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The World Short Course Championships in Olympic years are not usually particularly conducive to the presence of big stars and Budapest 2024 was no exception. After a season of maximum demands, with Paris as the main objective, many of the champions in the French capital chose to renounce the Hungarian event, includingLeon Marchand- quadruple gold in the Paris La Defense Arena -,Sarah Sjöström- queen of speed - andKatie Ledecky- who never attends these championships in 25-meter pool -
Australia, for its part, which stood up to the United States in the recent Games with seven golds - compared to eight for the Americans - traveled to the Hungarian capital with a 'B' team without stars such as Cameron McEvoy, Mollie O'Callaghan, Ariarne Titmus or Kaylee McKeown.
That was the scenario, so the result is even more surprising because there is simply no precedent. 30 world records had never been broken in a single championship, six of them in relay events
Taking into that the competition was divided into six days, there was an average of five records per day. This is in addition to13 world junior records, 46 championship records and 63 continental records.
This bacchanal of records has a name in the figure of the AmericanGretchen Walsh, who achieved 11 of those 30 records, nine individually and the remaining two as part of a relay.
Walsh had just won two golds in Paris in the 4x100 medley and 4x100 mixed medley, as well as silver in the 100 butterfly and 4x100 freestyle, and was returning to the pool where she made her name with six golds at the 2019 World Junior Championships at the age of just 16.
McIntosh 'erases' Mireia from the record books
Her 11 world records came in the 100m butterfly - in heats, semi-finals and final - 50m freestyle - in semi-finals and final - 50m butterfly - in heats and semi-finals - 100m medley - in semi-finals and final - 4x100m freestyle and 4x100m medley.
Summer McIntosh, a rising star at the Paris Games, also had a great championship with three golds, a silver and a bronze. The 18-year-old Canadian set three world records and five junior world records in Budapest, highlighting those achieved in the 400 medley and 200 butterfly, which were the ones left to Mireia Belmonte.
Swiss swimmerNoe Ponti, who left Paris 2024 empty-handed - fourth in the 100m butterfly and fifth in the 200m butterfly - excelled in the men's section, winning the 50m and 100m butterfly and the 100m medley, as well as setting three world records.