2025 World Championship Previews: No New Tricks Required For The Old Dogs In Men’s 50 Free

2025 World Championships

• July 27 – August 3, 2025 (pool swimming)
• Singapore, Singapore
• World Aquatics Championships Arena
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• Live Results
• SwimSwam Preview Index

BY THE NUMBERS – MEN’S 50 FREESTYLE

• World Record: 20.91  – Cesar Cielo, Brazil (2009)
• World Junior Record: 21.75 – Michael Andrew, USA (2017)
• Championship Record: 20.91 – Cesar Cielo, Brazil (2009)
• 2023 World Champion – Cam McEvoy (AUS), 21.06
• 2024 Olympic Champion – Cam McEvoy (AUS), 21.25

Splash. And. Dash. The shortest, fastest and most frantic event in the schedule has no shortfall of names hoping to stake their claim as the fastest man in the world. Chief among them are two veterans, both of whom are previous world champions.

Ageing Like Fine Wine

Reigning Olympic Champion, owner of the fastest best time in the field and top of the season rankings – Cam McEvoy is again the hands down favourite in this event. He took first by more than half a second in 2023, and although it was much closer in Paris last year he has already nearly matched the time he swam there this season at Australian Trials with a 21.30.

The one slight blot on his record is a silver at the 2024 World Championships, where he swam the slowest time of the meet in the final and was out-touched by Vladislav Bukhov. However, he was testing out a different way to swim the three rounds and acknowledged the tactic did not work for him – reverting to his normal tactics, he was back on the top step of the podium in the summer.

The math here is simple: McEvoy is the fastest on paper this season, the fastest on paper overall, and the reigning Olympic Champion. Betting against him taking the win seems foolish.

Ben Proud, August 2018, Giusy Cisale, SwimSwam.com

Ben Proud has been on the podium in 2022, 2023 and 2024 now, winning gold, bronze and silver respectively, as well as bronze at the 2024 World Championships. He only sits 9th in the season rankings, but with his spot on the GB roster assured thanks to his silver medal in Paris he has had little reason to show his cards. A time of 21.67 is nothing to be sneezed at in any case, and he has swims of 21.69 and 21.73 to his name as well in recent months.

He has been a man for the big occasions since the Tokyo Olympics, and has not missed a podium at any major meet since then – encompassing long course Worlds, short course worlds, Commonwealths and the Olympic Games. With his fantastic underwaters and long, powerful stroke he should be at the front of the field and a strong podium contender.

There may be up-and-coming swimmers in this event, but the old heads are still in control.

With both of these swimmers now 30 years old, this may well be the last World Championships where they are at their peak – With LA 2028 the year after, they may take a long approach through 2027 to peak at the Olympics instead.

Young Guns Aiming to Upstage

Jack Alexy had a slight down year in this event last season, missing the U.S. team after taking silver in Fukuoka the year before, but set a new best time at U.S. Nationals at the start of June to shave off two-tenths of a second to go 21.36. He ranks 2nd in the world so far this season, and did manage to drop time through the rounds at Nationals, something he has struggled with recently.

Jack Alexy (photo: Jack Spitser)

Alexy did have relatively clean water when setting his best, and may struggle in the wash more in Singapore. His underwaters are not one of his strengths at the World level, and he could find himself behind the 8-ball in the final. He pushed through in similar conditions in 2023 to take silver, but the field looks to be much faster this year and the time of 21.54 he went there is unlikely to be near the podium.

If he’s in the same form as at Nationals he’ll be a huge threat to podium, and the performance of Team USA at the World University Games is indicating that the longer gap between Nationals and the summer meets is benefitting the U.S. swimmers.

Gui Caribe has had a very similar season to Alexy in yards, short course meters and long course meters. In fact, Caribe has beaten the American at both the NCAA championships (18.26 to 18.48) and short course worlds (20.57 to 20.61), and ranks just a tenth of a second behind him here after setting a new best of 21.46 of 21.46 at the Maria Lenk Trophy in April.

That shaved four-tenths of a second off his best from more than two years previously, and is significantly quicker than he was in Paris last summer where he placed 33rd. He has not fared quite as well at major meets as he has in-season in long course, and is yet to qualify for a major final. He may have changed that already by the time we get to this event, as he holds entries in the 50 fly and 100 free, and his form so far this year strongly indicates he’ll be part of the race on August 2nd.

Egor Kornev ranks one spot behind Alexy in the season rankings with his time of 21.43 from Russian nationals. He was 21.58 at the Sette Colli recently to take the win there ahead of several swimmers who will be in the field here and had a good showing at short course worlds, placing 6th in 20.81.

He’s dropped a quarter of a second this season, and although he doesn’t have a ton of international experience still is young enough that further drops are not out of the question. He is slighter than some swimmers here though – as ever, the question of wash will come in if he’s between some of the bigger competitors in the final.

Will They, Won’t They?

Maxime Grousset and Josh Liendo are the wildcards in this field, not for their performances but for whether they swim the event or not. Both of them have scratched to focus on the 100 fly in recent years (Grousset in 2023 and 2024, Liendo in 2023), and with the depth of the field this year each does have a markedly better chance at a medal or title in fly this year as well.

Both swimmers have the talent to make a splash, with Grousset taking bronze in 2022 and Liendo owning a best of 21.48. Liendo is entered in the 50 and 100 fly in addition to this event, whereas Grousset is entered in the same but with the 100 free on top. Both swimmers will have relay commitments in the men’s and mixed freestyle and medley, and this could be the event to give way, especially so for Grousset.

