. Well-deserved, I must say. We're going to bring in our guest for the night as well. He's going to talk us through some of this analysis. The incredible James Gibson. Come on over here, James. So happy to have you back again on About Last Night. What a way to finish. We went out with a bang. That was great tonight, wasn't it? Great, great. I think we ended up with 30 world records total. I just had to double check those numbers. But awesome way to finish the competition. And of course, heading into tonight's final night of action, it was absolutely packed. We had 10 new world champions. So we're going to run through them real quick because it was a big week. And we're going to get through tonight. It was unbelievable. We started off with the women's 50 free, none other than the Queen Gretchen Walsh herself for her ninth world record, just solidifying the cap on an incredible weekend. I mean, iconic. Absolutely iconic. And then the men's. Breathtaking. And then we moved over to the men. Another iconic swim from Jordan Crooks, getting his second world championship title after defending that from Melbourne. And of course, hitting that 19.9 last night. It was an amazing, amazing night for him. Yep. And then the women's 50 breaststroke with Ruta Melutite from Lithuania. She was kind of under the radar all week. She was in some semifinals, some finals, but finally got her hand on the wall first in her signature event. And I think she just loves the sport. And she's happy. And a happy swimmer is a fast swimmer. So it's great to see Ruta on top. It really was great to see her do that. And we moved over to the men. It was Qin Haiyang from China getting his second of the week. And a double crown as well because he won them across all three stops of the World Cups. He was awesome. He's been great all week. And it looked like he was having a lot of fun with it as well. I think he was very, very happy to finish out his week with another world title. And then we moved over to the women's turn or backstroke where we saw Regan Smith win the double crown, break her own world record by almost a full second. And she said to me after the race how much this event means to her. She gets the most nervous for this because it is her baby. So for her to end the meet individually on top with breaking her own world record, there's no better way to go out. No, and it gave me chills. I had chills when she did that. It was awesome. And then speaking of chills, I got them again. We moved into the men's 200 back. Hubie Koch, he did it in front of a home crowd. He became long course world champion in Fukuoka. He was Olympic champion. But to be able to get up here tonight and do that in front of a packed crowd in Budapest, the roar was unbelievable. And just like .03 off the world record as well. Mitch Larkin's world record. I know he's chasing it down. But awesome to see him get that. We'll see him get that soon for sure. That's what I said to him as well. Yeah, agreed. That's yours. And then moving on to the women's tuner freestyle, it was Siobhan Haughey from start to finish. She defended her title for the third time in a row. She's the current world record holder. Came in with a lot of pressure. But she said she doesn't like to think about it. She just swims her own race. And she did just that tonight and waited all week to get a gold medal. But the wait was worth it. Three in a row. In a row. Insane. Yeah. Insane. And speaking of insane, Luke Hobson broke that world record once again in the men's 200-meter freestyle. He was a body length and a half in front at the touch in a 200. It was wild to see. And, you know, I spoke to him after the race, and I said to him, did you know you had that in you? And he went, yeah, you know, after I did it in the relay, there was still some left in the tank. I was like, that is confidence. And so good to see him get his first individual title. And he's now an individual world champion and the fastest man ever in a 200 freestyle. Insane. I love his quiet confidence. It's so great. And then we moved on to the relays, the best way to end a meet. We started with the women's 4x100 medley. Regan Smith led this off in a 54.0, breaking her own world record. She had done it the night previous, but it was on a mixed medley relay. So her leadoff time did not count because men were swimming in the event. But tonight she finally, and then the rest of the three other swimmers did their jobs, Lilly King, Gretchen Walsh, Kate Douglas, breaking the world record by nearly four seconds. Iconic. Four seconds. That's all I have to say. It was amazing. And to finish the men's program as well, of course, in true typical like world swimming championships in Budapest style, we went out with a world record. The neutral athletes there did a world record. And it was, it really came down to the touch. Jack Alexey chasing him down. It was, you know, a few one hundredths of a second between them, but it was a fantastic way to finish the night. And of course, another check for $25,000 for those athletes. And speaking of world record holders, which we have done literally all week, our own Nick Hope was able to catch up with Gretchen Walsh and Regan Smith in the mixed zone. And here's what they had to say. It's been a very great meet. I've had a lot of fun practicing swimming freely without expectations and not letting the nerves get the best of me. And I think I did a great job of doing that this week and executing. And, you know, even without Kaylee here, there's still so much talent and backstroke. And so I think I had my hands full, but I'm really proud that I was able to deliver despite all that. So I couldn't be happier. So a packed final night. And I think we, you know, we've just had our minds blown this whole week. So, James, I want to now bring you into this just as a bit of an overview of what's happened here at the last six days. I don't think people at home and even myself really realize what history we witnessed over the last six days. Yeah, and I've been asked this question. Why is this happening? What is going on? And I can assure you the pool is the right length. It has been measured over and over again. It's measured every session. So it is the correct length. But I'm going to put this in context. We've been waiting a while. So, you know, the last World Championships were in Melbourne. The environment was outside. It was a little bit chilly. So that takes the edge off athletic performance. The one previous to that, that was in Abu Dhabi, and that was a COVID World Championships. So we were coming off the back of a COVID World Championships. So then it's like we have been waiting for this big breakthrough meet. We have been. And also I'm going to just say it's been very well attended by some of the world's top stars. Just like the World Aquatics World Cup Tour, you know, it's been attended by the best swimmers in the world. They come on the World Cup Tour, then they've come here, and they've raced into shape. Regan is that great example, isn't she? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, she has not been training like she normally would be, but is somehow breaking all these world records and going best times and breaking barriers. James, to your point, it's because she's racing more. Exactly. So she's putting herself out there. And in terms of what I saw tonight, she did the 200 back world record. And honestly, I think she was a bit frustrated after the mixed relay because she let off in a world record, but it doesn't count. So we actually had 31 world records, but one didn't count because it was a mixed relay. I'll just let you know at home that men and female races, when they have that, they can't count because of drafting rules. But you know what? I think we've got to re-look at that rule because it wasn't fair. So we actually had 31 world records. One won't count. Regan coming tonight, she did a two back, and it was only like 20 minutes later. Another world record. Yeah, like that. And she smashed that first 100. So I didn't think that happened by accident. Like you said, more and more racing, more and more exposure to high performance environments. I think we're training smarter. I mean, you're coaching. You see it firsthand. What do you think has changed over the last few years to allow these athletes to completely blow away barriers? Like 99 in the men's 50 free. What are we doing differently that you see firsthand as a coach every day? Right, so here, it's a lot to do with the underwater kicking. So just on the rules, the athletes can kick to 15 meters underwater. They travel faster underneath than on the surface. So you see a lot more athletes exploiting this. Like look at Gretchen Walsh. It's about the athlete's ability to underwater kick because they travel faster. We're learning more about that. Jordan maximizes underwaters. Gretchen maximizes their underwaters. And that's when we see these results happening. There's been two world records in the male 50 free and the female 50 free. We've got the two fastest human beings ever from this meet. So coaches are sort of finding new ways. And there's been advances in strength and conditioning. We've looked at a lot more video analysis work going around the pool. And I think there's a lot of psychology involved in this because the envelope is moving. So you change your perception of what's possible. Gretchen Walsh here at this meet, 11 world records in total, 9 individuals. She has changed the perception of what's possible. Back-to-back racing. How she does that is great. I want to go see Todd DiSalvo. You should. I want to go visit Virginia and see what they're doing. Like I know that he's built a great program there. And I think it's time that he shares his secrets with the world, to be honest. And I can't wait for these athletes too, especially the ones that did the World Cup and these World Championships, to kind of have a break and a reset. Because they've been on since their trials, whenever that was in the spring or early summer. Went straight to the Olympics, went straight on World Cups, went straight here. I feel like they're kind of going to need some rest and recovery. And I can't wait for somebody like Regan Smith to get a full training block in to then see what she can do in long course. Because I feel like if we can even just come a little bit close to what we've done over the past five days or six days, Singapore might be unbelievable. What were your top three moments in the pool of the week? I want to hear them. Your top three. Because we can't have one. Come on. No, you're right. We simply cannot. Top three. Noe Ponte, 100 fly, when he beat Caleb Dressel's world record. Number two for me was Gretchen Walsh, 100 meters butterfly. Just insane. 52 point. And actually she let out. And the first 50 was 3 tenths under the old 50 world record. And my next one had to be, honestly, sorry, Jordan Crooks. It's my baby. 50 freestyle, just watching 1990. It's a barrier. He's broke a barrier. And there's a picture on social media now of him upstairs with the small nation countries. Because when they get changed, they get these small areas. He's there with about 50 swimmers surrounding him. Because he's an example. So that was me. Unbelievable. That's my number one. I would have to say Ponte's butterfly as well because it was so unexpected. And I think it was unexpected for him. He didn't know that he could do it. He did it. And the emotion, I think, you know, I got to interview him after it. And sharing that moment and the chills with him and just being a part of that special moment was my second one. And I think I have to also throw in a bit of a left field one. The Hungarian distance swimmer. Zalan. Yeah. Purely for full body chills and the atmosphere that was in here. What he did in that pool was something special for the home crowd. And it felt electric. So for me, that was magic. You know, of course, there were so many. I could pick a hundred. But those are my three. Basil, yours. I agree. It's Zalan. And I was like, I think for me personally interviewing, that was one of my favorite interviews because the crowd, the emotion, he had chills. He couldn't believe it. So it was almost like a selfishly special moment for me, too. I think Reagan just having a meet that she deserves. You know, she is somebody that has pushed these backstroke events so hard that like everybody else has had to rise to her level. So for her to come out with world records in all three, 1500 and 200, was really special for me. Noe, I mean, just genuinely surprising himself in that 100 fly, I think was really special. And then Jordan. I can't. There's so many. You can go on and on. I failed. There's so many. I mean, how can you go through 30 world records and pick your favorite? Like we didn't even mention Kate Douglas. Yeah. Which is wild that we're not mentioning Kate Douglas. Right. She's always there. So it's been a very special week for me. You know, I've absolutely loved it. And being here and witnessing that, I think it's been awesome. I hope you guys at home have enjoyed it as well as much as we have. And of course, being the end of the meet, the end of the year, the end of the season, we got to award athlete of the year. This year, of course, it went to Mr. Léon Marchand from France and Summer McIntosh from Canada. Both of them had stellar seasons, amazing Olympic Games. And of course, amazing throughout the entire 2024 season. And Nick Hope was lucky enough to catch up with Summer McIntosh in the mix zone. So let's hear what you have to say. Honestly, I can't even put it into words. I mean, to be recognized like this at this level is absolutely incredible and something that I've always dreamed of. So to hold this in my hands, I mean, it's pretty surreal. And I need to find a very special shelf or someplace to put this so I can look at it. It takes so much work, not just for me, but for my family, for my friends, for my teammates and for my coaches as well. And all the Team Canada staff and things like that. It takes a village to be where I am today. And I can't thank them enough for all their support and sacrifices they've made for me to be standing here today. But it's just a lot of hard work and dedication. But at the same time, it couldn't be more fun of a journey. And I'm so grateful for that. Now, anyway, guys, it has been a pleasure from us, from myself and Elizabeth, having you tune in every single night. Thank you so much. Don't forget to like and subscribe. Give us a follow across all of our social medias at World Aquatics. And from us to you, we'll see you in Singapore.