Men’s 400m freestyle – Lukas Martens outlasts Sam Short in thriller
After he finally became the first man inside 3:40 earlier this year, Germany’s Lukas Martens followed up the world record and last year’s Olympic gold medal with a World title in 2025. It wasn’t as fast as the 3:39 he swam in April, but the 3:42.35 was good enough to win the first swimming gold of the 22nd World Aquatics Championships.
“There was a lot of pressure,” Martens said of following his world record. “Also as a world record holder, it was not easy to fight these guys. But I tried my best, I gave out everything, and I’m really happy and proud to be a world champion. Now, Germany has a new world champion, and that’s not usual I think. Really proud.”
Martens set the pace on the first 200 meters, turning at 1:48.34 at halfway, off his own world record pace. It was at this point when Samuel Short of Australia moved into the lead, eyeing Martens next to him. Short was looking for a redemption arc – after winning the 2023 World title in 3:40, Short looked to be the clear favorite to win in Paris and break 3:40. But it was not meant to be, as he finished fourth at the Games.
Short and Martens dueled on the back 200 meters. Short, who looked strong in the heats, was building and Martens appeared to be tightening up with Korea’s Kim Woo-min and Bulgaria’s Petar Mitsin in pursuit.
As they flipped for the final 50m, Martens, coached by Bernd Berkhahn in Magdeburg, went into overdrive, and surpassed Short, out-touching the Aussie by 0.02. Martens is the first World champion from Germany in this event since Paul Biedermann won in Rome 2009.
Short, coached by Damien Jones in Rackley, returned to the podium with grace, swimming 3:42.37 for the silver.
“I thought I might’ve done enough,” Short said. “Then I saw Woomin coming on the inside… it was a good race. I put my head down in the last 5 metres. I won two years ago by .02s. Fine margins. Maybe if I were as tall as him, I would’ve won.
“When I was with (Martens) at 100m to go, I knew it was going to be a dog fight. He’s pretty good at everything so I knew I wasn’t going to be pulling away and I was hurting as well. He got a good finish on me and I just wasn’t quite good today.”
Korea’s Kim, who was the World champ in Doha and the Olympic bronze medalist last year, made a move on the final turn and almost looked to steal the gold, but he won the bronze at 3:42.60, just off his lifetime best of 3:42.42.
“It’s been a while since I did 3:42,” Kim said. “If I train harder, I think I’ll break my personal record soon…I want to win Olympic gold, but today I just really wanted to be on the podium. It’s my fourth time in the final. I want to be a swimmer who wins medals every time.”
Mitsin, the 2023 World Junior champ, fell apart on the last 150 meters and faded to seventh at 3:45.28. Sweden’s Victor Johansson, who had a huge swim to get into this final this morning, finished fourth at 3:44.68, ahead of China’s Zhang Zhanshuo (3:44.82) and Italy’s Marco de Tullio (3:44.92).
Germany’s Oliver Klemet (3:46.86), who trains with Martens in Magdeburg, finished eighth in the final.
Women’s 400m freestyle – Summer McIntosh finally grabs the elusive 400m freestyle gold
With everything 18-year-old Summer McIntosh has already achieved in her career, three Olympic gold medals, three world records in one meet, she had yet to win the 400m freestyle at a major championships. After silver at the Commonwealth Games and World Championships in 2022, and the Olympics in 2024, McIntosh finally exorcised those demons, if you can even classify those as such.
McIntosh swam 3:56.26, a bit off her 3:54.18 world record from last month, but enough to win the gold medal in a race that saw four women inside 3:59.
“While preparing mentally for this World Championships, I think tonight is my biggest night of the whole meet,” McIntosh said. “So to come out with a gold medal and a really good, strong semi-final in the 200IM, I’m really happy. I’ve never done a double like that, and I think 400m free, at past World Championships and Olympics, I haven’t been at my best, and I haven’t been where I wanted to be. So to finally stand in the centre of the podium is promising for the rest of the meet.”
McIntosh, coached by Fred Vergnoux, faced plenty of pressure from American Katie Ledecky, who has won this event at the World Championships four times, as it looked for a moment at 250 meters that Ledecky could run her down and make it a fifth. But Ledecky couldn’t match, and was passed by China’s Li Bingjie for the silver.
