2025 World Championships: Day 6 Finals Live Recap

2025 World Championships

• July 27 – August 3, 2025 (pool swimming)
• Singapore, Singapore
• World Aquatics Championships Arena
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
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  • Prelims: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6
  • Finals: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5

DAY 6 FINALS HEAT SHEET

Event Schedule:

• Women’s 100 free final
• Men’s 100 fly semi-finals
• Women’s 200 back semi-finals
• Men’s 50 free semi-finals
• Men’s 200 breast final
• Men’s 200 back final
• Women’s 200 breast final
• Women’s 50 fly semi-finals
• Men’s 4×200 free relay final

Things will be fast paced on Day 6 of the 2025 World Championships as we’ve got four individual finals, four sets of semi-finals, and an exciting curtain call, the men’s 4×200 free relay, on the schedule tonight.

Things will kick off with the final of the women’s 100 freestyle, where Mollie O’Callaghan will be aiming to complete the 100/200 free double for the second time in her career after she swept the two events for the first time at the 2023 World Championships. The Australian could also win the world title in the 100 free for the third time after topping the podium in both 2022 and 2023.

Her main rival figures to be Dutchwoman Marrit Steenbergen, who was the only other swimmer to break 53 seconds in the semis, while American Torri Huske is one to watch as she’s the 2024 Olympic silver medalist, but has been battling illness all week.

In fact, Huske, O’Callaghan and Steenbergen are the only three women who were in last summer’s Olympic final who will be contesting the 100 free tonight in Singapore.

The next final of the night will be the men’s 200 breast, which looks wide open given the absence of reigning Olympic champion Leon Marchand and former world champion Zac Stubblety-Cook, while world record holder and 100 breast winner Qin Haiyang hasn’t looked his best over the 200 distance and barely squeaked into the final in 8th.

The top qualifier was Japan’s Ippei Watanabe in 2:08.01, with American AJ Pouch seeded 2nd and Olympic bronze medalist Caspar Corbeau in 3rd.

That will be followed by the men’s 200 back, which has leveled up over the last 12 months with four swimmers breaking 1:55 in the semis and 1:55.6 being required to earn a lane in the final. Last summer in Paris, only the three medalists broke 1:55 in the final, and 1:56.52 was good enough to crack the top eight.

Leading the field is South African Pieter Coetze, who followed up his 100 back victory by shattering the African Record in the 200 in a time of 1:54.22, while France’s Yohann Ndoye-Brouard (1:54.47), Switzerland’s Roman Mityukov (1:54.83), Canada’s Blake Tierney (1:55.03) and the Czech Republic’s Jan Cejka (1:55.46) also set National Records to advance to the final.

Qualifying 3rd overall was Hungarian Hubert Kos, the reigning Olympic champion and 2023 world champion, who put up a time of 1:54.64 shortly after winning bronze in the 200 IM last night.

The last individual final of the night will be the women’s 200 breast, where we’ll see Olympic champion Kate Douglass and world record holder Evgeniia Chikunova go head-to-head for gold.

The two of them have distanced themselves from the rest of the field heading into the final, with Chikunova qualifying 1st out of the semis in 2:20.65, while Douglass cruised through to win her semi in 2:20.96 and advance in 2nd.

The night will close with the men’s 4×200 free relay, where Great Britain comes in as the team to beat after winning the world title in 2023 and then following up with Olympic gold last summer in Paris. The U.S. team looks to be formidable, however, led by 200 free silver medalist Luke Hobson, who will swim third along with Henry McFadden, Gabriel Jett and Rex Maurer.

Great Britain is using Jack McMillan after his 1:45.28 lead-off in the prelims, taking over for a mainstay on the relay, Tom Dean, who split 1:46.35 in the morning, and joining Matt Richards, James Guy and Duncan Scott.

Leon Marchand will be swimming the anchor leg for the French team out in Lane 8.

• Full Relay Lineups

We’ll also see semi-final heats in the men’s 50 free and 100 fly, and the women’s 200 back and 50 fly.

