2025 World University Games
- July 17th-23rd, 2025
- Prelims: 9 a.m. local time (3 a.m. EST)
- Finals: 7 p.m. local time (1 p.m. EST)
- Berlin, Germany
- LCM (50 Meters)
- Meet Central
- Entries List
- Live Results
- Livestream
- Live Recaps
The United States women won the gold medal in the 4×100 freestyle relay in new WUGs record fashion, touching in 3:36.21 to knock more than a second off the former record.
Women’s 4×100 Freestyle Relay – Final
- World Record: 3:27.96 – Australia, 2023
- World Junior Record: 3:36.19 – Canada, 2017
World University Games Record: 3:37.51 – China, 2023
Top-8 Finishers:
- United States – 3:36.21 (GOLD)
- China – 3:38.70 (SILVER)
- Italy – 3:39.86 (BRONZE)
- Japan – 3:42.55
- Spain – 3:43.67
- Canada & South Africa – 3:44.18
- N/A
- Chinese Taipei – 3:46.77
The United States got out fast and lead wire-to-wire in this relay, beating the 2nd place China team by more than two seconds and breaking China’s WUGs record from 2023 by more than a second.
Maxine Parker led off the relay in 54.28 to give the United States the lead by almost a second before handing off to Caroline Larsen who split 54.16. Julia Dennis swam next, touching in 54.01 to hand off to Isabel Ivey who brought them home in 53.76.
Larsen, Dennis, and Ivey all swam the relay this morning, and dropped time on their splits tonight to help the team drop a second-and-a-half from prelims to finals.
The former record belonged to China, and was set in 2023 at 3:37.51
Split Comparison
| Leg | Old Record- 3:37.51, China (2023) | New Record- 3:36.21, USA (2025) | ||
| 100 | Li Binjie | 54.40 | Maxine Parker | 54.28 |
| 200 | Liu Yaxin | 54.41 | Caroline Larsen | 54.16 |
| 300 | Luo Youyang | 55.23 | Julia Dennis | 54.01 |
| 400 | Zhang Yufei | 53.47 | Isabel Ivey | 53.76 |
The U.S. women were faster on every split except the last one. Zhang Yufei brought the Chinese women home in 53.47, which was about three tenths faster than Ivey’s anchor leg of 53.76.
I’ve always wondered this — what does the world university games have to do with universities? Is there any connection? I assumed it was a meet for college aged swimmers but Parker and Ivey aren’t in college anymore…what’s the eligibility criteria?