Li, who was second in Doha 2024 and bronze back in Budapest 2017, swam 28.67 on the final 50 meters to surpass her idol Ledecky, breaking the Asian record in the process at 3:58.21 to move up to fourth all-time in the process.
“It was a surprise for me,” Li said. “I wasn’t expecting to be able to overtake Katie. I went about the race according to my strategy. In the last 100m, I saw that the gap between myself and her wasn’t too big, so I thought, ‘Let’s give it a go.’”
“I’ve looked up to her since I was a young athlete. I’ve had this dream since 2017, and Katie has always been someone I view as a great athlete. I’ve learnt so much from watching her swim. This result today…it’s given me a lot to think about. It’s very emotional, because it’s been so many years… something that I’ve thought about for so many years. Still, I still want to make improvements so that I will have even more chances to swim against her in the years to come.”
Ledecky, coached by Anthony Nesty, won her seventh career medal in the 400m freestyle alone, winning the bronze at 3:58.49, a bit slower than her 3:56 from May.
“I would’ve liked to be a little faster,” Ledecky said. “I was a little faster earlier this year, so there’s always that slight bit of wanting to be better than that. But I can’t complain with the medal. Fourth place was a 3:58 so that could have easily been me.
“I think the first day is sometimes a hit or miss for me at these Worlds. I’m really excited for the distance races, I mean that’s kind of my thing. The 400 is too I guess, but I’m really excited for the 1500 tomorrow.”
Australia’s Lani Pallister was between Ledecky and McIntosh and was with the both of them for 200 meters as the World Short Course champion couldn’t hang on to Ledecky and Li on the final 50m, finishing fourth at 3:58.87. It is a best time for Pallister, who is now fifth all-time.
“It’s been a fun journey so far, but I’m keen to kick on with the rest of the week,” Pallister said. “If I can drop three seconds in a season, imagine what I can do in three years’ time.”
Germany’s Isabel Gose finished fifth at 4:02.90 ahead of Australia’s Jamie Perkins (4:03.20), China’s Yang Peiqi (4:06.47) and Germany’s Maya Werner (4:09.38).
Women’s 4x100m freestyle – Next Woman Up! Australia stays golden once more
Year after year, the Australian women continue to stay dominant in the 4x100m freestyle relay. Even without 2020 Olympic champion Emma McKeon or Shayna Jack, the team reloads with more talent.
The team of Mollie O’Callaghan (52.79), Meg Harris (51.87), Milla Jansen (52.89), and Olivia Wunsch (53.05) out-raced the United States, with the Australians winning gold at 3:30.60 and the Americans winning the silver at 3:31.04 in a thrilling race.
Harris and O’Callaghan held each other’s hands during Wunsch’s anchor leg as the finish was thrilling.
“We were just screaming, I’ve never screamed that hard!” Harris said. “I think I cut the circulation off (in O’Callaghan’s hands) – it was a very exciting race to watch.”
This is the sixth World title for the Australians and the seventh straight year the team has had the fastest in the world.
“I think it’s amazing, we have a pretty rookie-dominated team at the moment, so it’s nice to see the younger swimmers lift up,” O’Callaghan said. “After the Olympics, we had a lot of people take breaks and retire, and it’s great to see (the new athletes) getting the experience and putting down so much effort and determination into this meet.”
O’Callaghan and Harris set the tone on the front end as they were on the Olympic gold winning team and the 2022 and 2023 World title teams, paving the way for two women who were on the World Junior team that won in 2023 in Jansen and Wunsch.
“We’ve kind of grown up together and it’s just amazing that we’re both on this relay together,” Jansen said. “It’s something we’ve always dreamed of being a part of, and just to do it together is amazing.”
“We’ve all challenged each other through the age group ranks, so it’s just really special to be able to stand up here together and share this moment,” Wunsch said.
The American team put up a valiant effort in winning the silver as it looked like the team was on its way to its first World title since 2017 as the team of Simone Manuel (53.09), Kate Douglass (51.90), Erin Gemmell (53.17) and Torri Huske (52.88) had the pedigree to take down the mighty Australians. The team originally had Gretchen Walsh slated to swim the third leg, but was switched out for Gemmell during the session.
