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The swimming program of the 2025 World Aquatics Championships concluded Sunday in Singapore, ending an uncommon stretch of 4 straight years of swimming worlds, attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic’s disruptions to the Olympic schedule in 2020 and 2021. We received’t see the world’s greatest swimmers all in the identical pool once more till the 2027 worlds in Budapest, Hungary, with the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics to comply with.
There have been notable absences from these worlds, with some swimmers taking break day after final yr’s Olympic grind. Team USA handled a abdomen sickness that compelled some high swimmers to withdraw from their occasions and certain affected the efficiency of others. And with three years to go till the subsequent Olympics, loads can change. Still, there was so much to remove from the week. Here’s the story of the 2025 world championships in pictures, with an eye fixed ahead to the L.A. Games.
In the primary of two showdowns between Summer McIntosh and Katie Ledecky, the 18-year-old Canadian received the 400-meter freestyle final Sunday on the meet’s first day, with Ledecky slipping to bronze behind China’s Li Bingjie. Ledecky has inched down the 400-meter ranks over time, going from gold on the 2016 Rio Olympics to silver in Tokyo behind Australia’s Ariarne Titmus, to bronze in Paris behind Titmus and McIntosh. She’s additionally nonetheless one of many quickest on the distance, posting the ninth-best time ever at a meet simply three months in the past. As the Olympics close to, she’ll have choices to make on managing the load alongside her two stronger distances, the 800 and 1,500.
The 22-year-old Gretchen Walsh is a embellished short-course swimmer who’s beginning to discover her manner within the long-course, 50-meter swimming pools. She received two golds on the world championships, beginning with the 100-meter butterfly final Monday (pictured). Those have been her first two particular person gold medals in long-course worldwide competitors. She’s on monitor to be a high contender for a number of golds in Los Angeles.
Much of the main target this week was on how McIntosh had handed Ledecky within the 400-meter freestyle and may catch her within the 800, too. In between, Ledecky left little doubt she nonetheless dominates on the 1,500-meter distance (which McIntosh doesn’t race). She took gold Tuesday with the fifth-best time within the occasion’s historical past, 15:26.44, and has now received the 1,500 all eight instances she’s contested it in an Olympics or world championships. It was just a little nearer than regular, although, because of a stellar swim from Italian Simona Quadarella, whose 15:31.79 made her the one swimmer in addition to Ledecky to complete it in underneath 15:38. Ledecky has carried out that 25 instances. There’s each purpose to assume she’ll nonetheless be the clear favourite when the L.A. Games arrive.
The Australian retains profitable gold medals and being a thorn in American Regan Smith’s facet. She beat Smith twice in particular person occasions at these world championships, taking the title in each the 100- (pictured) and 200-meter backstroke in Singapore. Smith is the world-record holder within the 100, and likewise held the 200 mark for almost 4 years, however McKeown retains profitable on the largest phases. The American has now taken silver behind McKeown in each occasions in every of the final three main meets involving them — two world championships and the Paris Olympics. The 24-year-old Aussie now has six world championship golds to go together with her 5 Olympic titles. This rivalry needs to be simmering all through the lead-up to L.A.
Ryan Lochte’s 14-year-old world file within the males’s 200-meter particular person medley was in large bother the second French sensation Léon Marchand stated he was dropping his different two specialty occasions to give attention to the 200- and 400-meter IM. And Marchand didn’t even await the ultimate to interrupt the mark. In his semifinal swim Wednesday, he completed in 1:52.69, shaving greater than a second off the longstanding file. The winner of 4 gold medals in his dwelling Olympics final summer time, Marchand received each IMs in Singapore and seems nicely on his approach to related feats in L.A.
It’s powerful luck for Regan Smith that she retains working into Kaylee McKeown. It’s been even more durable for Katharine Berkoff, Smith’s U.S. teammate, who has needed to cope with each of the game’s greatest backstrokers. Berkoff has completed in bronze place behind them in main meets a number of instances, however on Thursday, she obtained her breakthrough, profitable her first main particular person gold within the 50-meter. McKeown was not within the area, however Berkoff beat Smith to get the title. The 50-meter occasions within the backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly all took on additional which means at these worlds — they’ll be included within the Olympic program for the primary time in Los Angeles.
