2025 World University Games
- July 17th-23rd, 2025
- Berlin, Germany
- LCM (50 Meters)
- Meet Central
- Entries List
- Live Results
- Event Preview
- How To Watch
- Live Recaps
Leah Shackley will take on a tough double tonight, with the final of the 100 backstroke and the semi-finals of the 100 fly coming within 50 minutes of each other. First up for her is the backstroke, where she set the Universiade Record last night in the semi-finals, taking three-tenths of fellow American Katherina Berkoff’s mark from 2019 with a swim of 58.97. That was just enough to outduel compatriot Kennedy Noble, who had also broken Berkoff’s record just minutes before with a 59.19 in the first semi final. The two will lock horns for a second time, after going 1-2 in the 200 backstroke on Day 4.
No one else is within a second and a half of that pair but the battle for bronze could be fierce, with 3rd through 7th separated y just 0.17 seconds. Portugal’s Camila Rebelo leads that pack in 1:00.72, a hundredth ahead of Eunji Lee, the bronze medalist in the 200.
The Men’s 100 free semi-finals will see the start of another double, as Pieter Coetze takes on this event as well as the 50 backstroke tonight. He finished 5th in this morning’s heats in 49.02, just ahead of Matt King‘s 49.06, with those two the favorites to end up taking gold. Patrick Dinu is the top seed in 48.49 after setting a best time in prelims, and is joined by Aleksandr Schegolev under 49 seconds after the Russian athlete was 48.57.
Marcus da Silva and Takaki Hara tied for 3rd this morning in 49.00, and will be aiming to swim closer to the 47.7s they split flying on the 4×100 free relay.
The two swimmers with the fastest best times in the 1500 free, Aleksandr Stepanov and Carsen Hick, will be in lanes 1 and 6 respectively tonight. Brazil’s Joao Campos took the top spot in the heats with a swim of 15:12.87, slicing more than eight seconds from his entry time, and will be flanked by teammate Thiago Ruffini and Italian Davide Marchello.
Alessandro Fusco broke 2:10 for the first time in the semi-finals of the 200 breaststroke, and will look to hold of an in-form Ben Delmar in tonight’s final. The American was just two-tenths off his best time, and is already an individual medalist after dropping over a second in the 100 breast on day 2, breaking 1:00 for the first time.
Hong Kong’s Adam Mak broke the National Record by nearly half a second last night to take the third seed, and will aim to keep the momentum rolling to claim their first medal of the Games. Nicholas Cheung broke the 100 breast record in 1:00.50 earlier on at this meet, taking Mak’s record, although Mak did lower his previous best of 1:00.95 to 1:00.57 to finish 9th. Dawik Wiekiera will also be a name to watch after taking silver in the 100, and owns a best of 2:09.99. second-fastest in the field.
Great Britain’s Ciara Schlosshan is the top seed in the women’s 100 fly, and one of only two swimmer who broke the 59 second mark in the heats this morning. Leah Shackley was just 59.12, but after splitting 57.93 on the mixed medlay relay and owning a best of 57.92 will be aiming for lane f in tomorrow’s final, although she will have Josephine Crimmins (58.97) and Ella Welch (59.43) to watch out for .
The men’s 50 backstroke will see the three medalists from last night’s 100 take the the pool again, as Pieter Coetze (1st, 24.69), Will Modglin (3rd, 24.82) and Daniel Diehl (4th,24.93) all made it into the semi-finals. They are joined by Korean Record hodler Jihwan Yoon, who was a quarter of a second off his best this morning in 24.74 to take lane 4 in the first semi-final. After Coetze threw down a big swim in the semifinal of the 100, his compatriot Zane Waddell‘s Universiade record of 24.46 could be in danger tonight.
Mason Laur and Wang Kuan-hung are separated by just over a tenth in the centre lanes of the men’s 200 fly, with Wang holding the advantage 1:55.65 to 1:55.77. Those were the only two swims under 1:56 in the semi-finals, with Poland’s Adrian Jaskiewicz holding down third in 1:56.33. He delivered a crucial 52.0 split for their mixed medley relay last night and has already sliced three-quarters of a second off his best in this event in Berlin.
Jack Dahlgren, who snuck through in joint-7th after posting the top time in prelims, could show some outside smoke. He has a best of 1:55.18, the third fastest in the field.
Yumeno Kusuda was three seconds off her best in the 200 breaststroke this morning but still made it through as the only swimmer to break 2:29. Katie Christopherson and Abigail Herscu were under 2:30 for the U.S. with a total of seven swimmers breaking that barrier. South Africa’s Simone Moll took more than a second off her best this morning to move from 16th to 8th, and will be aiming to sneak into the final.
The U.S. are big favorites in the women’s 4×200 free after leading the heats by seven seconds, but will need to be wary of a Chinese team featuring the top two seeds from the individual 200 free. Spain and Canada will flank the U.S. tonight, who will likely bring Isabel Ivey onto the finals relay.
Top Seeds
- Men’s 100 free: Patrick Dinu (ROU) – 48.49
- Women’s 100 back: Leah Shackley (USA) – 58.97
- Men’s 1500 free: Joao Campos (BRA) – 15:12.87
- Men’s 200 breast: Alessandro Fusco (ITA) – 2:09.89
- Women’s 100 fly: Ciara Schlosshan (GBR) – 58.65
- Men’s 50 back: Pieter Coetze (RSA) – 24.69
- Men’s 200 fly: Wang Kuan-hung (TPE) – 1:55.65
- Women’s 200 breast: Yumeno Kusuda (JPN) – 2:28.37
- Women’s 4×200 free: USA – 7:59.50