WOMEN’S 100 FREESTYLE – FINAL

• World Record: 51.71, Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) – 2017
• World Junior Record: 52.70, Penny Oleksiak (CAN) – 2016
• Championship Record: 51.71, Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) – 2017
• 2023 World Champion: Mollie O’Callaghan (AUS), 52.16
• 2024 Olympic Champion: Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), 52.16

1. Marrit Steenbergen (NED), 52.55
2. Mollie O’Callaghan (AUS), 52.67
3. Torri Huske (USA), 52.89
4. Milou van Wijk (NED), 52.91
5. Daria Klepikova (NAB), 52.98
6. Beryl Gastaldello (FRA), 53.30
7. Cheng Yujie (CHN), 53.34
8. Sara Curtis (ITA), 53.41

Marrit Steenbergen emerged victorious in an exciting final of the women’s 100 freestyle, becoming the first swimmer to successfully defend their world title in Singapore.

Steenbergen, who won gold last year in Doha in a Dutch Record of 52.26, outduelled Mollie O’Callaghan coming down the stretch to touch first in a time of 52.55, edging out O’Callaghan, the 2022 and 2023 world champion, who clocked 52.67 for silver.

Both swims are season-bests, with Steenbergen having been 52.77 at the AP Race London in May, and O’Callaghan having led off the Aussies’ victorious 4×100 free relay on Sunday night in 52.79.

Leading the field early was American Torri Huske, who has been off form all week as she battles a stomach illness, but she pulled out a massive performance to win the bronze medal. Huske flipped in 25.16 to sit first at the 50, and then, after being overtaken by Steenbergen and O’Callaghan coming home, she fended off a push from the Netherlands’ Milou van Wijk and NAB’s Daria Klepikova to hang on for bronze in a time of 52.89.

Huske is still the fastest woman in the world this year with her 52.43 clocking from the U.S. National Championships in early June.

van Wijk, 20, clocked 52.91 to break 53 seconds for the first time as she lowers her previous best of 53.18, while Klepikova re-lowered the Russian Record she set last night (53.14) in 52.98 to place 5th.

MEN’S 100 BUTTERFLY – SEMI-FINALS

• World Record: 49.45, Caeleb Dressel (USA) – 2021
• World Junior Record: 50.62, Kristof Milak (HUN) – 2017
• Championship Record: 49.50, Caeleb Dressel (USA) – 2019
• 2023 World Champion: Maxime Grousset (FRA), 50.14
• 2024 Olympic Champion: Kristof Milak (HUN), 49.90

Top 8 Qualifiers: 

1. Noe Ponti (SUI), 50.18
2. Josh Liendo (CAN), 50.24
3. Maxime Grousset (FRA), 50.25
4. Ilya Kharun (CAN), 50.39
5. Thomas Ceccon (ITA), 50.42
6. Matthew Temple (AUS), 50.83
7. Andrei Minakov (NAB), 50.87
8. Simon Bucher (AUT), 50.88

Things were cooking in the semi-finals of the men’s 100 fly as nine swimmers broke 51 seconds and a gaudy 50.88 was required to make the championship final—two-tenths quicker than what was needed to make it back last summer in Paris.

Frenchman Maxime Grousset and Canadian Ilya Kharun set the tone with a pair of blistering swims in the first semi-final, as Grousset clocked 50.25 and Kharun wasn’t far behind in 50.39, both within striking distance of their personal best times. Grousset has been as fast as 50.11 and Kharun has been 50.37, both done in June.

Things were even quicker in the next heat, as Switzerland’s Noe Ponti overtook early leader Thomas Ceccon and then held off a late push from Josh Liendo to touch first in a time of 50.18, just two one-hundredths shy of his lifetime best set in April 2024.

Liendo had the fastest back-half split in the field (26.52) to rocket home and clock 50.24 to advance 2nd overall, while Ceccon set a new Italian Record with a clocking of 50.42 (23.25/27.17) to qualify 5th, breaking the previous mark of 50.64 set by Piero Codia in 2018. Ceccon knocked more than eight-tenths off his previous best of 51.26.

