McIntosh pulls away for 200m IM gold at worlds
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UPI
4 hours ago
- UPI
French swimmer Leon Marchand tops Ryan Lochte's world record
Leon Marchand of France celebrates after establishing a new world record in the men's 200-meter individual medley Wednesday at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore. Photo by Fazry Ismail/EPA July 30 (UPI) -- Leon Marchand sliced the pool water in 1:52.61 to break Ryan Lochte's 200-meter individual medley world record at the World Aquatics Championships on Wednesday in Singapore. The four-time Olympic gold medalist broke the 14-year-old record in the semifinals of the event at the Singapore Sports Hub. "I'm grateful for my coaches and all the staff behind me," Marchand, who earned a $30,000 check for his efforts, said on a streaming broadcast of the event. "It's been a pretty hard season, but I'm so happy to be here." American Shaine Casas finished second, 2.44 behind the Frenchman. Great Britain's Duncan Scott placed third. Lochte set the record with a 1:54.00 on July 28, 2011, at the world championships. He also owned the previous mark from a 1:54.10 swim in 2009. Michael Phelps set the record in the event eight times before it was broken by Lochte. He clocked a 1:54.23 for his fastest time at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Marchand will compete in the finale at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships -- with a chance to break his own record -- Thursday in Singapore. Canadian Summer McIntosh (400 freestyle and 200M medley), Australian Mollie O'Callaghan (200M freestyle), German Lukas Maertens (400M freestyle) and Americans Katie Ledecky (1500M freestyle) and Gretchen Walsh (100M butterfly) are among the notable gold medal winners so far at the world championships. The 2025 World Aquatics Championships will run through Sunday in Singapore.
Forbes
8 hours ago
- Forbes
12-Year-Old Swimmer Yu Zidi Turns Heads At 2025 World Championships
SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE - JULY 27: Yu Zidi of Team China prepares to compete in the Women's 200m ... More Individual Medley Semifinal on day 17 of the Singapore 2025 World Aquatics Championships at World Aquatics Championships Arena on July 27, 2025 in Singapore. (Photo by) At just 12 years old, China's Yu Zidi is already turning heads in the swimming community. She is one of the fastest swimmers in the world right now in her events. Yu proved this during her debut at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, where she narrowly missed earning a bronze medal, finishing just 0.06 seconds behind Canada's Mary-Sophie Harvey in the 200 IM. Her final time of 2:09.21 was a new personal best. The event was won by Canada's Summer McIntosh in 2:06.69, with American Alex Walsh taking silver in 2:08.58. Harvey claimed the bronze in 2:09.15, just ahead of Yu. Swimmers are usually required to be at least 14 years old to compete at the championships, but Yu qualified by meeting the federation's 'A' standard. Her time of 2:10.63, recorded at the 2025 Chinese National Championships in May, was well under the required mark of 2:12.83. For perspective, the U.S. National Age Group record for 11–12 girls in that event is 2:18.69. Who Is Yu Zidi? Yu Zidi of China competes during the women's 200m medley semifinal of swimming at the World Aquatics ... More Championships in Singapore, July 27, 2025. (Photo by Xia Yifang/Xinhua via Getty Images) Yu, born in Baoding in 2012, started swimming at the age of 6. She used to spend summers at a local water park until a coach approached her one day about swimming. After that, she began training seriously and, three years later, joined the Hebei Taihua Jinye Swimming Club. The club is located south of Beijing. At age 11, Yu came just short of qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games in the 400 IM. The World Aquatics Olympic qualifying mark was 4:38.53, and she posted a time of 4:40.97. At the 2025 Chinese National Championships, Yu delivered some of her best performances yet. Her times in the 200 butterfly and 400 IM would have placed fourth at the 2024 Paris Games. In the 200 IM, her time of 2:10.63 was the fastest ever recorded by a 12-year-old swimmer, regardless of gender. That time also earned her a silver medal. Yu's presence at the 2025 World Championships stands out in part due to her young age. The only swimmer younger than Yu to compete at a World Championships was Bahrain's Alzain Tareq, who raced at age 10 in 2015 under different qualifying standards. What's Next For Yu Zidi At The 2025 World Championships? SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE - JULY 27: Yu Zidi of Team China prepares to compete in the Women's 200m ... More Individual Medley Semifinal on day 17 of the Singapore 2025 World Aquatics Championships at World Aquatics Championships Arena on July 27, 2025 in Singapore. (Photo by) Yu still has the 200 butterfly and 400 IM left to swim at the 2025 World Championships. The finals for the 200 butterfly will be held on Thursday, July 31, while the finals for the 400 IM are scheduled for Sunday, August 3, the final day of swimming competition. If Yu secures a medal, she will make history as the youngest person to win a medal at an international event in nearly 90 years. The last time was when Denmark's Inge Sørensen earned a bronze medal at the 1936 Berlin Olympics shortly after turning 12. Comparing Yu's times to top swimmers shows how strong her performances are. For example, Yu's time in the 400 IM is 15 seconds faster than McIntosh's at the same age. McIntosh, who currently holds the world record in the event, is a three-time Olympic champion with gold medals in the 200 butterfly, 200 IM and 400 IM. She broke her own world record in the 400 IM in June at the 2025 Canadian Swimming Trials with a time of 4:23.65.