At simply 12 years outdated, China’s Yu Zidi turned the youngest swimmer to win a medal on the world championships as a part of the nation’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay group. She swam within the preliminary rounds, and the group went on to win bronze. Yu had a busy week, swimming each particular person medleys (pictured) and the 200-meter butterfly, and simply missed the podiums, ending fourth in all three. Swimmers usually must be at the very least 14 to compete, however an exception was made for Yu, whose instances have been sturdy sufficient to fulfill the occasion’s high requirements.
American Kate Douglass added to her rising resume with an American file within the 200-meter breaststroke on Friday. She’s now received particular person golds in every of the previous three world championships and the Paris Olympics. She was additionally an important a part of two gold-medal-winning U.S. relay groups. At 23, she’s monitoring to be a key piece of any U.S. success at their dwelling Olympics.
The 800-meter freestyle was every part swimming followers hoped it will be — with an surprising twist. The race, billed as a showdown between Ledecky and McIntosh was actually that, nevertheless it was Australia’s Lani Pallister who ended up taking silver and almost dethroning the American legend. Ledecky held on, whereas McIntosh pale into bronze place. Ledecky is 11-for-11 in Olympic and world championship finals within the 800, and maybe essentially the most intriguing query going ahead to L.A. is whether or not McIntosh and Pallister will be capable to catch her by then.
It was an amazing week for Jack Alexy, the 22-year-old American freestyler. He set an American file within the semifinals of the 100-meter and ended up taking silver. He additionally received three bronzes, together with within the males’s 4×100-meter medley relay on Sunday, when his big anchor leg was simply sufficient to place the U.S. in a medal place. But Saturday might have been the spotlight, when he teamed with Douglass, Torri Huske and Patrick Sammon to decrease the world file within the blended 4×100-meter freestyle relay. U.S. males’s swimming continues to be in a down cycle — Luca Urlando was the one particular person gold-medal winner, in one of many occasions Marchand skipped — however Alexy’s five-medal exhibiting was the spotlight of the week and a great launching level into the L.A. run-up.
Maxime Grousset received two gold medals, within the 50- and 100-meter butterfly, and produced this glorious image. Quite per week. He was one among 5 males to win a number of particular person golds, together with Romania’s David Popovici (100 and 200 freestyle), Tunisia’s Ahmed Jaouadi (800 and 1500 freestyle), China’s Qin Haiyang (100 and 200 breaststroke) and Marchand. McIntosh, Ledecky, McKeown and Walsh did so on the ladies’s facet.
The girl who received over followers together with her finger-waving gold-medal run in 2016 stated goodbye to competitors on Sunday. Now 28, King was 19 when she went toe-to-toe with Russia’s Yulia Efimova within the 100-meter breaststroke on the Rio Olympics and received. She simply missed a medal within the 50-meter breaststroke on Sunday, then picked up another gold for the highway when the U.S. girls’s 4×100-meter medley relay group received gold — she swam that within the prelims.
McIntosh completed 4-for-5 in her quest for 5 particular person gold medals in Singapore. Only Michael Phelps (2007) has ever received 5 at a single world championships, and solely Ledecky (2015) and fellow Americans Ryan Lochte (2011) and Caeleb Dressel (2019) have ever received 4. McIntosh joined the membership Sunday together with her win within the 400-meter IM. Just 18, she’s possible going to be even higher in 2028.
The U.S. and Australia have been tied atop the gold-medal depend with one occasion to go. Fortunately for the Americans, it was one among their strongest occasions. Smith, Douglass, Walsh and Huske posted a dominant swim within the girls’s 4×100-meter medley relay to set a brand new world file and make certain the U.S. has bragging rights for an additional cycle. But the Australians are proper on their heels as we head right into a home-and-home sequence of Olympics; the 2032 Games are in Brisbane.
On Sunday, McIntosh and Marchand have been honored as the most effective swimmers of the meet. Here’s a straightforward prediction: Be prepared for them to be the tales of the L.A. Olympics as nicely.
(Top picture of Léon Marchand celebrating his 200-meter IM world file: Manan Vatsyayana / AFP through Getty Images)
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https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6533196/2025/08/03/swimming-world-championships-summer-mcintosh-katie-ledecky-leon-marchand/
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This web page was created programmatically, to learn the article in its authentic location you…
This web page was created programmatically, to learn the article in its unique location you…
This web page was created programmatically, to learn the article in its unique location you…
This web page was created programmatically, to learn the article in its authentic location you…
This web page was created programmatically, to learn the article in its unique location you…
This web page was created programmatically, to learn the article in its authentic location you'll…