Aussie Matthew Temple had a strong 50.83 clocking from the first semi for 6th, while Russian Andrei Minakov was only five one-hundredths off his lifetime best for 7th in 50.87, and Simon Bucher set a new Austrian Record of 50.88 to round out the top eight.

Cracking 51 seconds but missing the final was Japan’s Naoki Mizunuma, who clocked 50.96 from the first semi but ended up 9th overall. He owns a best time of 50.81 from 2022.

Doha world champion Diogo Ribeiro placed 12th in 51.21 and won’t defend his title in the final.

WOMEN’S 200 BACKSTROKE – SEMI-FINALS

• World Record: 2:03.14, Kaylee McKeown (AUS) – 2023
• World Junior Record: 2:03.35, Regan Smith (USA) – 2019
• Championship Record: 2:03.35, Regan Smith (USA) – 2019
• 2023 World Champion: Kaylee McKeown (AUS), 2:03.85
• 2024 Olympic Champion: Kaylee McKeown (AUS), 2:03.73

Top 8 Qualifiers: 

1. Peng Xuwei (CHN), 2:07.76
2. Anastasiya Shkurdai (NAA), 2:07.85
3. Claire Curzan (USA), 2:08.13
4. Kaylee McKeown (AUS), 2:08.36
5. Regan Smith (USA), 2:08.67
6. Lise Seidel (GER), 2:08.75
7. Liu Yaxin (CHN), 2:09.04
8. Dora Molnar (HUN), 2:09.09

All of the heavy hitters in the women’s 200 backstroke were in the second semi-final, but they all kept their cards close to their vests as we head into tomorrow’s final.

World record holder and reigning Olympic champion Kaylee McKeown, Olympic silver medalist and the second-fastest woman ever Regan Smith, and defending world champion Claire Curzan went head-to-head in the second semi and were right together throughout the majority of the rest, including flipping within 16 one-hundredths of one another at the final turn.

Curzan did just enough on the last 50 to keep McKeown at bay and touch first in a time of 2:08.13, with the Aussie close behind in 2:08.36 and Smith cruising to a time of 2:08.67 for third.

However, it was the first semi that saw the two fastest times, as China’s Peng Xuwei, the 2023 World Championship bronze medalist, clocked 2:07.76 to lead the field, while Belarusian Anastasiya Shkurdai (Neutral Athletes A) was close behind in 2:07.85. Shkurdai had a notable 31.98 split on the third 50, which was nearly a second faster than the next-fastest swimmer on the third 50 and was the lone sub-32 on any of the second, third and fourth 50.s

With that, Curzan, McKeown and Smith qualified 3-4-5 into the final, which will put McKeown out in Lane 6 and Smith in Lane 2, an odd sight as we’re used to seeing the two best 200 backstrokers in the world race side-by-side.

The standout performer of the two heats was Germany’s Lise Seidel, who set a best time of 2:10.00 in the prelims and then crushed that in tonight’s semis, clocking 2:08.75 to advance 6th into the final. That marks a drop of more than two seconds for the 18-year-old relative to where she was coming into the meet, having previously held a best time of 2:10.76.

MEN’S 50 FREESTYLE – SEMI-FINALS

• World Record: 20.91, Cesar Cielo (BRA) – 2009
• World Junior Record: 21.75, Michael Andrew (USA) – 2017
• Championship Record: 21.04, Caeleb Dressel (USA) – 2019
• 2023 World Champion: Cameron McEvoy (AUS), 21.06
• 2024 Olympic Champion: Cameron McEvoy (AUS), 21.25

Top 8 Qualifiers: 

1. Cameron McEvoy (AUS), 21.30
2. Jack Alexy (USA), 21.32
3. Andrej Barna (SRB), 21.45
4. Egor Kornev (NAB), 21.51
5. Leonardo Deplano (ITA), 21.59
6. Ben Proud (GBR), 21.61
7. Santo Condorelli (USA), 21.68
8. Meiron Cheruti (ISR) / Ji Yuchan (KOR), 21.77*

*Swim-off required

Reigning Olympic champion Cameron McEvoy asserted himself as the man to beat in the men’s 50 freestyle as the Australian veteran claimed the top seed for tomorrow’s final with a swift swim in the semis.

