2025 World Championship Previews: Crowded Women’s 200 Free Field Behind O’Callaghan

The 200 free is the crossover episode of swimming, where athletes across all specialties merge and put their talents to the test. Lately, though, the women’s event has been dominated by a pair of Australian mid-distance specialists. One of those women is absent this year, while the other remains at large. A tightly bunched dog fight to the podium awaits the rest of a crowded field. Without further ado, here’s how we think this race could go down in Singapore. 

WOMEN’S 200 FREESTYLE: BY THE NUMBERS

• World Record: 1:52.23 — Ariarne Titmus (2024)
• World Championships Record: 1:52.85 — Mollie O’Callaghan (2023)
• 2023 World Champion: Mollie O’Callaghan — 1:52.85
• 2024 Olympic Champion: Mollie O’Callaghan — 1:53.27

MOC Is The Woman To Beat

The defending Olympic champion, World Championships record holder, #2 all-time performer, and the fastest woman in the world this season. Mollie O’Callaghan gets to remove the “co” from co-favorite in this event that she held last year with Ariarne Titmus,who isn’t competing this season. Without her countrymate to push her at the Australian Trials meet this year, she logged a 1:54.43 for victory, two seconds slower than at last year’s trials when she was racing Titmus. However, she still boasts the top time in the world by over half a second.

A Familiar Face

Behind O’Callaghan, making predictions for the minor medals gets quite tricky. Looking at past results, however, one swimmer placing herself in the mix seems like a pretty safe bet: Siobhan Haughey. At 27 years of age, Haughey brings the most experience in the field. She has been in every Worlds or Olympic final in this event since 2017, barring 2022 because of an injury. Haughey has also improved over time, claiming her first medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and her first gold in 2024 in Doha. One can’t help but make a comparison in consistency between her and 200 free legend, Federica Pellegrini.

Siobhan Haughey courtesy Marcus Chen Photography

This year, Haughey enters Singapore with a 1:56.46 season best from Mare Nostrum. This raises a little bit of a flag as to whether she will be as fast as previous years, seeing as she clocked a multitude of 1:54s and 1:55s in-season over the last quad. However, nobody knows how to get through the rounds better than her, and it would be foolish to count a seasoned veteran out.

Their Big Break?

Unlike hardware-rich O’Callaghan and Haughey, many of this event’s top athletes have yet to earn their first individual medal at a major championship. Looking at the contenders this year, there’s a good chance that somebody could be standing on the podium for the first time (alone).

Both American entrants in this event, Claire Weinstein and Erin Gemmell, are two such examples. Weinstein, who just finished high school, has demonstrated consistency and the fearlessness to race. Twice this spring, she logged 1:54.9s while beating Katie Ledecky head-to-head, and she currently ranks #3 in the world. With a more open field than usual, Olympic final experience under her belt, and a fast season with best times across several distances, the stars are aligning for Weinstein to get a podium place. Gemmell has the world on notice too. She hit 1:55.23 in her tie-breaker swim-off at U.S. Nationals, a best time by over half a second.

Claire Weinstein (photo: Jack Spitser)

Mary-Sophie Harvey is also on the hunt for her first individual medal. The Canadian touched 4th in the Olympic final last year with a time of 1:55.29. This year, she won the Canadian Trials in 1:56.46, a second slower than she was at last year’s Trials. If she can get back to her Paris form, she could be a part of the fight again this year.

Finally, in Yang Jungxuan’s absence this year, Liu Yaxin stepped in to win Chinese Spring Nationals with a 1:54.96 best time, checking in at #4 globally. The 25-year-old late bloomer will get her first crack at the race individually on a major international stage.

Bringing The Endurance

This season, it happens that several high-ranking 200 free swimmers come from a distance background.

The best example of this is Lani Pallister, who just had the best meet of her life at this year’s Australian Trials, becoming the #3 all-time performer in both the 1500 and the 800 in addition to a 200 free that puts her as the second fastest woman of the season behind O’Callaghan (1:54.89). However, Pallister has said she won’t compete at this event in Singapore. Her Aussie replacement, though, is another distance swimmer: 20-year-old Jamie Perkins. A finalist in the 400 free at the 2024 Paris Games, Perkins posted new best times at her Trials meet in the 800 as well as the 200 (1:55.44). She has the momentum and the endurance to be a top eight contender through the three rounds of competition.

After almost a decade on the world stage, a 25-year-old Li Bingjie continues to reach new heights. At Chinese Nationals, she broke 4:00 for the first time in the 400 and punched a new best of 1:55.52 in the 200. In preparation for Singapore, both she and Pallister will have to walk the taper tightrope of peaking in both longer and shorter distances correctly (which they haven’t struggled with thus far).

If you count the 400 IM as a distance event, you can also throw Great Britain’s Freya Colbert into this category. The 2024 Doha world champion in the 400 IM, Colbert also boasts Europe’s top 200 free time of the season in 1:55.76.

More Finalist Contenders

Several 200 free national record holders of their respective countries will be in the dog fight for a top eight spot, including the Czech Republic’s Barbora Seemanova, New Zealand’s Erika Fairweather, and Brazil’s Maria Fernanda Costa. The former two made the Paris final last year. Seemanova holds a lifetime best of 1:55.12 from AP London last year, making her the fastest of the group. 

The Hungarian duo of Nikolett Padar and Minna Abraham lit up the Euro U23 Championships tying for gold with a 1:56.09. One final 1:56-this-season swimmer to note is Brazil’s Stephanie Balduccini, who upset Costa to win the national title this year.

SwimSwam’s Picks

Dark Horse – Ella Jansen (CAN) – Jansen was a 2024 Paris Olympian for Canada in the 400 IM and 4×200 Freestyle Relay. At Canada’s Trials, she dropped nearly a second in her 200 freestyle to place second behind Harvey, going 1:57.33. The University of Tennessee athlete didn’t compete in the 200 free during championship season due to its NCAA scheduling conflict with the 400 IM, so we’ll see what she’s capable of with a training block putting more focus on the event.