World Championships Update: Two Lady Vols Set National Records, Record Qualifying Times for 2024 Paris Olympics

FUKUOKA, Japan –
After one week of competition,
Tennessee
swimming & diving is
underway and off to a
good start at the 2023
World Aquatics Championships,
as 16 Vols
and Lady Vols compete
on the global stage. With
diving and open water
swimming complete and
the swimming competition
just getting started,
the Big Orange wasted
no time making noise
at the event. Two Lady
Vols punched their tickets
to Paris by notching
qualifying times, and two
national records have already
fallen. Below are
updates from the Tennessee
representatives so far
along with their competition
schedules for the rest
of the meet. Gui Caribe
– Brazil
Caribe started out at the
World Championships
by representing Brazil
in the 400 free relay on
Sunday night, where they
finished sixth overall
with a time of 3:12.71.
In the finals, Caribe was
the only swimmer in
the event to have a sub
22-seconds 50-meter
split, swimming an impressive
21.98. Caribe’s
100-meter split ended up
being the second fastest
out of every athlete that
competed in the 400 free
relay, accomplishing a
time of 46.76. Later in
the week, Caribe will
compete in two more
events in Japan. On Tuesday,
he will swim in the
preliminary rounds of the
100 free and on Thursday
he will close things
out with the 50 free prelims.
Results 6th – 400
Free Relay – 3:12.71
(2nd Leg – 46.76) Jordan
Crooks – Cayman Islands
Crooks will participate in
two events at the World
Championships later this
week. He will open up
his competition on Tuesday
in the 100 free before
swimming in Thursday’s
prelims of the 50 free, an
event in which he holds
the national record in and
is the reigning NCAA
and Short Course World
Champion. Lyubomir
Epitropov – Bulgaria
Epitropov has already
competed in one event so
far. On Sunday, he placed
27th in the world in the
100 breast with a time of
1:01.16. He will round
off the competition at the
World Championships
this Wednesday night in
the 200 breast. Results
27th – 100 Breast –
1:01.16 Martin Espernberger
– Austria Espernberger
will begin his
competition at the World
Championships on Tuesday
night in the 100 freestyle.
Bryden Hattie –
Canada Hattie competed
in the 1-meter and 3-meter
springboard events
at the World Championships
on July 14th and
18th, respectively. In
these two events, Hattie
posted a 311.30 score in
the 1-meter to place 28th
out of 63 athletes. In the
3-meter, Hattie finished
43rd out of 67 competitors
with a score of
326.30.
Results 28th – 1-Meter
– 311.30 43rd – 3-Meter
– 326.30 Michael Houlie
– South Africa Houlie
opened up his competition
at the World Championships
on Saturday
night in the 100 breast.
He placed 30th out of
68 athletes in prelims,
finishing with a time of
1:01.58. Tonight, he will
kick off competition in
the 50 breast as one of
62 athletes swimming in
the event. Results 30th
– 100 Breast – 1:01.58
Mona McSharry – Ireland
McSharry kicked
off her stint at the World
Championships in the
100 breast on Sunday
night. During prelims,
she broke her own Irish
national record with a
time of 1:05.55 while
also posting the qualifying
standard for the
2024 Paris Olympics.
She followed that up
with a fourth-place finish
in semifinals to advance
to the finals on Tuesday
morning. She also competed
in the 400 free relay,
swimming the first
leg with a split of 55.98,
as the team finished
with a time of 3:41.75
to come in 15th. Later in
the week, McSharry will
compete in two more
events. On Wednesday,
she will begin the 200
breast before competing
in the 50 breast on Friday.
She currently holds
the Irish national record
in both the 200 breast and
50 breast.
Results 15th – 400 Free
Relay – 3:41.75 (Leadoff
Split – 55.98) Kayky
Mota – Brazil Mota started
off the competition
by finishing 39th out of
89 swimmers in the 50
fly on Saturday with a
time of 23.85. Later this
week, he will compete in
the 100 fly on Thursday
to round off the competition
at the World Championships.
Results
39th – 50 Fly – 23.85 PJ
Stevens – Slovenia Stevens
began competition
at the World Championships
on Saturday in the
100 breast. He finished
with a time of 1:01.59,
placing 31st. He finished
just .01 seconds behind
fellow VFL Michael
Houlie, who is competing
for South Africa. He
will continue his time in
Japan tonight in the 50
breast. He is one of 62
athletes competing in
the event. Results 31st
– 100 Breast – 1:01.59
Liam Stone – New Zealand
Stone competed in
two events at the World
Championships for diving,
taking on the 3-meter
and 3-meter synchronized.
The VFL placed
20th in the world in both
events. In the 3-meter,
Stone achieved a total
score of 381.25, and in the
3-meter synchronized, he
tallied a score of 325.32.
Results 20th – 3-Meter
– 381.25 20th – 3-Meter
Synchronized – 325.32
Joey Tepper – USA Tepper
competed in two
open water events at the
World Championships.
On July 14, he placed
36th in the 10km with a
time of 1:57:23.90. He
followed that up with the
mixed 6,000m relay last
Wednesday. He swam
the first leg of the relay
in 17:29.80, and the team
finished the relay with a
time of 1:13:58.60, good
for a ninth-place finish.
His first leg time marked
a new personal best. Results
9th – 6,000m Relay
– 1:13:58.60 (First leg
– 17:29.80) 36th – 10km
– 1:57:23.90 Cherelle
Thompson – Trinidad &
Tobago Thompson will
start her time in Japan
on Thursday in the 50
fly before competing in
Friday’s 50 free prelims.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympian
holds the Trinidad
and Tobago national record
in the 50 free. Kira
Toussaint – Netherlands
Toussaint opened up her
time at the World Championships
in the 100 back
on Sunday. During prelims,
she swam a time
of 1:00.46, good for 15th
place and the last spot in
the semifinals. She then
topped that time in semifinals,
finishing in 59.89,
but came just short of
qualifying for finals with
an 11th-place finish. On
Tuesday night, she will
begin competition in the
50 back as one of 64 athletes
competing in that
event.
Results 11th – 100 Back
– 59.89 Joaquin Vargas –
Peru Vargas competed in
two events at the World
Championships, swimming
in the 200 free and
400 free. On Saturday,
the Vol finished 28th out
of 55 swimmers in the
400 free, touching the
wall in 3:53.54. Vargas
swam in the 200 free on
Sunday, placing 36th out
of 72 competitors with a
time of 1:49.85. Results
28th – 400 Free – 3:53.54
36th – 200 Free – 1:49.85
Ellen Walshe – Ireland
Walshe has already
wrapped up two events
at the World Championships.
She began in
the 200 IM on Saturday,
where she broke her own
Irish national record with
a time of 2:10.92 in the
semifinals, finishing in
ninth overall and posting
the qualifying standard
for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
During the 100 fly,
an event in which she
also holds the Irish national
record, she placed
24th in the prelims with
a time of 59.44. Walshe
will continue her time in
Japan on Saturday night,
where she will swim the
400 IM. If she were to
advance, she would compete
on Sunday night in
the finals, the final day
of the championships.
Results 9th – 200 IM –
2:10.92 24th – 100 Fly
– 59.44 Kristen Romano
– Puerto Rico – UT Pro
Group
Romano began her journey
at the World Championships
on Saturday in
the 200 IM. She touched
the wall in 2:13.94, finishing
in 20th, just four
spots shy of qualifying
for semifinals. She will
continue her competition
in Japan this coming
Saturday in the 400 IM,
where she will be among
35 athletes swimming in
the event. Results
20th – 200 IM – 2:13.94