McEvoy, taking a breath along the way, clocked 21.30 from the first semi to out-touch American Jack Alexy, matching his fastest swim of the year after he went 21.30 at the Australian Trials in June.

Alexy, who won silver in the 100 free on Thursday, continued his run of good form with a new lifetime best of 21.32, downing the mark of 21.36 he set at U.S. Nationals to advance 2nd into the final.

Serbian Andrej Barna (21.45) paced NAB’s Egor Kornev (21.51) and Italian Leonardo Deplano (21.59) in the second semi, with that trio moving through to the final in 3rd, 4th and 5th.

Barna was just one one-hundredth off the Serbian Record he set in the prelims (21.44), while Kornev was eight one-hundredths off his lifetime best (21.43) and Deplano was within nine one-hundredths of his PB (21.50).

Former world champion Ben Proud put up a respectable 21.61 to qualify 6th into the final, American Santo Condorelli moved through in 7th (21.68) after winning a swim-off just to get out of the prelims, and we’ll see another swim-off in this event as Israel’s Meiron Cheruti and South Korea’s Ji Yuchan tied for 8th in a time of 21.77. Brazilian Gui Caribe was just one one-hundredth shy of making it a three-man swim-off, clocking 21.78 to place 10th.

MEN’S 200 BREASTSTROKE – FINAL

• World Record: 2:05.48, Qin Haiyang (CHN) – 2023
• World Junior Record: 2:06.91, Shin Ohashi (JPN) – 2025
• Championship Record: 2:05.48, Qin Haiyang (CHN) – 2023
• 2023 World Champion: Qin Haiyang (CHN), 2:05.48
• 2024 Olympic Champion: Leon Marchand (FRA), 2:05.85

1. Qin Haiyang (CHN), 2:07.41
2. Ippei Watanabe (JPN), 2:07.70
3. Caspar Corbeau (NED), 2:07.73
4. Kirill Prigoda (NAB), 2:07.99
5. AJ Pouch (USA), 2:09.13
6. Yamato Fukasawa (JPN), 2:09.21
7. Carles Coll Marti (ESP), 2:09.44
8. (DSQ) – Aleksandr Zhigalov (NAB)

It’s hard to call it an upset victory for Qin Haiyang in the men’s 200 breaststroke, given he’s the world record holder and won the 2023 world title, but given the form he’s shown internationally in this event of late, it was somewhat of a surprise to see him emerge atop the podium.

After winning gold in Fukuoka and breaking the world record in 2:05.48, Qin had struggled to perform in the long course 200 breast, including missing the Olympic final last summer and barely breaking 2:10 in Paris (2:09.96), though he showed signs he was coming back to form after clocking 2:07.44 earlier this year. But despite winning the 100 breast title earlier this week, he didn’t look great through the early rounds of the 200, sneaking into the final in 8th place last night in 2:09.32.

However, the 26-year-old stepped up when it counted, pulling into the lead on the last 50 from out in Lane 8 and reclaiming his world title in a time of 2:07.41. He immediately got out of the pool and embraced the Asian crowd, which met him with a loud ovation.

Japan’s Ippei Watanabe, the bronze medalist at the World Championships in 2017 and 2019, returned to the podium after registering a time of 2:07.70 to claim silver, while Dutchman Caspar Corbeau matched his result from the Paris Olympics by snagging bronze in 2:07.73.

Russian Kirill Prigoda put himself in the picture late, charging home out in Lane 1, but he ran out of room to make the podium and finished 4th, while American AJ Pouch led the field through the 150 but faded coming home, placing 5th in 2:09.13.

Russia’s Aleksandr Zhigalov was disqualified.