“I mean, they kind of told me that I needed to be ready,” Gemmell said. “And when someone tells you that you’re going to be on a final relay for Team USA, I feel like you sort of ‘lock in’, and you get in the zone. I’m really proud of what I was able to do with that.”
Reports of a virus that circulated through the American team at training camp in Thailand have clouded the conversations around the Americans this week in Singapore, but the team took it in stride, getting within eight tenths of its national record.
“It means a lot,” Manuel said of the silver under the circumstances. “I think the team definitely had to be adaptable and resilient, and for us to still post a solid time and put together really good splits is something that we can be really proud of, given the circumstances we’ve had to deal with.”
The Netherlands won the bronze at 3:33.89, running down China (3:34.17) to finish third. The team of Milou Van Wijk (53.27), Tessa Giele (54.13), Sam Van Nunen (54.85) and Marrit Steenbergen (51.64) won bronze, the 11th medal for the nation in this relay at the World Championships.
France (3:34.62), Neutral Athletes B (3:34.69), Italy (3:35.18), and Hungary (3:36.34) also competed in the championship final.
The quickest splits outside the top three came from Daria Klepikova (52.68), China’s Wu Qingfeng (52.94), France’s Marie Wattel (52.97) and Italy’s Sara Curtis (53.29).
Men’s 4x100m freestyle – Kyle Chalmers rips heroic effort once more on anchor
The final race of the night certainly delivered, as Australia followed up the women’s relay with a gold in the men’s at 3:08.97. It was the fastest time ever swum at a World Championships and the fastest ever swum by an Australian team. Flynn Southam (47.77), Kai Taylor (47.04), Max Giuliani (47.63), and Kyle Chalmers (46.53) won Australia’s second gold of the night and its fourth World title in the event.
“It’s unreal, so happy to be here with these boys. Felt so much team bonding and (I’m) stoked,” Taylor said. “Australia’s got a big week ahead of them.”
Chalmers is known to step up on relays, most notably at the 2022 World Short Course Championships and the 2023 Worlds in this same spot. Chalmers had his second fastest relay split tonight in running down the teams from Italy (3:09.58) and the United States (3:09.64).
“I’m just desperate to have success every time I jump in the relay and do my job for the boys,” Chalmers said in the team press conference. “They set me up and made my job very easy tonight. Honestly, my mouth was dry after watching Flynn go 47.7 and then Kai 47.0. I’m just desperate every single time I race to win and (I’m) super competitive. I love nothing more than a dog fight in that last 50 and getting a hand on the wall first. It’s an honour to represent your country and swim your best for the relay.”
The Italians won silver with a national record with the team of Carlos D’Ambrosio (47.78), Thomas Ceccon (47.10), Lorenzo Zazzeri (47.36), and Manuel Frigo (47.36). This is the fourth straight medal for the Italians in this event at the World Championships.
“It’s very difficult after an Olympics. Someone is here, someone is not here,” Ceccon said. “It’s tough for everyone. We’re pretty fine. We changed one member of the relay. The young guy (Carlos D’AMBROSIO), (born in) 2007, he did pretty good, 47.7. Pretty happy.”
The Americans were leading for 300 meters before falling to bronze. Despite being plagued by the aforementioned illness, the team of Jack Alexy (47.24), Patrick Sammon (47.03), Chris Guiliano (47.43) and Jonny Kulow (47.94) allowed the team to win its fifth straight medal in the event at the World Championships.
“It’s a testament to Team USA’s resilience,” Alexy said. “Not everything’s going to go perfect. We’ve been training really hard, not only in the past month, but the whole year. To get that done, and obviously we’d like to be on the top of the podium, but can’t complain with bronze going into the next three years. Really proud of these guys, not a bad start for USA.”
“We’re tough,” Guiliano said. “We got some studs on the stands. It’s just day one, just getting the meet started. We got some dogs on this team.”
Great Britain broke its national record in getting fourth at 3:10.73, finishing ahead of China (3:11.15), Hungary (3:12.75), Lithuania (3:12.84) and Canada (3:12.89).
The quickest splits outside the top three came from China’s Pan Zhanle (46.63), Canada’s Joshua Liendo (47.08), Great Britain’s Duncan Scott (47.23), and Matthew Richards (47.32).
