AUS set a Championship Record to win the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay at the World Aquatics Championships – Singapore 2025 on Sunday (27 July). They clocked 3min 8.97sec to finish ahead of ITA (3:09.58) and USA (3:09.64) in a thrilling finale to the first day of swimming action in Singapore. 

The result sealed a double victory for AUS as the women also won the 4x100m freestyle relay in 3:30.60, narrowly beating a star-studded USA squad featuring the likes of Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske who clocked 3:31.04. NED were third in 3:33.89. 

World record holders Lukas MARTENS (GER) and Summer MCINTOSH (CAN) won their respective events in the 400m freestyle. MARTENS beat top qualifier Samuel SHORT (AUS) while KIM Woomin (KOR) was third. MCINTOSH also outswam swimming legend Katie LEDECKY (USA) who settled for bronze and silver medallist LI Bingjie (CHN). 
Team Singapore athletes were also in action with Paris 2024 Olympian GAN Ching Hwee smashing the women’s 400m freestyle national record. She clocked 4:09.81sec to finish 13th in the event and break Lynette LIM’s 16-year-old record. 

Olympians QUAH Jing Wen, Letitia SIM and Jonathan TAN also completed their first events of Singapore 2025. Sim, who was the first Singaporean swimmer in action, swam 2:15.45 in the women’s 200m individual medley to finish 27th. Quah was tied-24th in the women’s 100m butterfly after clocking 59.18sec. Meanwhile, Tan teamed up with Ardi AZMAN, Mikkel LEE and Glen LIM to tackle the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay, finishing 18th in 3:18.38. 

Lim also completed his men’s 400m freestyle race earlier in 3:54.97 to finish 32nd, while TEONG Tzen Wei missed out on a semi-final spot in the men’s 50m butterfly after touching the wall in 23.38sec to be 22nd. 

Meanwhile, CHN won two golds at the diving competition at the World Aquatics Championships – Singapore 2025 on Sunday (27 July) at the OCBC Aquatic Centre.

ZHU Yongxin and XIE Peiling overcame a shaky start to extend China’s dominance in the mixed 10m synchronised event, scoring 323.04 to take gold. The duo were ranked 12th out of 12 competitors after the first of five dives, but held steady to climb the rankings and occupy top spot after their fourth dive. JO Jin Mi (PRK), who won silver in this event at the last world championships with IM Yong Myong, placed second with CHOE Wi Hyon – the duo scored 322.98 at the OCBC Aquatic Centre on Sunday (27 July). NAB pair Aleksandr BONDAR and Anna KONANYKHINA took bronze with 311.88. YIM Shek Yen and Ainslee KWANG (SGP) finished in 12th place. 

ZHENG Jiuyuan contributed CHN’s third diving gold of Singapore 2025 after winning the men’s 1m springboard, scoring 443.70 ahead of 2024 champion Osmar OLVERA IBARRA (MEX, 429.60) and compatriot YAN Siyu (405.50). Singapore’s Avvir THAM and Max LEE placed 28th and 48th respectively.

Finally, the high diving competition wrapped up under blue skies at Sentosa’s Palawan Green on 27 July, with James LICHTENSTEIN (USA) clinching the men’s gold to win Team USA’s first title across all disciplines at the World Aquatics Championships – Singapore 2025. 

The 30-year-old made tweaks to training plans to adapt to the new competition, and it paid off in the shade of gold when his total of 428.90 points put him on top of the 14-strong field in the final. 

Carlos GIMENO (ESP) had been leading the pack all day, but fell behind after wobbling on his handstand during his final dive. He took silver (425.30) while Constantin POPOVICI (ROU) completed the men’s podium with bronze (408.70). 

Featured Photo Credit: Singapore Aquatics

The World Aquatics Championships – Singapore 2025 runs from 11th July to 22nd August 2025. More information available here

The full schedule for the World Aquatics Championships – Singapore 2025 can be found here. Details on ticketing can be found here, and information on the extensive global coverage of the event can be found here.