MEN’S 200 BACKSTROKE – FINAL

• World Record: 1:51.92, Aaron Peirsol (USA) – 2009
• World Junior Record: 1:55.14, Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS) – 2017
• Championship Record: 1:51.92, Aaron Peirsol (USA) – 2009
• 2023 World Champion: Hubert Kos (HUN), 1:54.14
• 2024 Olympic Champion: Hubert Kos (HUN), 1:54.26

1. Hubert Kos (HUN), 1:53.19
2. Pieter Coetze (RSA), 1:53.36
3. Yohann Ndoye-Brouard (FRA), 1:54.62
4. Blake Tierney (CAN), 1:55.09
5. Apostolos Siskos (GRE), 1:55.13
6. Jan Cejka (CZE), 1:55.37
7. Roman Mityukov (SUI), 1:55.57
8. Luke Greenbank (GBR), 1:56.26

Hubert Kos and Pieter Coetze raised the bar in the current era of the men’s 200 backstroke, recording just the third and fourth sub-1:54 swims we’ve seen since the beginning of 2020 in tonight’s final in Singapore.

Coetze, fresh off winning the 100 back final and then shattering the African Record in the semis of the 200 back, went out like a rocket, turning in 25.88 at the 50 to put him more than six-tenths under world record pace.

At the 100, Coetze turned in 54.48 and Kos was close behind in 54.60, both under Aaron Peirsol‘s 16-year-old world record pace of 54.90.

Kos pulled away on the third 50, splitting 28.60 compared to Coetze’s 29.26, still under WR pace in 1:23.24 (to Peirsol’s 1:23.30).

Although the world record line pulled away from him coming home as he began to tighten up, with Coetze making up some ground, Kos held on for the victory in a time of 1:53.19, breaking Evgeny Rylov‘s European Record of 1:53.23 to move up to #5 all-time in the event.

Coetze made it close, touching in 1:53.36 to win the silver medal, reset his African Record again by a wide margin and jump up to 7th all-time in the event.

All-Time Performers, Men’s 200 Backstroke (LCM)

1. Aaron Peirsol (USA), 1:51.92 – 2009
2. Ryosuke Irie (JPN), 1:52.51 – 2009
3. Ryan Lochte (USA), 1:52.96 – 2011
4. Mitch Larkin (AUS), 1:53.17 – 2015
5. Hubert Kos (HUN), 1:53.19 – 2025
6. Evgeny Rylov (RUS), 1:53.23 – 2021
7. Pieter Coetze (RSA), 1:53.36 – 2025
8. Tyler Clary (USA), 1:53.41 – 2012
9. Ryan Murphy (USA), 1:53.57 – 2018
10. Xu Jiayu (CHN), 1:53.99 – 2018

Prior to tonight, the only swimmer who had broken 1:54 this decade (since 2020) was Rylov, who clocked 1:53.23 at the 2021 Russian Olympic Trials and then went 1:53.27 at the Tokyo Olympics to win gold.

Another swimmer who has been on an incredible run of form in Singapore, Yohann Ndoye-Brouard followed up his French Record of 1:54.47 from the semis with a 1:54.62 clocking to win bronze, having made the move past Canadian Blake Tierney on the third 50.

Tierney, who broke the Canadian Record in the heats (1:55.17) and semis (1:55.03), had another phenomenal swim to narrowly miss his newly-minted PB in 1:55.09 and place 4th. Coming into the meet he had never broken 1:56.5. He managed to hold off Greece’s Apostolos Siskos, who closed strong to touch 5th in 1:55.13.

Placing 6th was Jan Cejka, who knocked nine one-hundredths off his day-old Czech Record in 1:55.37.

WOMEN’S 200 BREASTSTROKE – FINAL

• World Record: 2:17.55, Evgeniia Chikunova (RUS) – 2023
• World Junior Record: 2:19.64, Viktoriya Zeynep Gunes (TUR) – 2015
• Championship Record: 2:19.11, Rikke Pedersen (DEN) – 2013
• 2023 World Champion: Tatjana Smith (RSA), 2:20.80
• 2024 Olympic Champion: Kate Douglass (USA), 2:19.24

1. Kate Douglass (USA), 2:18.50 CR
2. Evgeniia Chikunova (NAB), 2:19.96
3. Kaylene Corbett (RSA) / Alina Zmushka (NAA), 2:23.52
4. –
5. Angharad Evans (GBR), 2:24.21
6. Kotryna Teterevkova (LTU), 2:24.25
7. Ellie McCartney (IRL), 2:25.22
8. Clara Rybak-Andersen (DEN), 2:25.36

Kate Douglass put on a clinical performance in the final of the women’s 200 breaststroke, using her powerful stroke to glide away from world record holder Evgeniia Chikunova and win the gold medal going away in a time of 2:18.50.

