2025 Worlds, Day 2 Oceanian Recap: Perkins Comes Of Age On The Big Stage

2025 World Championships

• July 27 – August 3, 2025 (pool swimming)
• Singapore, Singapore
• World Aquatics Championships Arena
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• How To Watch
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• Entry Book
• Live Results
• Live Recaps
  • Prelims: Day 1
  • Finals: Day 1

Alexandria Perkins took a brilliant bronze medal in the women’s 100 butterfly for Australia, and it looks like the women have a new butterfly star.

With Emma McKeon and Brianna Throssell retiring last summer, a vacancy in the 100 fly opened up for the Australian women.  There was no active Australian woman to have broken 57 seconds at the start of the season, and after having at least one finalist in the women’s 100 fly every year since 2016 this looked to be a year of transition.

Perkins has stepped into that gap and stolen the limelight this season. There were signs in the short course season, where she broke the Oceanian Record in 55.10 en route to bronze at short course worlds in December, and she has shown remarkable progress in the big pool to come to Singapore and win another medal.

She had a best time of 57.10 coming into the season, dropped that down to 56.42 at Trials and then again to 56.19 last night. Her bronze-medal-winning swim tonight of 56.33 was her second-fastest ever, and she was under 57 seconds in all three rounds here to take her total number of swims under the barrier to five.

She is the 14th-fastest woman in history in the event, and overtook the legendary Jess Schipper in the Australian rankings last night with her semi-final swim of 56.19 – on her birthday of all days.

All-Time Australian Top 5, Women’s 100m Butterfly

1. Emma McKeon, Tokyo Olympic Games (2021) – 55.72
2. Alexandria Perkins, World Championships (2025) – 56.19
3. Jessica Schipper, World Championships (2009) – 56.23
4. Libby Lenton, Beijing Olympic Games (2008) – 56.73
5. Brianna Throssell, Australian Championships (2024) – 56.77

Tonight’s final saw her just off that time in 56.33, but she fought to go from 4th at the halfway mark to 3rd at the finish, out-touching Paris medalist Zhang Yufei by 14-hundredths, with Daria Klepikova and Angelina Kohler also within a quarter-second.

This has been a markedly different championship already to Paris last summer, where she added three-quarters of a second to finish 13th in the semi-finals of the 100 fly. The best swimmers in the world turn up to major championships and drop time – doing so and getting on the right end of a close finish makes a case for her to be included in that group.

Perkins has come a long way since she took 3rd at Australian Olympic Trials back in 2021. She swam a best time of 58.61 there at the age of 20, having only broken the minute barrier earlier that year.

She has improved every year since, placing 4th at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in 57.87, going 57.64 in April 2023 and 57.10 at the 2024 Olympic Trials.

She still has the 50 fly and 50 free left on her schedule. Having set the Australian All-Comers Record in the former at Trials, she is just 0.05 seconds off Holly Barratt‘s Oceanian Record. If she continues the form she has shown so far, that record will be hers and another medal is likely.

The medley relay is still missing a standout breaststroker, but they now have three-quarters of a relay that can challenge the U.S.. Now one of the stars in this Australia squad, the only way is up now for Perkins.

Other Day 1 Oceanian Highlights:

• Flynn Southam just missed out on a place in the final of the men’s 200 freestyle after he reset his best time by 0.05 seconds in the semi-finals, going 1:45.80 to finish 10th. He was 1:46.00 this morning and was right on his 100 PB last night leading off the championship-record-setting 4×100 free relay. With most of his best performances coming within Australia before, he is establishing himself
• The Cook Islands are not known for the swimmers they have produced, but perhaps more attention should be paid to them – Wesley Roberts is an Olympian and a multi-medalist at the Pacific Games, and they have had swimmers break the National Record in both the men’s and women’s 100 breaststroke here in Singapore. Today’s record came courtesy of Lanihei Connolly, who dropped 1.59 seconds from her entry time to win heat 3 in 1:07.40 – a time that placed her 26th and just 0.44 seconds off the semi-finals, in what would have been a first for the nation of just 15,000 people.
• Kaylee McKeown made it safely through to tomorrow night’s final of the 100 backstroke, and will be in lane 5 next to Regan Smith. She has displayed a new facet to her game here in Singapore, demonstrating greater prowess underwater than we have seen previously from the Olympic champion. Her swim speed is still ferocious, and if she is to take the win it will be that which carries her through – this was on full display in the final 15 meters today, as she closed with the only second 50 under 30 seconds to touch in 58.44.
• Lani Pallister has not let a 4th-place finish in the 400 free weigh her down, as she moved herself through into tomorrow night’s 1500 free final as the 2nd seed behind Katie Ledecky with a swim of 15:46.95. That is her second-fastest swim ever, behind her Australian Record from Trials this year, and the 3rd-fastest by any Australian, ever. The owner of the second-fastest, Moesha Johnson, was 6th in 16:05.13 to move safely through to the final after claiming a pair of titles in the open water, winning the 5k and 10k events, and adding a bronze in the 3k knockout sprint.
• New Zealand had two representatives in the women’s 1500 as well, with Caitlin Deans (13th, 16:13.16) and Eve Thomas (16th, 16:28.10) swimming. Deans was less than a second off her best of 16:12.18 that she set this April, while Thomas has been as fast as 16:07.46 before to rank as the second-fastest New Zealander behind Oceanian Record holder Lauren Boyle.
• Although neither Australian quite made the semi-finals of the women’s 100 breast, it was a solid first senior international outing for 16-year-old Sienna Toohey. She was just 0.28 seconds off a place in the semi-finals in a time of 1:07.24, and although she added slightly from her best of 1:06.55 which ranks her 7th all-time among Australian swimmers, she was hardly alone in doing so in a prelims session that saw 15 women separated by just 0.52 seconds between 10th and 25th. Her teammate Ella Ramsey was a hundredth ahead of her in 1:07.23 to place 21st in those heats.

For complete results, in-depth analysis, and coverage of performances from all countries, be sure to check out our full session recap.

National Records

• Australia: Men’s 4×100 free relay – 3:08.97
• Kazuumi Nestore (Palau): Men’s 50 fly – 26.56
• Katerson Moya (Micronesia): Men’s 50 fly – 26.67
• Leo Lebot (Vanuatu): Men’s 50 fly – 29.24
• Jacob Story (Cook Islands): Men’s 100 breast – 1:02.93
• Lanihei Connolly (Cook Islands): Women’s 100 breast – 1:07.40

Continental Records

• Australia: Men’s 4×100 free relay – 3:08.97

Oceanian Medal Table Through Day Two:

Overall Medal Table Through Day Two: