Day 3 Finals Live Recap

2025 World Championships

DAY 3 FINALS HEAT SHEET

Order Of Events: 

• Men’s 200 freestyle final
• Women’s 1500 freestyle final
• Men’s 50 breaststroke semi-finals
• Women’s 100 backstroke final
• Men’s 100 backstroke final
• Women’s 200 freestyle semi-finals
• Men’s 200 butterfly semi-finals
• Women’s 100 breaststroke final

The third night of finals from the 2025 World Championships is set to get underway in Singapore with medals on the line in five events, plus semi-final rounds in three more.

The men’s 200 freestyle final promises to be a barn-burner with David Popovici and Luke Hobson set to go head-to-head, while Katie Ledecky aims to win her sixth world title in the women’s 1500 freestyle, with those events being the first two on the docket.

Then we’ll see the 100 back final for both genders, highlighted by Kaylee McKeown versus Regan Smith in the women’s event and a wide open battle for the men, and then things will close with the women’s 100 breaststroke final where American Kate Douglass leads the field out of the semis while China’s Tang Qianting is the favorite on paper and the defending champion.

We’ll also see semis in the men’s 50 breast, the women’s 200 free and the men’s 200 fly.

MEN’S 200 FREESTYLE – FINAL

• World Record: 1:42.00 – Paul Biedermann, GER (2009)
• World Junior Record: 1:42.97 – David Popovici, ROU (2022)
• Championship Record: 1:42.00 – Paul Biedermann, GER (2009)
• 2023 World Champion: Matt Richards, GBR – 1:44.30
• 2024 Olympic Champion: David Popovici, ROU – 1:44.72

Final: 

1. David Popovici (ROU), 1:43.53
2. Luke Hobson (USA), 1:43.84
3. Tatsuya Murasa (JPN), 1:44.54
4. Hwang Sunwoo (KOR), 1:44.72
5. Kamil Sieradzki (POL), 1:45.22
6. Carlos D’Ambrosio (ITA), 1:45.27
7. James Guy (GBR), 1:45.28
8. Gabriel Jett (USA), 1:45.92

The heavyweight clash in the men’s 200 freestyle lived up to the billing and then some.

David Popovici made up more than half a second on Luke Hobson on the last 50 to run down the American and win gold in an epic race that saw both men break the 1:44 barrier.

After Hwang Sunwoo (23.96) and Hobson (23.98) set a hectic early pace with sub-24 splits opening up, Hobson assumed the lead on the second 50, flipping in 50.07 at the halfway mark with American teammate Gabriel Jett (50.28) rocketing up to 2nd from Lane 8.

Hobson had the fastest split on the third 50 (26.38), turning in 1:16.45 at the 150 to lead Popovici, who moved up to 2nd with a 26.52 third split, by 65 one-hundredths.

Coming home, Popovici made a big push to move past Hobson, ultimately touching the wall in a time of 1:43.53 to reclaim the world title after he first won it back in 2022. The time stands up as the fourth-fastest of his career and quickest this year.

Hobson could only muster a 27.39 final 50 split, but still produced an elite time of 1:43.84 to win silver, just over a tenth shy of his 1:43.73 PB set last month.

Besides Popovici, Japanese teenager Tatsuya Murasa was the only other swimmer in the field to keep all his 50 splits under 27 seconds, going 24.51/26.56/26.81/26.66 en route to snagging the bronze medal in 1:44.54, breaking the Japanese National Record of 1:44.65 set by Katsuhiro Matsumoto in 2021.

Murasa set his previous best of 1:45.39 in the semis, having come into the meet with a PB of 1:45.67.

After setting the pace early, Hwang, the defending champion, fell to 6th at the 150 but came back strong on the last length, clocking 1:44.72 for 4th, while a wild race for 5th saw Kamil Sieradzki (1:45.22), Carlos D’Ambrosio (1:45.27) and James Guy (1:45.28) separated by just six one-hundredths.