Douglass, who wins the long course world title for the first time in this event after earning back-to-back silvers in Fukuoka and Doha, took down the 12-year-old Championship Record of 2:19.11 set by Rikke Pedersen in 2013 and shattered her own American Record of 2:19.24 set en route to winning gold at last summer’s Olympics.

Douglass’ swim was the second-fastest in history, only trailing Chikunova’s world record of 2:17.55, and is just the fourth in history under the 2:19 barrier.

All-Time Performances, Women’s 200 Breaststroke (LCM)

1. Evgeniia Chikunova (RUS), 2:17.55 – 2023
2. Kate Douglass (USA), 2:18.50 – 2025
3. Tatjana Smith (RSA), 2:18.95 – 2021
4. Evgeniia Chikunova (RUS), 2:18.98 – 2024
5. Tatjana Smith (RSA), 2:19.01 – 2024

Chikunova out-split Douglass on the third 50 and didn’t lose much time coming home, but after losing 1.30 seconds on the first 100, she was a distant runner-up in 2:19.96, marking the fifth sub-2:20 performance of her career.

In the race for bronze, Great Britain’s Angharad Evans was in 3rd position at the final turn, but South African Kaylene Corbett made a charge to overtake her, and then it was Belarusian Alina Zmushka pulling even with her coming down the last few meters. At the wall, Corbett and Zmushka touched in identical times of 2:23.52 to share the bronze medal, while Evans settled for 5th in 2:24.21.

The swim for Zmushka is 22 one-hundredths shy of her National Record (2:23.30), though she was slightly quicker in the semis (2:23.33) than she was tonight.

WOMEN’S 50 BUTTERFLY – SEMI-FINALS

• World Record: 24.43, Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) – 2014
• World Junior Record: 25.46, Rikako Ikee (JPN) – 2017
• Championship Record: 24.60, Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) – 2017
• 2023 World Champion: Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), 24.77

Top 8 Qualifiers: 

1. Gretchen Walsh (USA), 25.09
2. Roos Vanotterdijk (BEL), 25.32
3. Erin Gallagher (RSA), 25.39
4. Alexandria Perkins (AUS), 25.52
5. Arina Surkova (NAB), 25.54
6. Silvia di Pietro (ITA), 25.58
7. Lily Price (AUS), 25.61
8. Angelina Kohler (GER), 25.62

After dropping the 100 free from her program earlier this week, Gretchen Walsh looked like her old self in the semis of the women’s 50 fly, cruising to the top time of the session by more than two-tenths of a second.

Walsh rocketed to a time of 25.09, building on her prelim swim of 25.22 in what was the fourth-fastest swim of her career.

Roos Vanotterdijk continued her incredible meet by winning the first semi-final from Lane 1 in a time of 25.32, breaking her Belgian Record of 25.63 set in late June.

South African Erin Gallagher, who was 4th in this event at the 2024 World Championships, qualified 3rd into the final in 25.39, knocking two-tenths off her South African Record and coming within one one-hundredth of Farida Osman‘s African Record.

Kate Douglass, just minutes after winning gold in the 200 breast, placed 14th in the semis in a time of 25.74.

