Stanford swimmers compete in World Aquatics Championships

The 2025 World Aquatics Championships completed Aug. 3 in Singapore, and Stanford college students and alumni represented their nations this summer season. With 19 NCAA titles (eight males’s and 11 girls’s) within the swimming and diving packages, the Cardinal has persistently confirmed their prowess within the pool, domestically and internationally.

This yr, representing seven international locations, 12 Stanford alumni and present swimmers claimed 13 medals within the pool.

Junior Jonathan Tan and sophomore Levenia Sim represented Singapore on their residence turf. Tan positioned thirty eighth within the 100-meter freestyle (49.62) and fortieth within the 200-meter freestyle (1:50.56). Meanwhile, Sim swam two season bests: a Thirty fourth-place end within the 100-meter backstroke (1:02.28) and a Thirty sixth-place end within the 50-meter backstroke (29.40). Both swam on the host nation’s medley relays, ending twenty third and nineteenth, respectively.

Adding to the Cardinal roster, junior Henry McFadden (United States) and senior Andres Dupont (Mexico) represented their respective international locations on freestyle relays. 

During the preliminary heats of the 4×200 freestyle relay, McFadden earned a spot on the finals group for the United States, because the quickest American, and fourth-fastest total (1:45.51) amongst 64 swimmers. In the finals, simply off his recently-set private greatest from worldwide group trials in June, McFadden posted a 1:46.09 to steer the United States right into a fourth-place end. 

Dupont swam to a private greatest main off the Mexican 4×100 freestyle relay in a time of 48.48, shaving off 0.33 seconds from his earlier time. He additionally posted a fast 47.59 relay cut up on the 4×100 medley relay to convey Mexico to fifteenth. 

Incoming freshman Ethan Ekk narrowly missed out on the finals of the 400-meter freestyle, putting ninth within the occasion in a personal-best time of three:46.01. Ekk led off the 4×200-meter freestyle relay, offering the quickest cut up of the morning for the Canadians in a 1:46.71. The 18-year-old positioned 14th within the 800 freestyle (7:53.30) and 18th within the 200-meter backstroke. 

Senior Hayden Kwan (Hong Kong) and sophomore Finn Harland (New Zealand) swam backstroke for his or her international locations. 

Kwan led off the Hong Kong 400-meter medley relays to position nineteenth within the mixed-gender (56.10) and twenty fourth within the males’s (56.77). He  additionally positioned fiftieth within the 100-meter backstroke (57.02) and thirty seventh within the 200 distance.  

Harland swam to non-public bests within the 50- and 100-meter backstrokes. In the shorter distance, he certified tenth following the primary spherical (24.76) to earn a spot within the semifinals, the place he positioned sixteenth (25.02). The sophomore positioned twenty second within the 100 backstroke (54.17) to spherical out his senior worldwide debut. 

The sole medal for the Stanford males got here from Andrei Minakov ‘25. Russian-born Minakov competed under the “Neutral Athletes – B” designation following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Since the preliminary ban on Russian athletes, these complicit with World Aquatics’ regulations are allowed to take part below a impartial standing. 

The 2022 NCAA 100-yard butterfly champion has continued to showcase his experience within the occasion, withsixth-place end within the 100-meter butterfly in a time of fifty.90. Later on within the meet, Minakov swam butterfly on the impartial males’s successful 4×100 medley relay, dropping a 50.17 to win in a time of three:26.93. This European Record-breaking swim was solely 0.15 off the United States’ world document.

Another butterflier,  junior Caroline Bricker, had a breakout swim on the US Summer National meet in early June to qualify for this yr’s World Championships.

After dropping virtually 4 seconds to win the 200-meter butterfly in a time of two:05.80, Caroline Bricker earned her alternative to compete for America. In Singapore, Bricker certified for her first World Championship ultimate, posting a time of two:07.59 to position sixth. Her time from the U.S. nationwide meet ranks her because the fourth-fastest performer this yr. 

Also representing the United States, Simone Manuel ‘18, Katie Ledecky ‘20 and senior Torri Huske every earned a number of medals for the nation. 

Manuel, a multi-time NCAA champion for the Cardinal, has been a continuing relay fixture for the Americans. As a preliminary-only member of three relay groups, Manuel obtained medals for her efforts. Swimming third on the mixed-gender 400 freestyle relay, Manuel was the second-fastest lady within the preliminary subject. 

Her lead-off time for the ladies’s 400 freestyle relay positioned the Americans into an early medal place, serving to the Americans to a second-place end behind Australia. 

Ledecky, a distance specialist, swam to a bronze medal within the 400 freestyle and anchored the ladies’s American-record-breaking 4×200-meter freestyle relay to earn silver. 

With her first-place end within the 1500-meter freestyle, Ledecky turned the primary swimmer to win the identical occasion at seven totally different world championships, courting again to her first win in 2013. In a nail-biting race, Ledecky defended her crown within the 800 freestyle, touching first in a time of 8:05.62. 

With her medals within the 400-, 800-, and 1500-meter freestyles alongside the 4×200-meter freestyle relay bringing her to 30 whole medals, Ledecky handed Olympian Ryan Lochte for many all-time World Championships medals. The solely particular person forward of her, with 33 medals, is Michael Phelps. 

While she didn’t have the prospect to defend her win from Paris within the 100 butterfly, citing food poisoning from the group’s coaching camp in Thailand, Huske rose by means of the ranks and made the ultimate in her two different particular person occasions, putting sixth within the 50 free (24.50) and successful a bronze medal within the 100 freestyle (52.89). 

One of essentially the most constant swimmers on the United States’ roster, Huske confirmed spectacular resolve in Singapore. As an anchor for the ladies’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay, she swam a 52.88 to convey the group residence in silver-medal style. Later on within the meet, Huske anchored the ladies’s 4×100 medley relay (52.52) and the mixed-gender 4×100 freestyle relay (52.44) to usher in new world information in each occasions.