Ex-Cal Swimmer Ryan Murphy Takes Gold at World Championships

Ryan Murphy became the first former Cal swimmer to capture a gold medal in the 2023 World Aquatic Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, when he won the 100-meter backstroke by the slimmest of margins on Tuesday.

Murphy finished in a time of 52.22 seconds to barely beat defending champion Thomas Ceccon of Italy by five-hundredths of a second. Another Cal alumnus, Hunter Armstrong, finished third to take the bronze medal in a time of 52.58, three-tenths of a second behind Ceccon.

Murphy, who has won four Olympic gold medals and graduated from Cal in 2017, captured his second career gold medal at the World Championships and first in the 100 backstroke.

“Coming here and getting that win gives me a lot of confidence going in to next year (at the Paris Olympics),” said Murphy, according to Swimming World magazine. “And to get that touch is cool. And [although] I medal at most meets I swim in to be on the top step gets me fired up for the rest of the meet. It was incredible to go in against a great field like that and come out on top.”

Murphy used a strong finish to win the thrilling 100-backstroke final. He was sitting in fourth place at the 50-meter mark, behind Polish 18-year-old Ksawery Masiuk, who led at halfway point in a time of 25.00. Murphy hit the first wall in 25.53, which put him behind Masiuk, two-time champion Xu Jiayu of China, who was second in 25.35, and Ceccon, who was third in 25.50.

But Murphy made up the deficit with a strong finishing 50 meters, timed in 26.29 seconds to capture his first World Championship gold in this event. Murphy took silver behind Ceccon in the 100 backstroke last year, was fourth in 2019 and took bronze in 2017.

In competitions on Sunday, former Cal women’s swim star Abbey Weitzeil won a silver medal in the 400-meter freestyle relay and Jack Alexy, a junior on the current Bears team, claimed a bronze in the men’s 400 free relay.

Cover photo of Ryan Murphy by Rob Schumacher, USA TODAY Network

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