Semis Wrap
Women’s 100m butterfly – Gretchen Walsh’s pursuit of first individual gold
After a monstrous nine world records in individual events at December’s World Short Course Championships, American Gretchen Walsh shared the fastest semi-final time in the 100m butterfly with Belgium’s Roos van Otterdijk at 56.07.
Walsh, who holds the seven fastest times in history, will not have it easy in tomorrow’s final with van Otterdijk, who improved her best of 56.66 to now sit tied for ninth all-time. Van Otterdijk, age 20, has a lot of people excited in Europe about her future after a successful junior career as she was the European U23 champion this year in this event.
Australia’s Alexandria Perkins qualified third at 56.19 as she is in line for her first career individual medal at a Worlds or Olympics at age 25. She was sixth in Doha last year.
Last year’s champion from Doha, Germany’s Angelina Kohler (56.75) advanced to the final in fifth ahead of the 2023 World champ Zhang Yufei (56.84) in sixth. 2022 World Junior champ Mizuki Hirai (56.86) also advanced to the final along with Daria Klepikova (56.42) and China’s Yu Yiting (57.11).
Men’s 50m butterfly – Maxime Grousset leads the chase for the world record
France’s Maxime Grousset swam the top time in the semis with a 22.61 as he leads a group of men chasing the world record of 22.27 from 2018. Grousset moved up to fifth all-time with his swim as he leads short course world record holder Noe Ponti (22.72) of Switzerland, and 2017 World champ Ben Proud (22.74) of Great Britain.
This event will make its Olympic debut in three years in Los Angeles 2028 as there is new vigor around this event at these championships. Nyls Korstanje (22.79) of the Netherlands sits fourth for tomorrow, ahead of last year’s champ Diogo Ribeiro (22.83) of Portugal and the 2023 champ Thomas Ceccon (22.84) of Italy.
“I want to win it,” Ceccon said. “But I have the 100 back like 15 minutes before, so we’ll see tomorrow.”
Brazil’s Gui Caribe (22.91) and Germany’s Luca Armbruster (22.91) tied for seventh, locking out the top ranked swimmer from 2025 in Canada’s Ilya Kharun (22.92), who finished ninth and out of the final.
Men’s 100m breaststroke – Qin Haiyang’s redemption arc
China’s Qin Haiyang looked determined in his 100m breaststroke semi, grabbing the top seed for tomorrow at 58.24. The 2023 World champ is looking for his redemption after seventh in last year’s Paris final as he is six tenths ahead of Italy’s Ludovico Viberti (58.89) and Germany’s Lucas Matzerath (58.93).
Italy’s Nicolo Martinenghi, last year’s Olympic champion and the 2022 World champion, was originally disqualified but reinstated to second seed at 58.62.
The United States advanced Josh Matheny (59.15) through to fourth as he swam his lifetime best.
Caspar Corbeau (59.17), Denis Petrashov (59.20) and Kirill Prigoda (59.36) also advanced to the championship final, along with Danil Semianinov (59.39), who finished ninth but will swim in the final due to Martinenghi’s overturned disqualification.
Notably, Campbell McKean, who had the second fastest time in the world this year, finished 15th and out of the final at 59.74.
Women’s 200m IM – Summer McIntosh handles the double with ease
Canada’s Summer McIntosh, fresh off her gold in the 400m freestyle, eased through her 200m IM semi at 2:07.39, sitting a second ahead of 2022 World champ Alex Walsh (2:08.45) of the United States.
Walsh, who touched third in the Paris final last year but wound up disqualified, is looking to get back on the podium in a redemption swim.
Japan’s Mio Narita, who was the World Junior champion in 2022, swam her lifetime best for third seed at 2:09.16 ahead of Israel’s Anastasia Gorbenko (2:09.68).
Great Britain’s Abbie Wood (2:10.12) and Canada’s Mary-Sophie Harvey (2:10.19) advanced to the championship final ahead of China’s Yu Zidi (2:10.22), who has made headlines at these championships competing as a 12-year-old. Yu was born October 16, 2012, after the London Olympics and swam her best time in qualifying seventh. Yu is also racing in the 200m butterfly and 400m IM this week.
Ireland’s Ellen Walshe (2:10.49) also advanced to the final in eighth.