Inclusion rule stirs fleet as Admiral's Cup set to resume after two decades
"Honestly... my first reaction was a bit of an eye-roll—are we still having to tell teams to include women?" professional sailor Joy Fitzgerald, who will race aboard PAC 52 Final Final, told Sail-World.com. "But I also recognise that this rule has opened doors."
The Royal Ocean Racing Club's resurrection of what was once considered offshore sailing's unofficial world championship coincides with the club's centenary celebrations. The revamped regatta, running July 17 to August 1 in Cowes, will feature two-boat national teams competing in Solent inshore races and offshore challenges, culminating in the iconic Rolex Fastnet Race.
Cole Brauer, who made history last year as the first American woman to sail solo nonstop around the world, told the sailing website the mandate feels insufficient: "It felt like the bare minimum. While I respect sailing with the guys, I truly believe crews perform better with more women involved."
The gender requirement comes as sailing's demographics shift glacially. Nearly a century after Baroness Andre de Neufville became RORC's first female member in 1929, the sport remains stubbornly male-dominated despite women now holding two senior Flag Officer positions at the club.
"If we want to normalise women in professional sailing, we need this kind of visible commitment," veteran racer Abby Ehler, representing the New York Yacht Club aboard Black Pearl, told Sail-World, while acknowledging concerns about being seen as "a quota rather than recognised for ability."
Olympic sailor Mariana Lobato summed it up: "This rule is a step forward, but ultimately, we want to be chosen for our skills, not just because of a rule."
The Admiral's Cup is steering towards inclusion, but lasting change will depend on whether opportunity grows beyond obligation. REUTERS
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Straits Times
9 hours ago
- Straits Times
Summer McIntosh, Lukas Martens live up to hype to win World Aquatics C'ships 400m freestyle finals
Canada's Summer McIntosh in the women's 400m freestyle final at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore on July 27, 2025. SINGAPORE – Canadian swimming sensation Summer McIntosh completed Part One of her quest to win five individual gold medals at the World Aquatics Championships (WCH), when she comfortably touched the wall first in the women's 400m freestyle final in 3min 56.26sec on July 27. Despite being the world record holder (3:54.18), the 18-year-old had never won gold in the event at the Olympics or WCH. But there was no stopping her after she broke free from a deadlock with Australia's Lani Pallister in the first lap at the WCH Arena, as she won the race by almost two seconds over China's Li Bingjie, before rushing off to prepare for the 200m individual medley semi-finals, in which she ended as the fastest qualifier for the July 28 final. On coping with the double race for the first time, McIntosh said: 'While preparing mentally for this world championships, I think tonight is my biggest night of the whole meet... to finally stand in the centre of the podium is promising for the rest of the meet. 'The 200 IM semi-final, it was so much fun in the ready room, just chilling. Honestly, this makes me want to do more doubles and it was definitely an interesting kind of stimulus.' In what can be viewed as a warning to her competitors in the 200m butterfly, 800m freestyle and the 200m and 400m medleys, she said: 'I think I'm at my best. I'm in the best shape of my life. So now I just have to act on that and put it into all my races.' This meet had been billed as a generational duel between McIntosh and Katie Ledecky, but there were surprises on the podium as Li produced a blistering final lap to overtake and beat the American legend by 0.28sec to take silver in an Asian-record 3:58.21. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Sewage shaft failure linked to sinkhole; PUB calling safety time-out on similar works islandwide Singapore Tanjong Katong Road sinkhole did not happen overnight: Experts Singapore Workers used nylon rope to rescue driver of car that fell into Tanjong Katong Road sinkhole Asia Singapore-only car washes will get business licences revoked, says Johor govt World Food airdropped into Gaza as Israel opens aid routes Sport Arsenal beat Newcastle in five-goal thriller to bring Singapore Festival of Football to a close Singapore Benchmark barrier: Six of her homeschooled kids had to retake the PSLE Asia S'porean trainee doctor in Melbourne arrested for allegedly filming colleagues in toilets since 2021 Still only 23, Li was a prodigy across all the freestyle distances when she burst onto the scene with three medals at the 2017 WCH at just age 15. Since then, she has struggled with injury and self-doubt, missing the 400m and 800m finals at the Paris Olympics. Rebounding well in 2025 to become the first Asian woman to go under four minutes in the 400m in May before she beat Ledecky for the first time in her career, she said: 'She may not be at her peak form now, but this result is still very significant and meaningful to me. 