D’Ambrosio’s time was just four one-hundredths off his Italian Record set last night, while Sieradzki added 22 one-hundredths to the Polish Record he set on Monday.

Jett, after pushing the pace early, ultimately finished 8th in 1:45.92 after fading with a 28.24 closing 50.

WOMEN’S 1500 FREESTYLE – FINAL

Final: 

1. Katie Ledecky (USA), 15:26.44
2. Simona Quadarella (ITA), 15:31.79
3. Lani Pallister (AUS), 15:41.18
4. Li Bingjie (CHN), 15:49.54
5. Anastasiia Kirpichnikova (FRA), 15:57.40
6. Moesha Johnson (AUS), 16:02.45
7. Ching Hwee Gan (SGP), 16:03.51
8. Yang Peiqi (CHN), 16:04.93

In another clinical performance in the 1500 freestyle, Katie Ledecky dominated the field en route to winning her sixth world title in the event, putting a real scare into her seven-year-old world record for more than the first two-thirds of the race.

Ledecky turned in an eye-popping 8:09.85 at the 800-meter mark, a time that only she and Summer McIntosh have eclipsed in the 800 free, and then Ledecky continued to sit under world record pace through the 1050, holding 30-high and 31-low splits.

The 28-year-old started falling off world record pace with some 31-mid-to-high splits, but it didn’t matter as she comfortably ran away with the victory in a time of 15:26.44, the fifth-fastest performance in history. She produced the #2 time ever earlier this year in 15:24.51.

Coming into the meet owning the 23 fastest times ever, Ledecky now only holds the 11 quickest, as Italy’s Simona Quadarella had a remarkable performance to win silver in 15:31.79, shattering the European and Italian Records to become the 2nd-fastest performer ever.

Quadarella knocked more than seven seconds off the European Record of 15:38.88, set by Denmark’s Lotte Friis in 2013, which also ranked her as the #2 performer of all-time. Quadarella’s Italian Record was dismantled by more than nine seconds, previously standing at 15:40.89 from 2019.

Australia’s Lani Pallister kept pace with Ledecky early in the race, but ultimately settled into her own pace and picked up the bronze medal in 15:41.18, just over two seconds shy of her lifetime best (15:39.14).

MEN’S 50 BREASTSTROKE – SEMI-FINALS

Top 8 Qualifiers: 

1. Qin Haiyang (CHN), 26.52
2. Simone Cerasuolo (ITA), 26.64
3. Ivan Kozhakin (NAB), 26.66
4. Koen De Groot (NED), 26.71
5. Chris Smith (RSA) / Melvin Imoudou (GER), 26.77
6. –
7. Kirill Prigoda (NAB), 26.92
8. Antoine Viquerat (FRA) / Luka Mladenovic (AUT), 26.93

The top three qualifiers for the men’s 50 breaststroke final came out of the second semi, led by last night’s champion in the 100 breast, Qin Haiyang, who clocked 26.52 to lead the field by more than a tenth of a second.

Qin, the 2023 world champion who owns a lifetime best of 26.20, took two one-hundredths off his season-best of 26.54, set in May.

Italian Simone Cerasuolo used his powerful stroke and quick turnover to touch 2nd in 26.64, while Russia’s Ivan Kozhakin, representing the Neutral Athletes B squad, was close behind in 26.66 to advance 3rd.

The Netherlands’ Koen De Groot set a new Dutch Record en route to winning the first semi in 26.71, qualifying 4th, while South African Chris Smith and German Melvin Imoudou tied for 5th in 26.77.

Another tie occurred for 8th, with Frenchman Antoine Viquerat and Austrian Luka Mladenovic putting up matching 26.93s to set up a swim-off later tonight.

The 2nd-fastest swimmer in the world this year, Ilya Shymanovich, finished tied for 10th in 26.94, missing the final. Tying Shymanovich was Namibian Ronan Wantenaar, who set a new National Record of 26.85 in the prelims.