If they do swim, expect both to be in the fight for finals spots and be likely to get them. They both made the final in 2022 and Liendo did in 2023 before withdrawing, before Grousset did the same in 2024, ironically enough bumping Liendo into the final. However, with no Caeleb Dressel or Kristof Milak in the 100 fly, and season bests of only 21.68 for Grousset and 21.88 for Liendo, expect the lure of that event to be enough for them to forgo this one.
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Josh Liendo (photo: Jack Spitser)

Another pair of swimmers who may not be guaranteed to be on the start line but would be dangerous if they were are David Popovici and Kyle Chalmers. Popovici has added some additional speed this season and set the Romanian Record of 21.83 earlier this year, which he nearly matched with a 21.86 at the European U23 championships in June. Chalmers set a huge new best of 21.68 to take second at Australian Trials, and has flashed some quick opening splits in his 100s this season.

Popovici has mentioned that he would be more likely to add the 400 free as a long-term third event than the 50, and would need to drop a tenth or two to be in the hunt for the top eight, but Chalmers has left the 200 behind after a brief foray and with his racing pedigree would not be a surprise finalist.

A European Resurgence?

Vladislav Bukhov is the only swimmer outside of Proud and McEvoy to have won this race at a world championships after beating both of them in Doha last year. He set his personal best of 21.38 in the semi final there before taking gold in 21.44, which are his only two swims under 21.5.

He missed the final entirely in Paris however, and failed to win the event at the European U23 championships after setting a meet record of 21.52 in prelims. He was only 3rd at last year’s European Championships as well, and his race tactics of absolutely minimal underwaters can make him a feast-or-famine racer – if he gets into his stroke early he can soar through the field, but his margin for error is smaller than almost anyone else with designs on the final.

Leonardo Deplano was a finalist in 2023 and 2024, and has been a consistent 21-point swimmer since Tokyo. He dropped a second from his best last season, going 21.50 in the Olympic semi-finals, and has been 21.62 already this year, his joint-third-fastest time ever. His teammate Lorenzo Zazzeri will also be in the field, but has not made the final since 2022. And is yet to break 22 seconds this season.

Meron Cheruti and Diogo Ribeiro have both dropped two-tenths of a second from their respective national records this season to rank in the top-10 this year, but neither has made a world final before. Ribeiro set his time at the European U23 Championships last month, where he took the win ahead of Bukhov, but both these swimmers bowed out in the semi-finals last year and have not broken 22 seconds this season outside of the meet that they set their best time. If they can match those performances they’ll be in with a good shout, but that could be a big if.

The Wildcards

We spoke about a couple of wildcards earlier, but these three are ones in the more traditional sense.

Andrej Barna is entered in only the 50 free for Singapore, forgoing the 100 after swimming both in Paris last summer. He has set a new Serbian Record on three occasions this season already, first going 21.82 at a meet in Serbia and then dropping it to 21.77 at the Pro Swim Series in May.

The third time is the most informative. Competing at the Serbian Championships this weekend he shattered his previous mark with a swim of 21.52, ranking him joint-6th in the world this season.  He broke the 22-second barrier for the first time in Doha last year with a 21.93 before going 21.89 in the semi-finals, meaning that he has hacked nearly four-tenths of a second off so far this year, and even if he doesn’t quite match that performance in Singapore he will be confident of making the final.

He did add time in Paris to finish 30th in 22.19 however, so he will need to manage the transition carefully to ensure he hits his best when it’s most important. His decision to go all-in on this event could prove an inspired one.

Kliment Kolesnikov is the second Russian entrant after going 21.88 at Russian Nationals, although he does hold a best of 21.69 from 2022. He has been 21.91 and 21.89 in-season in the last two years and not dropped much more than a tenth in the summer, so his ceiling may be the semi-finals, especially with his focus on the backstroke events.

Santo Condorelli (photo: Jack Spitser)

Santo Condorelli will race internationally for his third different country in Singapore, having previously represented Canada and Italy at senior level. He set a new best at U.S. nationals of 21.68, downing his previous mark of 21.83. He was 22.19 at a time up meet last week, but it’s tough to predict whether he’ll be in 21.6-form or 21.9-form – the former would make him a final contender.

The Verdict

For one more year at least the band will keep the good times rolling, with McEvoy and Proud tipped to return to the podium once again. They are both quite possibly in their best form at the moment, and have multiple 21-low performances to prove it. 

Jack Alexy looks to have become the premier sprinter for the U.S., and has the reach, power and speed to grab the final place on the podium. He should have too much for Egor Kornev and Gui Caribe, but they’ll both push the top-three close.

Bukhov had a fantastic meet at Worlds in 2024, but has been inconsistent since then. A finals place and swimming his best in the final would be a more than acceptable result and something to springboard off to become a serious contender in 2027.

SwimSwam’s Picks

Dark Horse: Thomas Fannon (Ireland) – Fannon was 10th in Paris last year, setting a national record in both the heats and semi-finals. He is entered on his time of 21.74 from those semi-finals, which ranks him as the 17th seed, however nearly matched that time at the Irish Open in April with a swim of 21.77. If he has some more time to drop like last year, he could sneak into the final at the expense of some of the more established names.