"VAN" (Sports Desk - 04.08.2025) :: More than 2,400 athletes representing 203 countries and the World Aquatics Refugee Team competed across six sports and 77 medal events over 24 days at the World Aquatics Championships – Singapore 2025 – held for the first time in Southeast Asia.
Reflecting the global reach of the event, more than 125 broadcast cameras captured over 300 hours of live coverage across three venues. World Aquatics also produced 20 daily highlight shows and a 100-minute championship recap for the 48 Rights Holding Broadcasters of these Championships. An additional 350 accredited press and photographers captured the iconic Championships moments in still image and print, helping maintain aquatics’ standing as one of the most covered Olympic sports – both during Olympic Games-time and in between.
The Championships came to a fitting conclusion with the Women’s 4x100m Medley Relay, the final event on the last night of racing in Singapore. The American quartet of Regan Smith, Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske lowered their own World Record set at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
“It’s not over until it’s over, and Team USA always knows how to finish with a bang, and I think it just sends a really positive message out to the viewers at home," said Team USA's lead-off backstroker Smith. "I’m so excited for the future.”
World Aquatics President Husain Al Musallam paid tribute to the athletes, praised the Singapore 2025 event organisers and honoured the thrilling performances in his closing address.
“Singapore has proven time and again to be an outstanding host for World Aquatics events, and the World Aquatics Championships – Singapore 2025 was no exception. As the first edition of the Championships to be held in Southeast Asia, this event marked a significant milestone for our sport.
“From the professionalism of the organisers to the passion of the fans and the seamless operations, Singapore delivered a world-class experience for athletes, teams, and spectators alike,” added President Al-Musallam. “Singapore continues to set a high standard for excellence, and we are proud to have such a strong and trusted partner in this important region of the world.”
Working alongside the Singapore 2025 Organising Committee, 3,000 volunteers from Sport Singapore’s Team Nila programme played a vital role in delivering the 22nd World Aquatics Championships, bringing energy, commitment, and community spirit to the event. Meanwhile, more than 500,000 Singaporeans participated in championship-related activities—from attending live competitions to meeting sporting heroes at community fan zones and pre-event roadshows.
Open water swimming kicked off the Championships, with Germany’s Florian Wellbrock dominating the saltwater course off Sentosa Island. He swept gold in the four events he contested—winning the men’s 10km, 5km, and 3km knockout sprint events before anchoring Team Germany to gold in the Mixed 4x1500m Relay. On the women’s side, Australia’s Moesha Johnson emerged as open water’s top female performer, winning both the individual women’s 10km and 5km events and earning bronze in the 3km knockout.
“I’m still speechless. I have no idea how I did it. We made history today,” Wellbrock said after Germany’s relay gold. “One week of racing all events is really tough, especially with the pressure today. To finish with a fourth gold in the relay is unbelievable.”
Italians Gregorio Paltrinieri and Ginevra Taddeucci delivered consistent performances across all events, helping Team Italy secure the overall open water team title. Monaco also made history in Sentosa, as Lisa Pou earned her nation’s first-ever medal in open water swimming, a bronze in the 10km.
In swimming, Katie Ledecky of the United States—the all-time leader in individual world titles—took on her greatest distance challenge yet. It required a Championship Record and the third-fastest 800m swim of her career, but the four-time Olympic gold medallist held off strong challenges from Australia’s Lani Pallister and Canada’s Summer McIntosh to win her seventh consecutive world title in the event. With victories in both the 800m and 1500m freestyle in Singapore, Ledecky brought her career tally to 23 world titles—second only to Michael Phelps in total world championship golds, including relays.
The Championships fittingly came to a showstopping conclusion as Leon Marchand—who captivated the world with a World Record at Fukuoka 2023 and four Olympic golds on home soil in Paris—secured his second gold in Singapore with victory in the men’s 400m individual medley. That followed his World Record-setting swim in the 200m individual medley earlier in the week.
Two other standout performances on the final night bookended Marchand’s second individual medley gold. Tunisia’s Ahmed Jaouadi completed the 800m/1500m double with a thrilling victory over Germany’s Sven Schwarz in the shorter distance, while Canada’s Summer McIntosh claimed her fourth world title in Singapore with a Championship Record in the women’s 400m individual medley.
