In April 2013, at the Maria Lenk Trophy in Brazil, Chierighini swam the seventh best time of the year in the 50-metre freestyle (21.88 seconds) and fourth best in the 100-metre freestyle (48.11 seconds). At the 2013 World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona, he finished 7th in the 4×100-metre freestyle, along with Fernando Santos, Nicolas Oliveira and Vinícius Waked. In the 100-metre freestyle, he equalled his personal best in the semifinal, with a time of 48.11 seconds, ranking third for the final, behind Adrian (47.95) and Feigen (48.07). He finished 6th in the final, with a time of 48.28. In the 50-meter freestyle, Cherighini reached the semifinals, where he beat his personal record with a time of 21.84 seconds. However, due to the high level of competition (thirteen swimmers swam times below 22.0 second, better than London 2012 when ten swimmers did it), he finished 10th, missing out on the final by 10 hundredths of a second. In the 4×100-metre medley, he finished 12th, along with Leonardo de Deus, Felipe Lima and Nicholas Santos.