Forbes
a day ago
- Forbes
Katie Ledecky Wins Sixth 1500-Meter Freestyle World Title
Singapore, Singapore - July 29: World Champion Katie Ledecky of USA competing in the Women 1500m ... More Freestyle Final Swimming event on day 19 of the Singapore 2025 World Aquatics Championships at WCH Arena on July 29, 2025 in Singapore. (Photo by Albert ten Hove/Marcel ter Bals/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images) In the last five years, swimmers have begun to catch, or even surpass, Katie Ledecky in the 400- and 800-meter freestyle. But at the 2025 World Aquatic Championships, Ledecky proved once again that there is no one better in the 1500-meter freestyle. She won her sixth world title in the event on Tuesday at the championships in Singapore, finishing in 15:26.44. Ledecky attacked the race, opening well under her world record pace. She flipped at the 800-meter mark in 8:09.85, which would be the 13th fastest swim in that distance. Except Ledecky kept swimming, another 700 meters left in her race. Ledecky fell off her world record pace during the final third of the race. Still, she finished over five seconds ahead of her competition, swimming the fifth fastest time of her career. 'I love this race,' Ledecky told World Aquatics after securing the gold medal. 'This is the race where I broke my first world record in 2013. Lots of great races and memories over the years, happy to do it [again] The win continued Ledecky's 15-year-undefeated streak in the 1500-meter freestyle. She has not lost this race since she was 13 years old. In that time, she has won the event's world title six times, only missing the 2019 edition due to illness and the 2024 World Championships to prepare for the Olympic Games. The event was introduced to the women's Olympic schedule for the Tokyo Games and Ledecky won the race there and then again last summer in Paris. But like her other races, swimmers are starting to catch up. Despite winning by over five seconds, this was Ledecky's closest 1500-meter freestyle victory at the Olympic or World Championship level since 2013. Italy's Simona Quadarella, who won this race at the 2024 World Championships in Ledecky's absence, unleashed a lifetime best by nearly ten seconds. She swam 15:31.79, becoming the second-fastest performer in history by surpassing the European record Dane Lotte Friis swam in 2013. Her swim slots in as the 12th fastest performance in the women's 1500-meter freestyle, breaking Ledecky's hold on the top 25 times in event history. Quadarella used a strong back half to earn her silver medal. But Ledecky had company over the opening third of the race as well. Bronze medalist Lani Pallister went out under world record pace with Ledecky. The Australian said after the race 'I was just trying to stick with her for as long as I [could] and see how long I could hold on for.' Over a decade into her career, Ledecky is still setting the pace in women's distance freestyle. Ledecky seems to welcome the challenge from her competitors. 'It's great to push the sport forward all together,' she said. 'Simona had the second-fastest performer swim of all time tonight. Lani had a great time tonight and earlier this year. All the events in the distance freestyles are moving forward, both on the women's and men's side…it's fun to be a part of.' Singapore, Singapore - July 29: Gold for Katie Ledecky of USA, Silver for Simona Quadarella of ... More Italy, Bronze for Lani Pallister of Australia during the medal ceremony after competing in the Women 1500m Freestyle Swimming event on day 19 of the Singapore 2025 World Aquatics Championships at WCH Arena on July 29, 2025 in Singapore. (Photo by Albert ten Hove/Marcel ter Bals/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images) As her competitors inch closer to her on the scoreboard, Ledecky's gold medal tonight pushed her into more historic territory in the medal table. This was Ledecky's 22nd World Championship gold medal. It is her 28th medal of any color, moving her out of a tie with Ryan Lochte for the second most World Championship medals. Only Michael Phelps has more, having won 33 World Championship medals during his career. Ledecky is also nearing Phelps in gold medals, now just four behind his 26 career world titles. She will not be able to catch him in either gold or total medals at these World Championships. Ledecky has just two events remaining on her schedule. First, she will compete in the women's 4x200-meter freestyle relay for the U.S., before facing Summer McIntosh in the 800-meter freestyle for their second individual showdown of the week. The 800-meter freestyle race between them is one of the most hotly anticipated events of the competition. Ledecky broke her 800-meter freestyle world record in May with an 8:04.12; McIntosh rattled that mark a month later at Canadian Trials, swimming 8:05.07. That event final will take place Saturday, August 2.