WOMEN’S 100 BACKSTROKE – FINAL

Final: 

1. Kaylee McKeown (AUS), 57.16 CR
2. Regan Smith (USA), 57.35
3. Katharine Berkoff (USA), 58.15
4. Kylie Masse (CAN), 58.42
5. Peng Xuwei (CHN), 59.10
6. Pauline Mahieu (FRA), 59.48
7. Taylor Ruck (CAN), 59.59
8. Mary-Ambre Moluh (FRA), 59.60

Kaylee McKeown simply will not be denied.

Despite word circulating tonight that she dislocated her shoulder after the Australian Trials in June, McKeown came from behind to hand Regan Smith yet another head-to-head loss in the final of the women’s 100 backstroke tonight in Singapore.

After Smith led the field through the 50 by more than two-tenths in 27.70, with McKeown flipping 2nd in 27.92, the Aussie turned on the jets coming home, closing with a blistering 29.24 split to touch in 57.16, just three one-hundredths shy of Smith’s world record.

The time for McKeown breaks her own Commonwealth, Oceanic and Australian Records of 57.33, which was first set in 2023 and then was matched en route to winning Olympic gold last summer. She also lowered her Championship Record of 57.53, set when she won her only other world title in this event in 2023.

Smith registered the third-fastest swim of her career and sixth-fastest all-time in 57.35, but it was only good enough for silver, falling to McKeown head-to-head in the fourth straight major 100 back final. Smith won the 2022 world title in Budapest with McKewon not in the field.

American Katharine Berkoff made it three straight bronze medals in this event, following up her 3rd-place finishes at the 2023 Worlds in Fukuoka and the 2024 Olympics in Paris by joining McKeown and Smith on the podium again here in 58.15. Berkoff came home sub-30 in 29.96 to pull away from Canadian Kylie Masse, who was 4th in 58.42 as only four women broke 59 seconds.

MEN’S 100 BACKSTROKE – FINAL

• World Record: 51.60 – Thomas Ceccon, Italy (2022)
• World Junior Record: 52.08 – Miron Lifintsev, Russia (2024)
• Championship Record: 51.60 – Thomas Ceccon, Italy (2022)
• 2023 World Champion: Ryan Murphy, United States – 52.22
• 2024 Olympic Champion: Thomas Ceccon, Italy – 52.00

Final: 

1. Pieter Coetze (RSA), 51.85
2. Thomas Ceccon (ITA), 51.90
3. Yohann Ndoye-Brouard (FRA), 51.92
4. Hubert Kos (HUN), 52.20
5. Oliver Morgan (GBR), 52.37
6. Kliment Kolesnikov (NAB), 52.38
7. Miron Lifintsev (NAB), 52.51
8. Apostolos Christou (GRE), 52.62

In an absolutely wild final, Pieter Coetze emerged victorious in the men’s 100 backstroke, following up his World University Games title less than two weeks ago by claiming his first World Championship gold medal in impressive fashion.

Russia’s Kliment Kolesnikov set the early pace, flipping in 24.90 at the 50, with three more men also under 25 seconds, including Coetze, who was out 3rd in 24.95.

Coming home, Coetze pulled ahead and would not be denied, closing in 26.90 to finish in a time of 51.85, breaking his African Record of 51.99 set earlier this month at WUGs and moving into a tie for #3 all-time in the event.

World record holder and reigning Olympic champion Thomas Ceccon was back in 8th at the 50 (25.39), but made a big push coming home, closing in 26.51 to move all the way up to silver in 51.90.

France’s Yohann Ndoye-Brouard was in a similar boat, turning 7th at the 50 (25.37) before rocketing home in 26.55 to run down the likes of Kolesinikov, Oliver Morgan and Hubert Kos and win bronze in 51.92, lowering the French Record of 52.11 set by Camille Lacourt in 2010.

Ndoye-Brouard’s swim also knocked 55 one-hundredths off his personal best, which was set in 52.47 in last night’s semis, and moves him into #6 all-time. He came into the meet with a PB of 52.50.

