Katharine Berkoff, Regan Smith go 1-2 at swim worlds; Summer McIntosh scares world report

Katharine Berkoff and Regan Smith gave the U.S. its first one-two of the 2025 World Swimming Championships, topping the 50m backstroke, an occasion that makes its Olympic debut in 2028.

In different finals Thursday, Canada’s Summer McIntosh (200m butterfly), France’s Léon Marchand (200m particular person medley) and Romania’s David Popovici (100m freestyle) swam the second-fastest occasions in historical past.

Australia captured the ladies’s 4x200m free relay. Katie Ledecky anchored a silver-medal crew to an American report, bagging her twenty ninth profession World Championships medal (second solely to Michael Phelps’ 33).

Berkoff earned her first particular person world title, clocking 27.08 seconds, overtaking Smith by 17 hundredths.

SWIMMING WORLDS: Results | Broadcast Schedule

“It took me a really long time to see the scoreboard because I can’t read that far away,” Berkoff, who received 4 prior Olympic or world silver or bronze backstroke medals, stated on Peacock.

Smith additionally took silver within the 200m fly an hour earlier than the 50m again ultimate.

It’s the primary U.S. one-two at swimming worlds since 2023, when Kate Douglass and Alex Walsh (200m particular person medley) and Hunter Armstrong and Justin Ress (50m again) did so.

Australian Kaylee McKeown, who received each backstroke title on the final two Olympics and on the 2023 Worlds, opted to not swim the 50m this yr. She owns the world report of 26.86.

Back in April, it was introduced that the 50m occasions in backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly have been added to the Olympic program for the 2028 Los Angeles Games. Those occasions have been held at worlds since 2001.

Summer McIntosh nearer to matching Michael Phelps

Also Thursday, McIntosh almost broke the oldest girls’s swimming world report en path to her third gold of the meet.

McIntosh, an 18-year-old Canadian, received the 200m fly in 2:01.99 — simply .18 off the world report set by China’s Liu Zige in October 2009. It’s the final girls’s world report remaining from the high-tech swimsuit period of 2008-09.

“My coach and I, our big goal was to break that world record,” McIntosh stated, in line with World Aquatics. “It’s what I’ve been training for. To see that I missed it by that little, and I know that I messed up the last 15 meters of my race … Overall, happy with the time and a PB, but I didn’t reach my goal tonight.”

McIntosh received Thursday’s race by three seconds over Smith. It’s the most important margin of victory in that occasion because the first World Championships in 1973 when East German Rosemarie Kother-Gabriel prevailed by 3.01.

Australia’s Elizabeth Dekkers held off 12-year-old Yu Zidi of China for bronze by 31 hundredths.

Yu, the youngest finalist in worlds historical past, additionally grew to become the youngest medalist in worlds historical past Thursday. She swam within the 4×200 free prelims, and her Chinese teammates later took third within the ultimate.

In the 200m fly, no one had swum inside two seconds of Liu’s report since she set it till McIntosh received Paris Olympic gold in 2:03.03 — nonetheless 1.22 seconds off Liu, although. Then final month, McIntosh went 2:02.26 on the Canadian trials.

McIntosh received the 200m and 400m IMs and the 200m fly on the Paris Olympics, then claimed the 400m free and 200m IM at worlds earlier this week.

She has two particular person occasions left at these worlds in a bid to turn out to be the second swimmer to win 5 particular person golds at a single version after Phelps.

First is Saturday’s ultimate within the 800m free — the place McIntosh is the second-fastest swimmer in historical past behind Ledecky, who’s 10-0 in international finals within the occasion relationship to 2010 (Olympics and worlds). Their head-to-head showdown is essentially the most anticipated race of the meet.

In the 400m IM, on the final day of the meet on Sunday, McIntosh is 10.3 seconds quicker than the world’s second-fastest girl this yr.

Léon Marchand broke the 200m particular person world report for the second consecutive day, claiming his third world title within the occasion.

Leon Marchand wins 200m IM in No. 2 time in historical past

Popovici swam 46.51 to finish a sweep of the 100m and 200m frees, simply as he did in 2022. Popovici reportedly considered withdrawing from worlds last week.

Worlds continue through Sunday with preliminary heats at 10 p.m. ET and finals at 7 a.m., live on Peacock.

Friday’s finals are anticipated to characteristic Paris Olympic gold medalist Douglass within the 200m breaststroke.

Summer McIntosh crossed an ocean and took up a brand new sport that helped her have among the best swim meets in historical past.