39-Year-Old Marcus Titus Wins His First Deaflympics Gold; Sets Deaflympics Record on Day 3

25th Summer Deaflympics (Swimming)

• Thursday, November 20– Tuesday, November 25, 2025
• Tokyo Aquatics Center, Tokyo, Japan
• LCM (50 meters)
• Results

Deaf swimming legend Marcus Titus added another gold medal to his storied resume and set a new Deaflympics record in the 50 meter breaststroke on Saturday evening in Tokyo.

The 39-year-old American swam 28.24 to win the event. He has no official race results since the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials, where he finished 6th in the 100 meter breaststroke, 1.12 seconds shy of making the Olympic Team.

Titus was the coach of the 2013 U.S. team at the Deaflympics, but this is his first time competing at the Deaflympics as an athlete.

He beat out a pair of Ukrainians: Denys Nakonechnyi (28.61) and Oleksii Kolmoiiets (28.81) who won silver and bronze, respectively.

Titus then finished the session with a gold medal in the mixed 400 medley relay. The relay of Matthew Klotz (57.54 – back), Titus (1:03.21 – breast), Carli Cronk (58.75 – fly), and Brooke Thompson (59.07 – free) combined for a 3:58.57, which crushed the old record of 4:01.97 set by Russia in 2018.

That was a 5th medal for Klotz at the meet.

Italian Olympian Viola Scotto di Carlo earned her 5th and 6th medals of the meet, both in World Record times. First she won the 100 free in 56.29, setting a new Deaf Swimming World Record. That time broke the old record of 57.17 set by Russian Olga Kliuchnikova in 2018.

Then, di Carlo won the 50 backstroke in 29.28 and setting a new World Record of her own. The prior mark of 29.34 was also set by Russian Kliuchnikova, at the 2017 Deaflympics.

Neither swim is a personal best for Scotto di Carlo – she has been 28.81 in the 50 back and 55.08 in the 100 free – but neither of those times have been recognized by the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf.

Japan’s Ryutaro Ibara won his second gold medal of the meet on Saturday. After winning the 200 free earlier in the meet, Ibara, the leader of the host delegation, won gold in the 200 IM in 2:06.11.

Other Saturday winners include Neutral Athlete Aksana Petrushenka in the 100 breaststroke, where she won in 1:13.45; and Katy Wun from Great Britain in the women’s 1500 free, which she won in 17:36.35.

Deaflympics 2025 medals table – Swimming (After Thursday)

Note: as of publishing, results from the women’s 50 breaststroke final still had not been reported.