All-Time Performers, Men’s 100 Backstroke (LCM)

1. Thomas Ceccon (ITA), 51.60 – 2022
2. Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS), 51.82 – 2023
3. Ryan Murphy (USA) / Pieter Coetze (RSA), 51.85 – 2016 / 2025
4. –
5. Xu Jiayu (CHN), 51.86 – 2017
6. Yohann Ndoye-Brouard (FRA), 51.92 – 2025
7. Aaron Peirsol (USA), 51.94 – 2009
8. Evgeny Rylov (RUS), 51.97 – 2019
9. Hunter Armstrong (USA), 51.98 – 2022
10. Matt Grevers (USA) / Miron Lifintsev (RUS), 52.08 – 2012 / 2024

Kos re-lowered his Hungarian Record from the semis in 52.20 to place 4th, while Morgan (52.37) out-touched Kolesnikov (52.38) for 5th.

WOMEN’S 200 FREESTYLE – SEMI-FINALS

• World Record: 1:52.23 – Ariarne Titmus, AUS (2024)
• World Junior Record: 1:53.65 – Summer McIntosh, CAN (2023)
• Championship Record: Mollie O’Callaghan, AUS – 1:52.85
• 2023 World Champion: Mollie O’Callaghan, AUS – 1:52.85
• 2024 Olympic Champion: Mollie O’Callaghan, AUS – 1:53.27

Top 8 Qualifiers: 

1. Claire Weinstein (USA), 1:54.69
2. Mollie O’Callaghan (AUS), 1:55.49
3. Erika Fairweather (NZL), 1:55.52
4. Barbora Seemanova (CZE), 1:55.63
5. Jamie Perkins (AUS), 1:55.89
6. Freya Colbert (GBR), 1:55.91
7. Li Bingjie (CHN), 1:55.98
8. Erin Gemmell (USA), 1:56.03

After dropping the 400 free just two days ago, Claire Weinstein bounced back in a big way on Tuesday, putting up a new best time in the semis of the women’s 200 free to lead the field into the final.

The 18-year-old went head-to-head with reigning Olympic champion Mollie O’Callaghan in the second semi and didn’t flinch, pulling away on the last 50 to touch in 1:54.69 and knock almost two-tenths off her personal best of 1:54.88 set at the Paris Olympics.

The swim moves Weinstein up into 15th all-time in the event, as she was the only swimmer in the field to split sub-29 coming home (28.96).

Led by Weinstein, six of the eight finals qualifiers ended up coming from the second heat, with O’Callaghan (1:55.49) taking 2nd over New Zealand’s Erika Fairweather (1:55.52), Czech Republic’s Barbora Seemanova (1:55.63) and Great Britain’s Freya Colbert (1:55.91). Fairweather narrowly missed her Kiwi Record of 1:55.44.

Australia’s Jamie Perkins led the first semi in 1:55.89, just over four-tenths off her PB set earlier this year (1:55.44), while American Erin Gemmell touched 2nd in 1:56.03, which only ended up being good for 8th overall.

Li Bingjie, shortly after placing 4th in the women’s 1500 free final, had an impressive turnaround to make the 200 free final, qualifying 7th in 1:55.98, less than half a second off her career-best set in May (1:55.52).

MEN’S 200 BUTTERFLY – SEMI-FINALS

Top 8 Qualifiers: 

1. Luca Urlando (USA), 1:52.84
2. Krzysztof Chmielewski (POL), 1:53.61
3. Chen Juner (CHN), 1:54.02
4. Carson Foster (USA), 1:54.30
5. Ilya Kharun (CAN), 1:54.43
6. Alberto Razzetti (ITA), 1:54.47
7. Federico Burdisso (ITA), 1:54.87
8. Harrison Turner (AUS), 1:54.94

After both men threw down 1:52s this morning in the prelims of the 200 fly, Luca Urlando managed to back it up with another sub-1:53 performance in tonight’s semis, while Krzysztof Chmielewski added some time but still comfortably touched first in his heat to set up an exciting battle tomorrow.