'I've looked up to her since I was a young athlete and learnt so much from watching her swim. I feel emotional because this is something that I've thought about for so many years. I want to keep improving to be able to continue competing against Katie.' Ledecky, whose bronze is the first among her 27 WCH medals, will look to exert her dominance in the longer distances. The 28-year-old said: 'The first day is sometimes a hit or miss for me at these worlds. I'm really excited for the distance races, I mean that's kind of my thing. The 400 is too, I guess, but I'm really excited for the 1,500 tomorrow.' The first final of the WCH whipped the sold-out crowd into a frenzy, as Germany's Lukas Martens traded leads with Australian Sam Short in the men's 400m freestyle before winning by 0.02sec in 3:42.35. South Korea's defending champion Kim Woo-min claimed bronze in 3:42.60. Lukas Martens celebrating his 400m free victory alongside silver medallist Australia's Samuel Short and bronze medallist South Korea's Kim Woo-min. PHOTO: REUTERS Martens, 23, said: 'There was a lot of pressure. As a world record holder (3:39.96) and Olympic champion, it was not easy to fight these guys. But I tried my best, I gave everything, and I'm really happy and proud to be a world champion.' Short, 21, dedicated the medal to his late aunt who died weeks ago, saying: 'It's been quite hard for my family recently. However bad I was hurting there, it was nowhere near as bad as her battling cancer the last 10 years.' Australia were still able to celebrate double gold in the 4x100m freestyle relays, with their men's team of Flynn Southam, Kai Taylor, Maximillian Giuliani and Kyle Chalmers winning in a championship record time of 3:08.97, while their women's team of Mollie O'Callaghan, Meg Harris, Milla Jansen and Olivia Wunsch triumphed in 3:30.60. Earlier in the day, the host nation's swimmers and supporters also had something to cheer about, even if no Singaporean progressed from the morning heats. Local distance queen Gan Ching Hwee set a national record in the women's 400m freestyle, as she won heat 2 in 4:09.81 to lower Lynette Lim's national mark of 4:11.24 set at the 2009 SEA Games. The 22-year-old finished 13th overall out of 29 swimmers across four heats, about three seconds slower than German Maya Werner (4:06.75), who was the last qualifier for the eight-swimmer final. New Zealand's defending champion Erika Fairweather was disqualified after a false start. Gan, the national record holder in the women's 800m (8:32.37) and 1,500m (16:10.13) was 'pleasantly surprised' she managed to slice 2.5sec off her 400m personal best of 4:12.31, especially as she felt she had not made big strides in the event in the past few years. But having her family and friends in the stands helped in her latest breakthrough. She told The Straits Times: 'I haven't swum in front of a home crowd in a big competition before, so this was very new and exciting for me. 'This national record has definitely been in my sights for a really long time and the 400m is the most challenging for myself because I need to strike a balance between speed and endurance and I haven't really been able to do that for the past couple of years, never really had a major breakthrough, so this national record was a pleasant surprise.' 'For some of the upcoming races, I do have a good lane in a fast heat (Gan is in the same 800m freestyle heat as McIntosh and the same 1,500m freestyle heat as Italy's defending champion Simona Quadarella), so I'm going to do my best to race and hopefully keep up with the girls next to me,' she added. Other national swimmers who featured on the first day of the swimming competitions were Teong Tzen Wei (22nd in men's 50m butterfly in 23.38), Quah Jing Wen (24th in women's 100m butterfly in 59.18), Letitia Sim (27th in women's 200m individual medley in 2:15.45), Glen Lim (32nd in men's 400m freestyle in 3:54.97) and Chan Junhao (41st in 1:02.00 in men's 100m breaststroke). Ardi Azman, Mikkel Lee, Jonathan Tan and Lim also teamed up in the men's 4x100m freestyle relay heats to finish 18th overall in 3:18.38.
