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The Star
8 hours ago
- Sport
- The Star
Swimming-Facing fears more important than gold for Australia's McKeown
Swimming - World Aquatics Championships - Women 100m Backstroke Final - World Aquatics Championships Arena, Singapore - July 29, 2025 Australia's Kaylee McKeown reacts after winning the women's 100m backstroke final REUTERS/Edgar Su (Reuters) -Kaylee McKeown won gold in a thrilling 100 metres backstroke final at the world championships in Singapore on Tuesday, but the Australian said she was prouder of the fact that she had faced her fear of failure than winning the race. The five-time Olympic gold medallist came from behind to overtake rival Regan Smith and touch the wall in a championship-record time of 57.16, beating Smith by 0.19 seconds. It was a triumphant return to the world championships for McKeown, who had said after the semi-finals on Monday that she had not wanted to compete in the event. The 24-year-old had also said she was hoping to rediscover her love for the sport in 2025 following a challenging spell during which she took a mental health break shortly after her 100 and 200 backstroke victories at the Paris Olympics. Asked on Tuesday what it meant to win the gold medal, McKeown said: "I don't think it necessarily means anything to win. "I know that sounds bad, but I think what means most to me is being true to myself and being strong and coming to these world championships and not fearing away. "There were a lot of comments saying that I'm scared to lose but that's not the case at all. "If anything, I'm scared to fail myself. I've worked really, really hard to get up there tonight and prove to myself that I am a good athlete and swimmer. It doesn't matter if I come first or last. "I just didn't want to keep steering away from fear because the more that you feel fear, it becomes like a monster and you have to chase your demons at some point." American Smith said she was content with her performance, especially in light of the illness which swept through the United States team during their training camp in Thailand just before the championships. "It was a really good execution, and at the end of the day, America as a whole had the odds stacked against us," she added. "We had a really unfortunate situation happen to us during a training camp, and I did not think I was going to go for 57.35. "To come up with a silver, I can't really control the place of the medal, but what I can control is how fast I swim and how well I can do my race, and I think I did an incredible job, especially under the circumstances." Smith and McKeown will renew their rivalry in the 200 backstroke, with the final scheduled to take place on Saturday. (Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
Forbes
2 days ago
- Sport
- Forbes
Summer McIntosh Overtakes Katie Ledecky In 400 Free Final
SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE - JULY 27: Summer McIntosh of Team Canada reacts after winning gold in the ... More Women's 400m Freestyle Final on day 17 of the Singapore 2025 World Aquatics Championships at World Aquatics Championships Arena on July 27, 2025 in Singapore. (Photo by) In one of the most highly anticipated races of the season, Summer McIntosh beat Katie Ledecky to claim the 400 free gold in Singapore. On the opening night of the 2025 World Aquatics Championships, McIntosh, who slowly took the lead in the second half of the race, touched the wall two seconds ahead in 3:56.26. Ledecky, falling behind in the last 10 metres, had to settle for bronze in 3:58.49 as China's Li Bingjie surpassed her and Lani Pallister in 3:58.21 seconds to claim silver. McIntosh's performance was more than two seconds off her world record set in July at the Canadian trials. Still, she managed to register the fifth-fastest performance in the 400 free category. "I think tonight is my biggest night of the whole meet. I think 400 free, at past World Championships and Olympics, I haven't been at my best. So to finally stand in the center of the podium is promising for the rest of the meet," said McIntosh, after claiming her first 400 free and ninth long-course world title. Despite the reigning 400 free Olympic Gold medalist Ariarne Titmus skipping the season, the final event produced one of the fastest races in swimming. Following Li and Pallister's efforts, four swimmers have now managed to break the 3:59 sub in the 400 free. 28-year-old Ledecky's attempt to dominate the 400 free, yet again, remained untouched in "the fastest field first through fourth" ever witnessed. Ledecky has been consistent with "training on all fronts" for this season. In May, she surpassed McIntosh, after swimming the second-fastest 400 free of her career in 3:56.81. But today, 'could've been better' for the nine-time Olympic gold medalist."I was a little too focused on the race on one side, "I missed Li on the other side of me," said Ledecky after her first-ever bronze at the Worlds. Notably, Ledecky has now claimed 27 medals at the World Championships. She holds the second-most medals in total at the event, tied with Olympian Ryan Next For Ledecky And McIntosh? Next week, McIntosh and Ledecky will compete against each other again in the 800 free. Ledecky's endurance in the 800 free has always been truly exceptional, showing a stronger resurgence compared to the 400 free over a few seasons. After claiming her fourth consecutive gold medal in the event at the Paris Olympics, she continued to clock top times in 2025, including lowering her world record from 2016 in May to 8:04.12. Now, the swimmer will aim to claim her seventh consecutive world title in the event. However, McIntosh, the second-fastest swimmer behind Katie Ledecky, is also "really hyped for the 800." After skipping the 800 free event in Paris in July 2024, months after handing Ledecky her first final loss in the event in 13 years. McIntosh will now participate in her first-ever 800 free World stage race. The 18-year-old, who set a new personal-best time of 8:05:07 at the Canadian trials in Victoria, is the second swimmer, after Ledecky, to break the 8:10 barrier.
The Star
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Star
Swimming-Canada's McIntosh aces her 'biggest' night of world championships
Swimming - World Aquatics Championships - Women 400m Freestyle Final - World Aquatics Championships Arena, Singapore - July 27, 2025 Gold medallist Canada's Summer McIntosh celebrates on the podium after winning the final REUTERS/Edgar Su (Reuters) -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. "I'm in the best shape of my life," she said. "So now I just have to act on that and put it into all my races." (Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
Barnama
2 days ago
- Sport
- Barnama
Malaysian Divers Fall Short In Synchro Final At Worlds
By Nur Ashikin Abdul Aziz SINGAPORE, July 27 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's national divers Elvis Priestly Clement and Lee Yiat Qing had to settle for 11th place in the mixed 10-metre (m) synchronised event final at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships at the OCBC Aquatic Centre here today. The pair, who made their world championships debut in the mixed 3m and 10m team event yesterday, delivered a commendable effort across five dives but managed to finish ahead of only one team in a competitive 12-team field, scoring a total of 247.86 points. bootstrap slideshow The gold medal went to China's Zhu Yongxin and Xie Peiling with 323.04 points, while silver was claimed by North Korea's Choe Wi Hyon and Jo Jin Mi (322.98 points). Aleksandr Bondar and Anna Konanykhina of Russia, who are competing as Neutral Athletes B (NAB), finished third with 311.88 points. Meanwhile, another two Malaysian world championships debutants Nurqayyum Nazmi Mohamad Nazim and Yong Rui Jie failed to advance to the men's 1m springboard final, after finishing outside the top 12 in the preliminaries. Rui Jie finished 41st, while Nazmi -- who won bronze at the 2024 World Aquatics Junior Diving Championships -- placed 44th out of 59 divers. Earlier, national swimmer Khiew Hoe Yean failed to advance to the final of the men's 400m freestyle event after finishing 28th overall in the heats at the World Aquatics Championships Arena. The two-time SEA Games gold medallist clocked 3 minutes 51.11s to finish ninth in Heat Three. He will next compete in the men's 100m, 200m, and 800m freestyle events in the coming days.
The Star
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Star
Swimming-US team battling gastroenteritis at world championships
FILE PHOTO: Artistic Swimming - World Aquatics Championships - Team Technical - World Aquatics Championships Arena, Singapore - July 21, 2025 Team United States performs during preliminaries REUTERS/Marko Djurica/File Photo