Urlando, who posted the second-fastest swim of his career this morning in 1:52.71, looked fully in control throughout the second semi, gliding to a time of 1:52.84. That included him having one of three splits in the 16-man field sub-30 on the last 50, with his 29.82 being the fastest among the eight swimmers who advanced to the final.

Chmielewski, who set a new Polish Record this morning in 1:52.89, led the first semin in a time of 1:53.61, topping China’s Chen Juner, who lowered his National Record by 12 one-hundredths in 1:54.02. The two of them had near-identical splits on three of the 50s, but Chmielewski gained three-tenths on the second length.

Carson Foster was solid to clock 1:54.30 and qualify 4th, while Canada’s Ilya Kharun had to battle back on the back half to post a time of 1:54.43 and advance in 5th.

The Italian duo of Alberto Razzetti and Federico Burdisso made it through in 6th and 7th, respectively, with Burdisso having gone out with reckless abandon the first 100 and then barely holding on coming down the stretch.

In 8th, Harrison Turner becomes Australia’s first Worlds finalist in the men’s 200 fly since 2003.

WOMEN’S 100 BREASTSTROKE – FINAL

• World Record: 1:04.13 – Lilly King, USA (2017)
• World Junior Record: 1:04.35 – Ruta Meilutyte, LTU (2013)
• Championship Record: 1:04.13 – Lilly King, USA(2017)
• 2023 World Champion: Ruta Meilutyte, LTU – 1:04.62
• 2024 Olympic Champion: Tatjana Schoenmaker, RSA – 1:05.28

Final: 

1. Anna Elendt (GER), 1:05.19
2. Kate Douglass (USA), 1:05.27
3. Tang Qianting (CHN), 1:05.64
4. Satomi Suzuki (JPN), 1:05.78
5. Evgeniia Chikunova (NAB), 1:06.04
6. Anita Bottazzo (ITA), 1:06.06
7. Alina Zmushka (NAA), 1:06.38
8. Kotryna Teterevkova (LTU), 1:06.61

Anna Elendt even had some of the commentators confused as she pulled out a stunning victory in the final of the women’s 100 breaststroke to wrap Night 3 from Singapore (other than the swim-off).

Elendt, a 23-year-old German who had a decorated NCAA career at the University of Texas, was out in Lane 1 after clocking 1:06.13 in the semis, but was in the fight for gold from the jump, turning 2nd at the 50 in 30.32, only trailing China’s Tang Qianting, who went out like a rocket in 29.84.

Tang, the defending world champion and Paris Olympic silver medalist, started giving away some of her lead on the second 50, and it looked like American Kate Douglass might steal the title as she started making a big push down the stretch.

However, at the touch, it was Elendt who had the edge, registering a time of 1:05.19 to win gold and lower her German Record of 1:05.58 by nearly four-tenths. It also moved her up into a tie for 12th all-time in the event.

Douglass knocked two more tenths off her best time to earn silver in 1:05.27, ranking her 14th all-time and 5th among Americans after she set a PB of 1:05.49 in the semis.

Tang ended up having the slowest second 50 in the field (35.80), settling for bronze in 1:05.64, while Japan’s 34-year-old Satomi Suzuki had a remarkable swim to place 4th in 1:05.78, lowering her previous best of 1:05.91.

MEN’S 50 BREASTSTROKE – SWIM-OFF

1. Luka Mladenovic (AUT), 26.97
2. Antoine Viquerat (FRA), 27.27

Austrian Luka Mladenovic got the better of Frenchman Antoine Viquerat in the swim-off to earn himself a lane in tomorrow’s final of the men’s 50 breaststroke.

After they tied for 8th earlier in the session in 26.93, the 21-year-old Mladenovic backed that swim up with a 26.97 showing to comfortably top Viquerat, who was three-tenths back in 27.27.

Mladenovic heads into tomorrow’s Worlds final with a legitimate chance at a medal, given how wide open the field is and the fact that he owns a best time of 26.72, just six one-hundredths back of the 3rd seed for tomorrow.