MEN’S 4X200 FREESTYLE RELAY – FINAL

• World Record: 6:58.55, United States – 2009
• World Junior Record: 7:08.37, United States – 2019
• Championship Record: 6:58.55, United States – 2009
• 2023 World Champion: Great Britain, 6:59.08
• 2024 Olympic Champion: Great Britain, 6:59.43

1. Great Britain, 6:59.84
2. China, 7:00.91
3. Australia, 7:00.98
4. United States, 7:01.24
5. South Korea, 7:02.29
6. France, 7:03.69
7. Italy, 7:05.54
8. Israel, 7:06.76

The British men reclaimed the world title in the 4×200 freestyle relay with a sound performance that had no weak links and one blazing-fast anchor.

Matt Richards gave the Brits the lead right off the hop with a 1:45.37 opening leg, and then they stayed in front through the halfway mark after James Guy‘s 1:45.00 split.

On the third leg, American Luke Hobson went out like a rocket and dropped a 1:43.45 split, overtaking GB’s Jack McMillan (1:45.65), with the Australians moving up into a close 3rd with a 1:44.42 split from Kai Taylor.

On the anchor leg, the clutch Duncan Scott delivered yet again for Great Britain, blitzing the first 100 in 49.59 before holding strong down the stretch for a final split of 1:43.82 and giving the Brits a decisive victory in a time of 6:59.84.

Great Britain has now won the men’s 4×200 free relay at three straight best-on-best major international long course meets, having also won the world title in 2023 and Olympic gold last summer. China won the 2024 world title in Doha when not all of the world’s best were racing.

After Scott assumed the lead on the anchor leg, the U.S., Australia and China quickly engaged in the battle for silver.

In a tight battle, China’s Zhang Zhanshuo fired off a closing split of 1:44.20 to pull ahead of Australia’s Maximillian Giuliani (1:44.92) and American Rex Maurer and claim the silver medal in a time of 7:00.91, edging out the Aussies, who settled for bronze in 7:00.98. The Americans were left on the outside looking in, finishing in 7:01.24.

The Chinese team also featured Ji Xinjie (1:46.22), Pan Zhanle (1:44.41) and Wang Shun (1:46.08), and with Zhang’s anchor leg of 1:44.2, their clocking of 7:00.91 marked a new Asian Record, lowering the South Korean mark of 7:01.73 from 2023 while taking out the Chinese National Record of 7:01.84 from last year in Doha.

For the Aussies, Flynn Southam (1:45.85) and Charlie Hawke (1:45.57) gave them a solid front half before Taylor and Giuliani brought them home.

The American team had Henry McFadden (1:46.09) and Gabriel Jett (1:45.88) on the first two legs, and after sitting 6th at the halfway mark, Hobson’s heroics on the third leg weren’t enough to get on the podium. They missed the medals in this event at the World Championships for the first time since 1998 despite having the fastest split in the field.

The South Korean team, which had previously stated they believed they could break the world record, placed 5th in a time of 7:02.29, with their fastest split coming from Kim Woomin (1:44.66) on the third leg, while Hwang Sunwoo was 1:45.26 on the anchor.

Leon Marchand moved France up one spot on the anchor leg to finish 6th, splitting 1:44.34 for the fourth-fastest leg in the field.

MEN’S 50 FREESTYLE – SWIM-OFF

• World Record: 20.91, Cesar Cielo (BRA) – 2009
• World Junior Record: 21.75, Michael Andrew (USA) – 2017
• Championship Record: 21.04, Caeleb Dressel (USA) – 2019
• 2023 World Champion: Cameron McEvoy (AUS), 21.06
• 2024 Olympic Champion: Cameron McEvoy (AUS), 21.25

1. Ji Yuchan (KOR), 21.66
2. Meiron Cheruti (ISR), 21.74

Ji Yuchan blasted his way to a new Korean Record as he secured a lane in tomorrow’s final of the men’s 50 freestyle, taking the swim-off over Israel’s Meiron Cheruti.

After the two swimmers tied for 8th earlier in the session in 21.77, Ji clocked 21.66 in the swim-off to book the victory and take down his two-year-old National Record of 21.72.

Ji also narrowly missed the Asian Record of 21.64, which was set by Japan’s Shuya Matsumoto just five days ago.

Cheruti, who owns a lifetime best and Israeli Record of 21.60, clocked 21.74 to earn him a 9th-place finish overall.