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≡ WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPS ≡
Some things don’t change, like American Freestyle star Katie Ledecky winning the women’s 1,500 m Free at the World Aquatics Championships.
So in Singapore on Tuesday, Ledecky had the lead at the first turn and pulled away for a comfortable win in 15:26.44, the no. 4 performance in history and giving her 24 of the top 25 fastest times ever recorded in the event.
Italy’s Simona Quadarella, who won this event at the Worlds when Ledecky did not contest it in 2019 and 2024, was second in 15:31.79, a European Record and no. 2 all-time, with the no. 12 performance. Australian Lani Pallister took third at 15:41.18.
Ledecky now has an astonishing 28 career World Championship medals and has won the 1,500 m Free six times, in 2013-15-17-22-23-25, not to mention her Olympic wins at Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024.
She’s not done, either, with the 800 m Free and the 4×200 m Free relay still to come.
Ledecky’s teammates were busy on Tuesday:
● Women’s 100 m Backstroke: Another showdown between Australia’s Olympic champ Kaylee McKeown and American Regan Smith, with Smith out best as usual, but McKeown with too much at the end, winning in 57.16, the no. 2 performance all-time, just 0.03 off of Smith’s 2024 world record.
Smith was second – again – in 57.35, with teammate Katharine Berkoff third in 58.15. Smith, still just 23, won the Paris silver in this event and now has Worlds silvers in 2023 and 2025, all to McKeown. She did win the 2022 Worlds gold.
Berkoff won her second Worlds bronze in this event, also in 2023 and she took the Olympic bronze in Paris last year.
● Women’s 100 m Breaststroke: Kate Douglass of the U.S. was the leading qualifier at 1:05.49 in the semis, but got out only fourth at the turn, behind defending champ Qianting Tang (CHN), German Anna Elendt – swimming in lane one – and Anna Bottazzo (ITA). But she came on during the final lap and passed Tang and Bottazzo, but not Elendt, who got to the touch first in 1:05.19, fastest in the world this year, a national record and tied for 12th all-time.
Douglass finished in 1:05.27, a lifetime best and now no. 14 all-time and no. 6 all-time U.S. Tang hung on for third at 1:05.64.
● Men/200 m Freestyle: Olympic champion David Popovici (ROU) and bronze winner Luke Hobson of the U.S. came in at the top of the 2025 world list and battled for the victory on Tuesday.
Hobson had the lead at the 100 m mark in 50.07, with Popovici only fourth, and Hobson led by 0.65 at the final turn, but Popovici had plenty left and covered the final 50 m in just 26.43 to sail by and win in 1:43.53, the no. 10 performance in history.
Hobson faded a bit at the end, but finished a strong second in 1:43.84, moving up from third at Paris and at the 2024 Worlds in Doha. Japan’s Tatsuya Murasa came from fifth to third on the final lap (1:44.54); fellow American Gabriel Jett was eighth in 1:45.92.
● Men/100 m Backstroke: The U.S. had no finalists in this event, with veteran stars Ryan Murphy and Hunter Armstrong taking time off this year. World leader Pieter Coetze (RSA) would have been hard to beat anyway, zooming from third at the turn to pass Olympic champion Thomas Ceccon (ITA) and touch in 51.85, fastest in the world this year and moving him to equal-third on the all-time list (and the equal-third performance).
Ceccon won silver in 51.90 – the no. 6 performance ever – and France’s Yohann Ndoye-Brouard took the bronze in 51.92 (he’s no. 6 all-time) in a very tight finish.
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In the men’s 800 m Freestyle qualifying, 2022 World men’s 800 m champion Bobby Finke of the U.S. was fourth in 7:44.02, with Tunisia’s Ahmed Jaquadi the leader at 7:41.58.
China’s Haiyang Qin, already the men’s 100 m Breast winner, led the men’s 50 m Breaststroke semifinals at 26.52; the U.S. had no qualifiers.
American Luca Urlando, already the world leader in the men’s 200 m Butterfly, scorched the semis, winning the second race in 1:52.84, the no. 3 performance of the year … but slower than his 1:52.71 in the morning heats! Teammate Carson Foster was the no. 4 qualifier at 1:54.30; defending champ Ilya Kharun (CAN) qualifed fifth at 1:54.43.
U.S. teen star Claire Weinstein, 18, recovering from the stomach trouble that plagued much of the American team in training camp, led the women’s 200 m Freestyle qualifying at 1:54.69, second-fastest of the year, with world leader and Olympic champion Mollie O’Callaghan (AUS) next at 1:55.49, both from semi two. Erin Gemmell of the U.S. also qualified, in eighth position in 1:56.03.
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With the American health appearing to return, the U.S. now has 10 medals (2-5-3) to lead the medal table, with Australia (3-1-2: 6) next and Italy (0-4-1) with five.
Wednesday’s finals include (of course) the men’s 800m Free, 50 m Breast and 200 m Fly, the women’s 200 m Free and the mixed 4×100 m medley.
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