Swimmers set 3 World Records, 15 Championship Records, and 28 Continental Records over eight days of racing at the World Aquatics Championships Arena—a testament to the sport’s rising global standard.
In men’s water polo, Spanish captain and long-time talisman Felipe Perrone brought his 13th and final World Aquatics Championships to a storybook close, scoring the decisive goal of the gold medal match with just 18 seconds remaining. Spain held off a determined Hungarian side to win, 15–13, to claim the title. In the women’s tournament, Greece combined dominant play with steely composure under pressure to capture its second-ever world championship, defeating Hungary 12–9 in the final.
“It was really like a movie. I couldn’t believe it, I think even the best movies are not so organised like this (at the end) — like the last goal, winning the world championship,” Perrone said. I’m so, so happy and so proud of the team.”
In diving, China once again asserted its dominance, capturing gold in 10 of the 13 events contested in Singapore. Over the nine-day competition, athletes from 54 nations executed more than 3,300 dives across the programme.
One of the standout moments came in the Men’s 3m Springboard, where China’s gold-medal streak at the World Championships—unbroken since Melbourne 2007—came to an end. Mexico’s Osmar Olvera Ibarra delivered a stunning performance to defeat triple world champion Wang Zongyuan and 2016 Olympic gold medallist Cao Yuan, securing Mexico’s first-ever world title in the event.
“It’s a dream come true: to be a world champion in an Olympic event,” said Olvera Ibarra, the Men’s 1m Springboard world champion from Doha. “In the morning, I thought, ‘I will be a champion today. Today is the day I get a gold medal.’”
Ibarra, who also earned silver and bronze medals at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, was named the top overall male diver of the championships. On the women’s side, China’s Chen Yiwen earned the top female diver award after winning three gold medals—in the individual 3m Springboard, 3m Synchro, and the Mixed Team event. A nine-time world champion and two-time Olympic gold medallist, Chen further cemented her legacy in Singapore.
Tension was in the lofty air of high diving as USA’s James Lichtenstein staged a final-dive comeback to win gold from the men’s 27m tower in Sentosa. Meanwhile, Australia's Rhiannan Iffland reaffirmed her dominance in women's high diving, clinching her fifth consecutive world title from the 20m tower.
“It’s insane, I’m blown away, I’m kind of speechless right now,” Iffland said of her undefeated run from the Budapest 2017 to Singapore 2025 Worlds. “I never would have thought 10 years ago I would be holding my fifth medal.”
In artistic swimming, China extended its dominance with a clean sweep of all team events. Xu Huiyan contributed to the gold-medal tally and added individual success, earning gold in the women’s solo technical and silver in the solo free routine. Spain’s rising stars, Iris Tio Casas and Dennis Gonzalez Boneu, also made headlines in Singapore—Tio Casas collected six medals (three gold, three silver), as Boneu earned five (one gold, two silver, two bronze), including a shared gold in the Mixed Duet Free. Competing as a neutral athlete, Aleksandr Maltsev stood out among the men, winning both the men’s solo technical and free events, as well as gold in the Mixed Duet Technical.
“The level of artistic swimming is so high right now, especially in the mixed duet events. All the countries are really pushing the limits with the new rules and increasing difficulty, and you can see how much work they’ve put in to stay competitive,” Boneu said. “It’s not just one or two nations anymore—there’s real depth around the world. In Spain, we’ve also worked hard this year to keep up and contribute to that global rise in performance.”
Demonstrating the growing global reach of aquatic sports, World Aquatics Scholarship holders from every continent competed at the World Championships in Singapore—marking the fifth time in history that scholarship athletes have participated in the event. The Championships also welcomed the World Aquatics Refugee Team, represented by Matin Balsini, Alaa Masoo and Eyad Masoud.
As part of World Aquatics’ ongoing commitment to the global development of aquatic sports, a range of programmes for athletes, coaches, and member federations took place during the World Aquatics Championships. Athlete-focused initiatives included coaching and medical clinics, athlete ambassador events, and support services such as on-site biomechanical analysis. In Singapore, these workshops and forums centred on themes of athlete health, performance and sustainability.
Responses
Leave your comment