Straits Times
10 hours ago
- Straits Times
Bronze be damned, a chance to see Ledecky is the thrill of opening night
Katie Ledecky en route to finishing third in the women's 400m freestyle final at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore on July 25. On a dramatic opening night at the World Aquatics Championships' (WCH) swimming competition, a packed crowd hollered, music blared but talent spoke loudest. The greatest female swimmer of all time lost to the finest female swimmer of this time. Katie Ledecky used to be a poster on Summer McIntosh's wall. Now the Canadian, two lanes away in the women's 400m freestyle final, was offering the American proof of how powerfully that inspiration had worked. In a race about seconds, it was the years which showed. McIntosh, who won, is 18, Ledecky, who was third, is 28. Time in every way is on the former's side. When the American won her first 400m Olympic gold in 2016, the Canadian was nine. The wonder of sport is that sometimes a fan can turn into a rival. It is a testimony to McIntosh's drive and Ledecky's longevity. Both women arrived at the blocks with a poker player's expression. The competition face is a beautiful thing. Ledecky last broke the 400m world record in 2016, McIntosh did it this June. At this distance this wasn't a fully fair fight but still Ledecky comes. As long as they can draw a competitive breath, champions want to measure themselves. I'm here at the WCH Arena for the race, but really I'm here to watch Ledecky. The exceptional, in any field, exert a unique pull. The poet, the sculptor, the dancer, the swimmer, any time you get to see The Greatest, you go. Especially because swimming offers too few chances. The sporting spotlight is never shared equally. Across this Sports Hub precinct on July 27, Arsenal were playing Newcastle in a pre-season friendly. The last time either won the Premier League title was 2004 and yet they were watched by 38,720. In this watery arena in a car park, the full house which watched Ledecky chase McIntosh in hard competition numbered less than 5,000. Swimming appeared at the first Olympics in 1896 and it has produced Tarzans, legendary moustaches and a finned human named Michael Phelps, and yet, perplexingly, has never quite seized our regular attention. Its vocabulary is less familiar, its names less heralded, its feats too rarely on TV. Ledecky is astonishing – four golds in a single Olympics, golds in the same event (800m) in four Games – yet she is probably less known by some than the reserves of Arsenal's team. Yet Ledecky swims to challenge herself, not to be famous. She now has 27 world championship medals, yet competes without any apparent conceit. The most difficult thing for great athletes can be losing yet Ledecky, in the rare times she does lose, does so with grace. Race done on Sunday night, she walked through the mixed zone, stopping briefly for media requests. 'I would've liked to be a little faster,' she said. 'I was a little faster earlier this year, so there's always that slight bit of wanting to be better than that.' Her smile was wide, her tone tinged with gratitude. 'But I can't complain with the medal. Fourth place was a 3:58 (Ledecky timed 3:58.49, Australian's Lani Pallister was fourth in 3:58.87) so that could have easily been me.' A few days ago I'd asked the American swimmer Regan Smith what was extraordinary about Ledecky and her answer went 242 words. It started with 'a lot of things'. When Smith was 15 she was on a trip with Ledecky and said, 'I was very star struck. And I think she carries herself with a lot of grace'. 'She's very down to earth,' said Smith, the 100m backstroke world-record holder. 'If you don't see her, and you're not at the pool, you would never know that she is who she is.' Later Smith, 23, added: 'She's an exceptional leader, too, and she's very good at putting others before herself.' Roger Federer raised everyone's level, Ledecky made everyone faster. At the 2020 Olympics, Australia's Ariarne Titmus, who defeated her in the 400m freestyle, said, 'I wouldn't be here without her'. On Sunday night, China's Li Bingjie, who edged out Ledecky to win silver, was as complimentary. 'She may not be at her peak form now, but this result is still very significant and meaningful to me. I've looked up to her since I was a young athlete. I've had this dream since 2017, and Katie has always been someone I view as a great athlete.' July 28 is the 1,500m heats and it is the start of Ledecky territory. 'I think,' she said, 'the first day is sometimes a hit or miss for me at these worlds. I'm really excited for the distance races, I mean that's kind of my thing.' She is the saint of suffering and the 1,500m is her promised land. Fittingly it's the name of a song by one of her favourite singers Bruce Springsteen and maybe, on Sunday, defeat slowly digested, she might have rolled through her playlist and listened to words from it which define her devoted life. 'I've done my best to live the right way 'I get up every morning and go to work each day.'
CNA
12 hours ago
- CNA
Canada's McIntosh aces her 'biggest' night of world championships
Canadian Summer McIntosh was delighted to have made it through what she described as her toughest night at the world championships with a gold medal, saying her dominant showing on Sunday boded well for the remainder of the competition. McIntosh claimed gold in the women's 400 metres freestyle in three minutes and 56.26 seconds, nearly two seconds ahead of Chinese silver medallist Li Bingjie, with American great Katie Ledecky finishing in third place. The three-times Olympic champion did not have much time to savour her win, however, and exited quickly to prepare for the 200 individual medley (IM) semi-finals. Despite the tight schedule McIntosh was again in a class of her own, qualifying for the final more than a second ahead of her nearest rival. "While preparing mentally for this world championships, I thought tonight is my biggest night of the whole meet," the 18-year-old said. "So to come out with a gold medal and a really good, strong semi-final in the 200 IM, I'm really happy. "I've never done a double like that, and I think 400m free, at past world championships and Olympics, I haven't been at my best, and I haven't been where I wanted to be. "To finally stand in the centre of the podium is promising for the rest of the meet... I was very relaxed, just based off how I've been feeling this past couple of months, and especially in warm-up today, I felt really strong." McIntosh is coming into the competition on the back of a barnstorming Canadian trials last month, where she set world records in the 400 freestyle as well as the 200 IM and 400 IM.
