Indiana University Athletics
Hafnaoui Captures World Title in 800-Meter Freestyle
7/26/2023 10:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
Photo by Istvan Derencsenyi, courtesy of World Aquatics
BLOOMINGTON — Indiana swimming and diving's Ahmed Hafnaoui won his first world title on Wednesday (July 26), triumphing in the 800-meter freestyle at the Fukuoka 2023 World Aquatics Championships.
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Representing Tunisia, Hafnaoui blew away the field in the final 50 meters with a 26.24 final split. His 7:37.00 is the third-fastest swim ever and beat out Sam Short by .76 after the Australian out-touched him by two tenths in the 400-meter race earlier this week. Hafanoui now has a gold and a silver medal in his World Championships debut.
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Hafnaoui won what was perhaps one of the greatest distance races ever held. Behind him, Short set the Australian record (7:37.76), Bobby Finke broke the American standard (7:38.67) and Ireland's Daniel Wiffen established a European record (7:39.19). All four times are top 10 all-time.
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Hafnaoui is Indiana's first male swimmer to win a gold medal at a world championships since Zach Apple and Blake Pieroni were members of Team USA's mixed 4x100m freestyle relay in 2019.
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Hafnaoui began training at Indiana in 2022 and will make his collegiate debut this coming fall. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Hafnaoui won Olympic gold in the 400-meter freestyle.
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Josh Matheny captured his first world championships medal on Wednesday for his contributions to Team USA's 4x100-meter medley relay. Matheny was a member of the prelim quartet that earned the United States the No. 1 seed for the final, blasting a 58.45 split. The IU junior was seventh in the 100-meter breaststroke earlier this week and will swim the 200-meter race later in the meet.
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Indiana doubled its medal count on Wednesday, bringing its total to four. Diver Jessica Parratto also earned bronze in the women's synchronized 10-meter event.
@IndianaSwimDive
Be sure to keep up with all the latest news on the Indiana men's and women's swimming and diving teams on social media – Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
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#GoIU
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BLOOMINGTON — Indiana swimming and diving's Ahmed Hafnaoui won his first world title on Wednesday (July 26), triumphing in the 800-meter freestyle at the Fukuoka 2023 World Aquatics Championships.
Â
Representing Tunisia, Hafnaoui blew away the field in the final 50 meters with a 26.24 final split. His 7:37.00 is the third-fastest swim ever and beat out Sam Short by .76 after the Australian out-touched him by two tenths in the 400-meter race earlier this week. Hafanoui now has a gold and a silver medal in his World Championships debut.
Â
Hafnaoui won what was perhaps one of the greatest distance races ever held. Behind him, Short set the Australian record (7:37.76), Bobby Finke broke the American standard (7:38.67) and Ireland's Daniel Wiffen established a European record (7:39.19). All four times are top 10 all-time.
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Hafnaoui is Indiana's first male swimmer to win a gold medal at a world championships since Zach Apple and Blake Pieroni were members of Team USA's mixed 4x100m freestyle relay in 2019.
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Hafnaoui began training at Indiana in 2022 and will make his collegiate debut this coming fall. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Hafnaoui won Olympic gold in the 400-meter freestyle.
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Josh Matheny captured his first world championships medal on Wednesday for his contributions to Team USA's 4x100-meter medley relay. Matheny was a member of the prelim quartet that earned the United States the No. 1 seed for the final, blasting a 58.45 split. The IU junior was seventh in the 100-meter breaststroke earlier this week and will swim the 200-meter race later in the meet.
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Indiana doubled its medal count on Wednesday, bringing its total to four. Diver Jessica Parratto also earned bronze in the women's synchronized 10-meter event.
@IndianaSwimDive
Be sure to keep up with all the latest news on the Indiana men's and women's swimming and diving teams on social media – Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Â
#GoIU
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Players Mentioned
Freestyle
/ Men's Swimming and Diving
Breaststroke
/ Men's Swimming and DivingMonday, August 10
Thursday, August 06
Thursday, August 06
Wednesday, August 05